Red Disability - where we stand

Why is this site so political?

Red Disability is a site which supports disability rights, from a socialist viewpoint. It is our intention to be political. As Karl Marx said in The Communist Manifesto, "every class struggle is a political struggle". That includes the struggle of working class people, including working class people with disabilities, against the ruling class which oppresses people with disabilities and exploits all working class people.

Red Disability has often been criticised for bringing politics into disability. But there are already plenty of mainstream disability related sites, including:

So Red Disability aims to appeal to the left-wing tendency within the disability movement, rather than just copying the sites already on offer.

Does this site represent all people with disabilities?

No. It can't. In fact, no website can, really.

People with disabilities are not a homogeneous group. For a start, disability is a diverse topic including wheelchair use, blindness, deafness, speech disabilities, autism, epilepsy, diabetes, asthma, HIV, mental illness, dyslexia ... I could go on, but I think you get the picture!

Within such groupings, there are different lifestyles and opinions. People can have disabilities whether we are black or white, gay or straight, young or old, male or female.

Then there's different viewpoints in how people see their disability. Some would like to be treated as equals, others see their disability as a negative which should be cured. A few even see themselves as objects of pity.

Even among those of us who do want equal rights, there are differing views as to how this should be achieved. Some favour a legislative approach while others prefer direct action, some believe only people with disabilities should be involved in the fight for disability rights while others seek the support of everyone regardless of ability or class.

Many of the mainstream disability rights "square this circle" by adopting a "lowest common denominator" approach, focusing on relatively non-contentious demands which most people can agree with. I accept that there is a place for such a popular front approach sometimes, but I believe there is also a place for a site which argues for changes which go beyond these basic demands.

As the cliche goes, you can't please all of the people - even all of the people with disabilities - all of the time. Which is why Red Disability concentrates on appealing to left-wing people with disabilities.

Is our political approach doing more harm than good?

Well, as areardy mentioned, there are several other websites which cover disability issues from a "non-political" viewpoint - including some run by charities such as Scope and Radar. Even the government itself pays lip-service to disability rights.

Yet this has not always been the case, and the increased awareness of disability as a civil rights issue has not been due to liberal sections of the Establishment suddenly "waking up" and realizing that disabled people deserve better. It has been due to the growth of campaigns, often militant campaigns, by disabled people ourselves. Some of these, such as the campaigns for better accessibility on buses and the campaigns against patronizing telethons, have often had the involvement of predominantly left-wing groups such as the DAN.

So, far from left-wing politics doing more harm than good, it is quite possible that the disability rights movement would not have progressed as far as it has if it were not for the involvement of the left-wing. So we make no apologies for our political bias.

Why is a website for people with disabilities also supporting the rights of other oppressed minorities, such as young people and asylum seekers?

That attitude would suggest that all oppressed groups should fight in a vacuum, without making links with other oppressed groups and campaigns against oppression.

For us to take this attitude ourselves, would be to surrender to the "divide and rule" tactics which the Establishment have been successful in using not only against oppressed minorities, but against the whole working class. No minority group can overthrow oppression which is created by the ruling class Establishment, unless we can link with those whose struggles can bring down the root cause of our oppression - ie we must link with the whole of working class.

That does not mean that disability rights cannot be fought for as a separate issue. But we must never consider disability rights to be the only issue worth fighting for. That is why Red Disability not only campaigns against racism, homophobia, curfews and all other forms of oppression - we also oppose sections of the disability movement itself on certain issues, where the rights of other oppressed groups may be in jeopardy. (For example, we are opposed to certain sections of the deaf movement who want to ban under-18's from having cochlear implants).

Are people with disabilities really an oppressed minority?

Check out the statistics page of Scope's Time To Get Equal website - I think the figures speak for themselves!

Is the Famous People With Disabilities section patronising?

It depends on how you see it.

Too often, people with disabilities who do succeed are assumed to be the exception, and portrayed as "brave" for overcoming their disability. Red Disability does not see it that way. We think that people do have abilities as well as disabilities, even that disability in one area can encourage people to develop more greatly their other abilities (for example, many blind people tend to be musically talented - perhaps for that very reason).

The Famous People With Disabilities section is there not to patronize anyone, but to make it clear that people with disabilities should not be written off. Please remember, those talented enough to become famous are not isolated exceptions, they are in fact the "tip of the iceberg".

Why have some articles been re-written?

Since Red Disability started in 1999, there have been many changes - both social and political - which have affected both people with disabilities and the disability movement. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. We are simply trying to keep up with the times!

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