Systemic harms need not be malicious to be harmful.
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As someone who has recently developed some mobility issues (namely I have difficulty with stairs and curbs). I have become hyper aware of how accessible any given building or home is. While I find most places are passably accessible, there are several places I avoid completely because of the difficulty I would experience in accessing them. That this councilperson had to literally crawl onto a stage is incredibly infuriating to me.
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One of the things that upsets me is seeing neighborhoods or roads without sidewalks. This seems to be common in some of the southern states i’ve visited but i don’t know how this shakes out in other states. I’ve seen someone in a wheelchair having to go off road, or even in the middle of the road because there was no sidewalk, and i’ve also seen elderly people having to also walk on the road while cars zoomed by them because of the lack of a sidewalk. I can’t imagine how a city would ever think that having a lack of a safe space to walk or get around is ok.
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I imagine it’s a combination of ableism and the bias towards automobiles when it comes to urban planning. Those in charge of doing the planning simply don’t consider the needs of those not in cars and not as able bodied as themselves.
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The mere fact that sidewalks can be “closed” is a testament to the pedestrian’s lowly position in society.
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Same here.
Or, what I see often around here is, there ARE sidewalks, but that’s also where they locate the power line poles and other equipment. Smack in the middle, too, not even off to the side. There is no way someone in a wheelchair or pushing a stroller can fit on the sidewalk in a lot of places.
Re: the OP, this is horrible. I’m kind of surprised a bunch of strapping guys from the audience didn’t volunteer to lift him, chair and all, up to the stage. But I know that’s not the point.
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I used to live in a neighborhood where they had sidewalks every other block. And maybe a ramp to it, or not. I couldn’t work out why it was felt that this was useful to anyone.
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At one point my municipality had a rule that required a minimum of something like 60% of road frontage in new developments to have sidewalks. You can guess how that turned out.
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Yeah, i know. I read the post, too. I was thinking, pall bearers regularly lift 100 lbs each, so if 5 or 6 people volunteered, and could hoist 100 lbs each, that would account for his chair and himself if he weighed around 200 lbs.
Again, not really the point. While it’s frustrating to be treated like I don’t know wtf I’m talking about, it’s far less frustrating than having to crawl onto a debate stage to secure my campaign funds, so I count myself lucky.
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Also, from what I understand from what I’ve read of wheelchair users’ accounts of this sort of thing, being picked up by the wheelchair and carried is worse. It’s more humiliating than crawling up the steps, and much, much more dangerous. Also scarier and more dehumanising.
Consider a bunch of strangers who may or may not be strong and/or coordinated enough to do so (how would you know?) offering to grab you and restrain you at the same time to bodily haul you over some obstacle, with the implicit knowledge that their offer isn’t really “asking”, and they think they’re doing you a favour.
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