"Nothing About Us Without US"

Oppression occurs when individuals are systematically subjected to political, economic, cultural, or social degradation because they belong to a social group.”   
-James Charlton  

These different contexts determine the similarities and differences in the experience of people with disabilities.

The slogan “Nothing About Us Without Us” resonates with the philosophy and history of the disability rights movement (DRM), a movement that has embarked on a mission parallel to other liberation movements. This slogan can be interpreted to mean different things, but to me, it says (from a first-person perspective) to mean, “We should have a say in the policies that affect us.” Charlton says, “to understand anything about people with disabilities or the disability rights movement, one must recognize their individual and collective necessities.” (Charlton 17) This slogan has built a movement that has united many to put an end to the oppression people with disabilities face. And why not, it is simple and to the point. Plus, many different oppressed groups can use the same phrase, because of their mutual understanding concerning the matter.

In his book, James Charlton argues that socially-constructed needs, and deprivation experienced by people with disabilities that constitute the terms of struggle as well as the need for people with disabilities to agitate for their own needs, from their own lived experience. To me, it comes down to an assumption of inferiority that people with disabilities take issue with. This assumption of inferiority includes an assumption that people want the norm, a lack of publicity, and an exclusion of participation. It almost seems like people are saying…..if you truly want to help, how about asking us what we need. By taking away disabled people’s voices on matter regarding them, one could argue you are not only demeaning them, but taking away their own sense of identity. As Charlton says, our country is “transforming the notion and concept of disability from a medical condition to a political and social condition.” (Charlton 17)

I conclude with a passage from California Scholarship Online,

“The DRM's demand for control is the essential theme that runs through all its work. Control has universal appeal for DRM activists because the needs of people with disabilities and the potential for meeting these needs are everywhere conditioned by a dependency born of powerlessness, poverty, degradation, and institutionalization. This dependency, saturated with paternalism, begins with the onset of disability and continues until death. The condition of dependency is typical for hundreds of millions of people throughout the world. Only in the past twenty-five years has this condition begun to change. Although little noticed and affecting only a small percentage of people with disabilities, this transformation is profound.”

The need for control has developed out of dependency. It becomes so vital for people who are dependent on others, to at least have a voice in matters concerning them. Their voice is already marginalized do to their inherent uniqueness. Only they can truly understand how our actions and policies will affect them. Let’s not create social and political policies for them, thinking that they do not know what’s best for them.

References:

James I. Charlton, 1998, Nothing About Us without Us, University of California Press., 3-20, 153-168

"Nothing About Us without Us : Nothing About Us Without UsDisability Oppression and Empowerment California Scholarship Online." Home California Scholarship Online. http://california.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1525/california/9780520207950.001.0001/upso-9780520207950-chapter-1 (accessed June 2, 2013).