Category Archives: Disabled Rights & Issues

Fair is fair: Kindergarten and the American Dream

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Grace Annam

Kindergarten showcases many basic principles which most of us learn there or at our parents’ knees:  take turns, share the toys, fair is fair, and so on.  Later on, “fair is fair” gets refined in many ways, one of which … Continue reading →

Posted in Class, poverty, labor, & related issues, Conservative zaniness, right-wingers, etc., Disabled Rights & Issues, Education, Elections and politics, Social Security, Uncategorized | Comments Off  

Deconstructing Sheri Tepper’s 2008 Interview with Strange Horizons

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Mandolin

So, someone asked me what was so offensive about Tepper’s interview. After reading her comments, I’m convinced that it might actually be helpful to some people if I did a deconstruction. I don’t usually fisk things because it’s a format … Continue reading →

Posted in Abortion & reproductive rights, Class, poverty, labor, & related issues, Disabled Rights & Issues, Environmental issues, Feminism, sexism, etc, International issues, Islamaphobia, literature, Race, racism and related issues | Comments Off  

Those damn, hypersensitive minorities

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Mandolin

A letter from 1943 about hypersensitive black people: We feel you may be inviting trouble if you use colored characters in the comic at this time. Experience has shown us that we have to be awfully careful about any comics … Continue reading →

Posted in Disabled Rights & Issues | Comments Off  

Microaggressions

Posted on January 23, 2011 by Myca

My wife pointed me to an excellent, if infuriating, blog last night, and I was up until 2 AM reading through it. Microaggressions is a blog about the little daily fuck-yous that populate the world if your race, gender, ethnicity, … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Class, poverty, labor, & related issues, Colonialism, crossposted on TADA, Disabled Rights & Issues, Fat, fat and more fat, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans and Queer issues, Links, Race, racism and related issues, Whatever | Comments Off  

The Race and Class of Schizophrenia

Posted on April 21, 2010 by Mandolin

Back in January, Nojojojo made a post on her livejournal that I found insightful. I asked her for permission to share it with Alas readers which she granted–and I apologize for not getting to it before now. Nojojojo quotes Melissa … Continue reading →

Posted in Disabled Rights & Issues, Feminism, sexism, etc, Race, racism and related issues | Comments Off  

Happy New Year!

Posted on January 6, 2010 by Maia

So it’s the time of New Year’s resolutions (and if you live in Wellington grumbling about the weather).* The newspapers didn’t have much copy over the last couple of weeks, so they were full of: “50 ways to be healthier … Continue reading →

Posted in Disabled Rights & Issues, Fat, fat and more fat | Comments Off  

Ableism in Workshop Advice: "There are Worse Things Than Death…"

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Mandolin

There’s something that gets bandied about a lot in workshops when people are talking to newbies. “You don’t have to kill your characters to up the stakes,” they say. “There are worse things that can happen to people than death.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Disabled Rights & Issues, literature | Comments Off  

Why Not to Use the Word Lame: I Think I'm Starting to Get It

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Mandolin

Another progressive blogger and I have had a few discussions about how we don’t see the word “lame” as really a big deal. However, we both concluded, it wasn’t really our fight and the stakes weren’t as high for us … Continue reading →

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New Jersey Man Beaten By Cops For "Wandering" While Black

Posted on June 9, 2009 by Ampersand

From WPIX: PASSAIC, N.J. (WPIX) – A police officer in New Jersey, captured on surveillance tape viciously beating a mentally ill man, has been reassigned while an investigation into the incident is underway. Passaic cop Joseph J. Rios III, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Disabled Rights & Issues, Prisons and Justice and Police, Race, racism and related issues | Comments Off  

Ableist Language – replacement suggestions from the Hand Mirror

Posted on May 4, 2009 by Mandolin

Ampersand and I have periodically discussed the issue of ableist language. We’d both like to do better about purging some of the words that infest our vocabulary. In particular, the word “lame” has a tendency to creep into our statements, … Continue reading →

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