By Anthony Mills
“People with disabilities are a minority. If a store does not accommodate disabled people then do not buy from it. How can a man with a disability expect to have the same rights as a man who is normal? Should people with disabilities be allowed to work construction and get the same pay as a normal person? This is like saying that I should get the same pay as PM Douglas when he is the PM and I am an office clerk. Everybody cannot be equal! If God wanted it that way it would be so”.
Real Talk (16-Apr-09 03:48 PM)
I found this comment on SKNVibes in reply to an article by Ryan Haas entitled “Thousands in Federation denied equal rights” published on April 15, 2009 and had to wonder if this person wasn’t caught in some kind of time warp. I could not believe that in twenty-first century St. Kitts & Nevis there were still people with that mentality.
Well Real Talk, to be honest I don’t know which of the -ists I should call you. If I or anyone else is to take your statement at face value, then it would seem that you agree with all of the atrocities that have ever been committed against mankind, because your god (not mine) did not create us all equal.
That would make you a racist, a sexist and any other -ists that you can think of. Let’s get this straight; you think it is ok to deny people basic human rights on the basis of race, color, class, creed, disability or gender? You think that a woman should not be allowed to vote? Now correct me if I’m wrong, you think that all of the United Nation’s human rights charters were just waste of time and should not have been negotiated, never mind signed and ratified, because in your world the natural order of things is that everybody cannot be equal because your god didn’t want it that way?
It’s exactly that kind of thinking that allowed slavery to continue for 400 years.
Let me try to address your issues and answer some of the questions you posed.
“People with disabilities are a minority”. - True, but let’s not forget that this minority group includes people from all walks of life.
“If a store does not accommodate disabled people, then do not buy from it.” - This tells me that you are a segregationist, though in principle I have to agree with you on this one.
“How can a man with a disability expect to have the same rights as a man who is normal?” - This one is so simple I’ll answer it with one word –“HUMAN”—and ask you to define normal.
“Should people with disabilities be allowed to work construction and get the same pay as a normal person?” - Yes, if that person has the skill to do the job that is required; e.g. if that person is a labourer, then they should be paid the same as all the other labourers and if they are a tradesman then that person should be paid the same as all of the other tradesmen with his/her skill level .
“This is like saying that I should get the same pay as PM Douglas when he is the PM and I am an office clerk.” – No, that’s not what it is saying; what it is saying is the same thing you say to your boss, “Equal pay for equal work!” Just in case you or anyone else with the same thought process as you does not understand-does an office clerk get the same pay as the PM of course not, but if a person with a disability is employed as the PM, then that person should get the relevant pay. Likewise, if he or she is employed as an office clerk, they should be treated and paid in accordance with their experience, same as everyone with the same experience.
Now, look around the world and see if you don’t see examples of persons with disabilities doing great things. The governor of New York is blind. I met a blind lawyer from St. Lucia. One of our nation’s Caricom youth ambassadors is a wheelchair user. There are deaf actors. Disabled athletes who will put you to shame right here in this Federation have won far more medals on the world stage than their non-disabled counterparts. Persons with disabilities are going to colleges and getting degrees from associates to PhD, marrying and raising families. I know mechanics with one foot, and even a one arm pool shark.
Sorry to disappoint you, but persons with disabilities are already doing the things you think we shouldn’t. Even our fist national hero was a man with a disability, so I guess you just have to be mad everyday that you are living in this world and not yours.
To be honest I would like to have a one and one with you so that you can tell me to my face why you think that I’m less of a human than you. The St. Kitts Nevis Association of Persons with Disabilities is putting together a panel for a discussion on the 11th of May; why not join the panel and educate the nation as to why persons with disabilities do not deserve the same rights as “normal people”? You can also show us where in the bible it says that all men are not created equal. You know, and I’m being honest again, it’s a good thing that people who think like you are also a minority.
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