I Have a Dream

I recently read an article that shared about the “we-they” barrier we still have in regards to those with disabilities. It made me wonder if that was a barrier we could overcome, and for some reason it made me think of the civil rights movement. I know that was a “we-they” barrier that this country has fought long and hard to overcome, and so maybe it came to mind to give me hope. Looking back, it seems obvious that black or white, we were all created equal. It seems silly that we could have ever thought that the color of one’s skin would be the reason that they were in some way less, and yet do we make these “silly” assumptions in regards to those with disabilities? Maybe it’s different. Maybe this is an unfair comparison, but I also think in many ways it’s not at all. I look at MLK’s speech where he states, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." And I think has it? Maybe for those of color, but do we really consider ALL men equal? Do our interactions and instant thoughts when we see those with disabilities suggest that? To me it seems, especially in regards to our immediate thoughts, that we are a long way off from ever achieving that. I mean I know I have my stereotypes that pop up even though I wish I could rid myself of them, and I am trying to be intentionally about losing them! So yes this question of, can we overcome this barrier, is daunting, but I am sure it looked pretty daunting at the start of the civil rights movement, and so I do take hope. And I do have a dream that one day a generation will be born into a world where they aren’t taught the stereotypes of those with disabilities, and are honestly able to look at those with disabilities as people just like them! The article that started me thinking about all of this, was entitled, What Shall We Call “Them”? The Issue of Labels and Categories, and it concluded with the decision that they should be categorized as “us,” that first and foremost, they are “people—human beings just like us.” I have a dream that one day there will be no more “we-they”s in the world; that there will just be “us.”