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There is an Abled Supremacy Problem Within Social Justice 
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There is an Abled Supremacy Problem Within Social Justice 

April Cheri
Mar 13, 2021
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I'm angry and the safest way I can communicate it is through questions.

If all White people born into white supremacy are racists, then by the same logic aren't all abled people born into abled supremacy ableist? Why are disabled people the only ones talking about ableism & disability justice?

When are we going to confront ableism and abled supremacy with the same fervor we confront racism and white supremacy or sexism and male supremacy? Why are racism & sexism so much more important? How do we believe disability justice will be achieved when it's given so little attention?  

When are abled people going to own your privilege? When will you start talking to your family and friends about their ableism? Where are the reading lists, book groups, and learning circles about ableism? When will abled people with platforms start handing the mic to disabled activists and creators?

A prominent racial justice writer recently claimed that we're doing trickle down social justice - when the darkest Black people of all identities get their justice then it will trickle down to everyone else. And while I can see what she's trying to say, the glaring problem with that is the racial justice movement and social justice culture as a whole isn't confronting its ableism.  

Are disabled people of all races supposed to wait years/decades for racial justice to be achieved before disability justice get its turn? And what of the disabled people of all races being systemically abused and dying every day because of ableism? What of the tremendous disregard of disabled lives during the pandemic? 

This is why I'm adamant that we can't eradicate any form of supremacy without eradicating every form of supremacy within ourselves, systems, and culture. 

It's clear by the lack of attention and action by abled people within social justice that disabled people are believed to have little value even among the people who claim to care. And I'm fucking angry about it. Care looks like attention, intention, support, and resources. The time for disabled people to be treated as fully human is now. 

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