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"St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List" <[log in to unmask]>
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From:
Betty Alfred <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 12 Dec 1999 10:24:24 EST
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"St. John's University Cerebral Palsy List" <[log in to unmask]>
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I don't care for political correctness (PC) either.  I tend to use "PWD" or 
"people with disabilities" more often than any other term because I'm afraid 
of offending someone else.  Whenever I type "disabled people," there is a 
part of me wondering if I am going to offend someone.  I don't want to do 
that.

It seems to me that society has learned to talk good game (PC), and more 
creative ways to hide the bodies.  Elizabeth Bouvia's request to die is one 
case in point.  There is little or no accountability for the abuses that are 
inflicted on the disability community.  That's the real reason I don't like 
PC.  It doesn't seem to reflect the true thoughts of many nondisabled people 
who employ it.  Lip service is not benign.  It serves to perpetuate injustice 
by supporting the nondisabled community's desire to pretend injustice doesn't 
exist.  

The supporting argument for PC -- in connection with the disability community 
-- is that a person's disability is not used as the defining hallmark of 
their character.  The disabled person is classified as a person…with a 
disability.

I would have to say that I don't think about disability all the time, but I 
think about society's response to the disability community and disability 
rights issues much of the time.   

Betty

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