Ableism and white supremacy are directly related to one another

Ableism, broadly defined, is any expression of discrimination that favors nondisabled people, but it is not a prejudice that harms only those with disabilities. Ableism is a systemic oppression that finds common ancestry with white supremacy.

Disabled people are often asked to give an account of themselves to quell nondisabled people’s discomfort, while striving toward conformity. It is understood that our lives do not matter enough to fund robust public transportation infrastructure, rethink city planning, improve workflows for benefits administration, or to codify universal health care access. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve learned that some people do not think our disabled lives are worth saving; disabled bodies are disposable.

Confronting ableism and revealing its shared features with white supremacy asserts the dignity of disabled people and overcomes dehumanizing practices that mimic white supremacist ideology. And more, challenging systemic hierarchies in all their forms extends an opportunity for people in privileged positions to question their own complicity in dominant systems, and when liberated from misguided rhetoric, closer to embracing their full humanity by recognizing the humanity in others. White supremacist ideology, like the ableist assumption that quality of life must be inherently lower for people with disabilities, does not harm only disabled bodies, but supremacists themselves are harmed by their own ideology, barring the supremacist from living a full and meaningful life.

James Baldwin explained in his influential 1963 talk for school teachers that the hateful racial slurs directed toward him did not reveal anything about his nature, but instead, revealed something about the speaker: “Because if I am not what I’ve been told I am, then it means that you’re not what you thought you were either! And that is the crisis.” When disabled people challenge the status quo, we, like Baldwin, recognize that undervaluing our lives is not a reflection of who we are as disabled people; instead, it points to harm caused by those who are undervaluing our lives, including the dominant society as a whole.

I find solidarity with people challenging privilege in all forms and dismantling systemic injustice, including the foundation of white supremacy.