Dear List Members/Accessibility Advocates:

WITHOUT reference to the legal merits of the case either way ...

This past week, a majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices voted to limit the
scope of The ADA, in part, because the majority did not find the requisite
"pattern of discrimination" when one does or must do things differently.

How could this be?  Simple.

We who do things differently [doesn't everyone?] are not considered people.
After all, we are described and many in the class self-identify as being
"disabled," a term that by dictionary definition literally means "inoperable,
nonfunctioning, incapacitated, incapable, can't do."

So of course we are considered useless, limited, impaired, invalid, and
unworthy of basic civil rights, as are the appropriately-named inanimate,
nonfunctioning objects such as a disabled smoke detector, disabled vehicle,
disabled car battery, disabled JavaScript that do not function, that are
inoperable and incapacitated, useless, and relegated to the trash heap.

What do we expect others to think of us if we describe ourselves and permit
others to describe us in such a negative, demeaning, depersonalizing way?

By definition, inanimate objects cannot face discrimination.

Only people can face discrimination. Only people have civil [=people] rights.

To be eligible for civil rights, we first need to be considered people.

Like everyone else, those who support the opinion of the majority of the
justices will discover sooner or later during their own lifetimes what it is
like to face the requisite "pattern of discrimination" when one does or must do
things differently.  All it takes is slipping on the ice, stumbling into a
pothole, getting one's hand caught in a doorway, burning one's hand on the
stove, being in a car accident ... or a natural disaster, lifestyle choice,
illness, war, or just getting older, the last which we all seem to be doing.
Having to do things differently can happen to any of us at any second.

This U.S. Supreme Court ruling is yet another essential reason to start now to
describe ourselves and insist that we always be described POSITIVELY- ALWAYS as
PEOPLE FIRST. We are PEOPLE!

We have ____ DIFFERENCES: i.e. cognitive, learning, mobility, vision, hearing,
perceptual, sensory, etc. DIFFERENCES. Doesn't everyone? Everyone's DIFFERENCES
are DIFFERENT. Our differences are on a continuum, rather than being absolutes.

We all DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY. Let us celebrate the UNIVERSAL diversity of doing
things differently or DIFFERABILITY.

ACCESSIBILITY (an index term that places us on the top of every index) and
EQUITY OF ACCESS are UNIVERSAL needs that ALL living beings share.

As Madison Avenue teaches us every day:

           Positive Sells.  Positive Wins.  Every Time.

Ellen Perlow
Doing things differently since birth (hasn't everyone?)
Chair, ALA ASCLA Century Scholarship Committee
The ALA ASCLA Century Scholarship Diversity Initiative
"Celebrating a New Century that Celebrates Diversity"
http://www.ala.org/ascla/centuryscholarship.html
Next Application Submission Deadline: March 1, 2001-TWO DAYS AWAY!
ALA 2001 Scholarship Application page:
http://www.ala.org/work/awards/scholars.html
Have YOU recruited/applied to be a Century Scholarship applicant today?
----------------------------------------------------
Manager of Information Services
School of Library and Information Studies
Texas Woman's University
P.O. Box 425438
Denton, TX 76204-5438
Tel.: 940-898-2622  Fax: 940-898-2611
Web: http://twu.edu/~s_perlow/
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