Trump’s use of the R-word is a symptom of an ableist society
On Thanksgiving Day, the President of the United States called Governor Tim Walz the “R-word.” There was outrage throughout the country, especially from the disability community. Advocates wrote impassioned messages on social media, calling on Trump not to use this word. I imagine that these pleas will fall on deaf ears as this is not a one-time incident, but a pattern of behavior. Donald Trump has always been open about his disdain for the disabled. Just to name a few of these instances:
Trump regularly uses the R-word or similar language to describe political opponents.
He aggressively mocked a disabled reporter.
He allegedly told his nephew that his nephew’s disabled son would be better off dead.
He has made multiple comments about how repulsive he finds disabled veterans.
He has referred to autism, and therefore. autistic people as a “tremendous horror show.”
His policies also reflect his lack of value for disabled Americans. Again, just to name a few:
His work to dismantle the Department of Education puts disabled students at risk of not receiving the services they are entitled to by law.
His work requirements for receiving SNAP and Medicaid will disproportionately affect disabled Americans.
The FDA under his administration is pushing fringe science as fact, and ignoring established science to use autism as a scare tactic to dissuade people from giving their children lifesaving vaccines.
He has been rolling back DEI programs that were designed to ensure that disabled people had equitable access to jobs and services.
His administration has removed the federal government’s ability to enforce disability civil rights law.
He has cut services that help disabled people live in their communities.
Trump’s language and behavior has made it clear time and time again that he sees little to no value in disabled people in this country. We can keep writing essays calling him out, asking him to show compassion for vulnerable populations, but we need to face a very uncomfortable fact: our country knows that Trump is ableist and we SIMPLY DO NOT CARE.
Even after all of this appalling, ableist behavior, our country voted him in as president not once, but twice. While he uses these words and takes these actions that hurt disabled people, most Americans are just sitting back and letting it happen because our societies is ableist too. Let’s not forget that Gen X is the first generation of disabled adults that have been allowed to be part of our communities. Prior generations were housed in horrifying “hospitals” where they were treated as less than human and were even experimented on. Disabled children were kept separate from nondisabled children at school until the 1990s. It is legal to forcibly sterilize disabled people in 48 states. Besides the R-word, we routinely use former medical terms for disabled people as slurs:
Dumb
Idiot
Lame
Maniac
Lunatic
Psycho
Vegetable
Spastic
And these are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
These ableist attitudes are reflected in other behaviors and policies. While we offer SSI or SSDI for disabled people, these programs are designed such that anyone on them has to remain poor. When disabled people are featured in the news, it is usually as some version of the “supercrip” who has “overcome” their disability, or as someone that a non-disabled person deigned to befriend, making them (the non-disabled person) a “hero.” When I began working in mental health a dozen years ago, my prior authorizations for individuals’ therapy were routinely rejected if the diagnoses of autism or intellectual disability was included. I was told that these individuals should be receiving disability services, not mental health services. Social work and counseling programs routinely leave out information about disabled people. Psychological research rarely includes or focuses on disabled people. Disabled people, especially disabled adults, are often isolated, living in poverty, and forgotten.
I have watched in horror as disability rights, which were already insufficient, have been taken back decades. It feels hopeless because as long as our society learns to view disability as a tragedy, as something we would prefer was hidden, then things will not get better. Even if no one ever used the R-word again, our culture still wishes that disabled people did not exist.
But we do exist, and we aren’t going anywhere. In fact, in the disability rights community, we often refer to non-disabled folks as “temporarily abled,” as most people, if they live long enough, will become members of our community. So, STOP VOTING for ableist politicians. Stop treating disabled people like they are worthless if they can’t “contribute” to our capitalistic system. Stop ignoring disabled people because they make you uncomfortable. Take time to get to know us. Disability is an important aspect of human diversity and we have a lot to offer the world. We just need the time and opportunity to show you how.
Cardboard cutout of Trump silhouette with the words written from top to bottom “Mocks people with disabilities. #tinytrump.” and the words written below, “and we still voted for him.”
