When Disabled people marched all across the country on the 22nd October 2011 and in our day to day life of campaigns against the cuts we are also doing all this on your behalf.
That is the whole point of the campaign I feel. and that is how we should promote it. In placing ourselves as separate entities affected by the cuts in different ways we are in some way alienating the rest of the population to our cause.
But I think for the one of the first times in history we are equal to non disabled people, and I think it needs to be highlighted.
After all, disabled people are affected by similar benefit cuts, the cuts in education, public services, etc etc. as everyone else, albeit disproportionately.
However, I think we should take a leaf out of the ideology of the social model and focus on the similarities rather than the differences. The differences will only divide us and provide society with a scapegoat to blame for being a drain on the system.
If we unite together and fight those cuts that affect us all then surely we have a better chance of opposing them and countering the effects of them?
I know this still leaves us with our own specific battles to fight about disability specific services but then it shares the burden out?
thoughts?
We need to get non-disabled people marching on our behalf, equality is about them being as outraged by the WRB and the other attacks on us as we are. That means reaching out to them, but focusing on our issues and educating them.
ReplyDeleteYou talk about the differences, but rather than ignore them they are the very thing we have to focus on, because they are what mean we aren't equal. We won't be equal until everyone understands the attack on us that the WRB represents and rallies around to fight it, and ignoring that difference won't fix it.