Re: Disability Characteristics and Political Correctness

Response to Bashar's "Disability Characteristics and Political Correctness" video. (Sorry for the length. Big questsions, long answer...)

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• thebashar99
• coquidave
• dave
• disabled
• disabilities
• ignorance
• cripple
• political
• correctness
• deaf
• hearing
• impaired
• handicap

[CMale0624]

Dave, I really like your videos but 25 minutes is a little long, don't you think?

[CoquiDave]

Actually, I'd say it's a LOT long.  As I said in the description, though, big question, long answer. It won't be a habit, I promise. :-)

[DukeStreetBill]

One problem with nomenclature is the member-nonmember thing. It's one thing for a Latino to use "spic," or a black man use "nigger," and quite another for an outsider to do so. 1970s Berkeley probably was the most handicap-accessible and friendly place in the US, and we had the population to prove it; I never flinched if someone handicapped used reality-acknowledging or self-deprecating slang, but I didn't use it: I figured and figure that my hand shouldn't control that linguistic valve.

[CoquiDave]

Bill,

Use the terms your comfortable with, but if you get to "alternately gifted", you're going to get laughed at. The point is that we aren't as sensitive as most folks seem to believe. :-)

[murda1991]

25 minutes long? holy crap what have i gotten myself into....

[CoquiDave]

Welcome to HELL!!! Can't.... hit.... stop.... button! Mind.... under.... Dave's.... Control!

[eatmyplum]

dude how many blunts htis guy smoken

[XxSaraBluexX]

I've had both ends of the help thing. On one hand, I've had people try to push ny electric wheelchair Lol. And on the other, I've had people who were going into a church ignore me in my broken down electric wheelchair on a night that was pouring down with rain. People seem to go from one extreme to another. Also I think it depends how you use the phrases which means if they're bad or not. Just because you use the word doesn't mean you're using it in a mean way, just like you using cripple.

xxx

[LieslMcQ]

crap, these are out of order. I'm new to this. Anyway, what else is there in terms of AA? Sometimes we have to push over the line to get to the line. What do you think?

[LieslMcQ]

As for employment, that is a far more difficult question to resolve. I think it is entirely dependent on the disability itself. We can't ask employers to hire someone who is deaf to answer the phone, for example. I think the problem is going to always be one of prejudice. People see the disabled as less than, even though it is often utterly untrue. At this point, I don't see a solution to the way it is now, re: employment. It's like affirmative action: not the best solution...

[LieslMcQ]

Good question. In my limited knowledge of how it would or could work, the only remedy I see is to make these things have automatic consequences. I think is more applicable to things like access to store, parking, etc. IOW, if a business doesn't comply we can call the police and have them ticketed for an amount of money that is more than symbolic. It is sometimes true for parking, but not always. If we want access to a store that is refusing to comply, we have to sue. Isn't that dumb?...

[AvangionQ]

Damn Youtube ... hit reply to the wrong post and now all the posts are out of sort ... please reply with any replies to this post instead of the other ones ...

[AvangionQ]

"We either fight for justice and cause legal bloat or we don't and cause injustice. // As it is now, a disabled person has the burden of enforcing the law and the only way to do that is through a lawsuit." ... perfect, couldn't agree more -- so, two open ended questions ... what's the best way to fix the ADA so that it benefits people with disabilities and businesses alike ... and what's the best way to make businesses *want* to hire people with disabilities ... ?

[LieslMcQ]

I don't know how they're qualifying disability for those statistics. I know they include learning disabilities, which makes up a huge portion of any disability stat. There's no question that this should not be played out in the courts if it can be helped, but that is our only option as it stands, mostly because the ADA has been gutted by... the courts! It's a catch 22. We either fight for justice and cause legal bloat or we don't and cause injustice.

[LieslMcQ]

See, that's the EXACT reason people are trying to specify and change the ADA in some ways. As it is now, a disabled person has the burden of enforcing the law and the only way to do that is through a lawsuit. It's ridiculous! I don't blame employers for being afraid of being sued, though you have to wonder why they would be if they are doing everything correct. (that doesn't allow for accidents, I know). I haven't seen the Penn and Teller episode, I will put it on my queue.

[AvangionQ]

Don't get me wrong, I think the ADA is a good idea in principle, but its implementation needs to be slightly adjusted ... the best thing that needs to be done is to quell employer's fears about `walking lawsuits` in that by hiring a disabled person that they may get sued in the near future ... also, the ADA's quoted legal statistic of 54 million is overblown, yes that's 1 in 6 Americans, while census data shows 32 million at best if counting lesser disabilities, leading to more legal bloat ...