Jerry Lewis and the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon

by The Unknown Writer

September 3^rd 2001 is the day that Jerry Lewis hosts the 36^th annual Labor Day muscular dystrophy telethon. As I’m sure many of you are aware by now, Mr. Lewis when interviewed on "CBS Sunday Morning" which aired in May said "if it’s pity, we’ll get some money."

This statement by Mr. Lewis set the disabled community on fire. Advocates from across the country have been calling for the boycott of the telethon. There are protests scheduled against the telethon. A website called stopthepity.org was set up.

Mr. Lewis did issue an apology, saying, "I admire people with disabilities. Some in our community stood by Mr. Lewis’ side saying that he did apologize and that he is raising money for muscular dystrophy.

I think that the question that needs to be asked at this point is why did Mr. Lewis’ comment "if it’s pity, we’ll get money" strike such a nerve in our community? The answer to that I believe is because we the disabled community are tired of being viewed by the population at large as different. We are tired of being looked down upon because we may have the misfortune of being in a wheelchair. Why can’t we exist in society blending in like everyone else does?

By definition, the term civil means belonging to the general public, not the military. Rights meaning the rights of a citizen. So the term "Civil Rights" means the rights of a citizen that belongs to the general public, not the military. Because of our disabilities, our community needs special rights that are different from those of the general public. These rights include but are not limited to our rights described in the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). Also, other countries have adopted similar legislation.

As most of you are aware, the ADA has come under battle this year with the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States of America in Garrett vs. Alabama. The Supreme Court’s decision indeed weakened the ADA. There are other battles that go on constantly at both the state and federal levels. Someone somewhere is after either Title 1 or Title 2. It never stops and my guess is that it never will. In my opinion it’s because of money. It costs money to implement the rights given us under the ADA in the United States.

The disabled community has been working long and hard to ensure its rights in the United States and I’m sure in other countries. This hard work is the work of intelligent capable people. People who are just like any other people except that they have a physical/mental handicap that causes a disability of some sort.

It is my belief that the general population as a whole sees a disabled individual and consequently the disabled community as a whole as weak and feeble. They don’t see us as strong and capable individuals who just happen to have an impairment that renders us disabled. I believe it is that perception by the public including Mr. Lewis that makes them feel that they need to pity us.

I don’t know Mr. Lewis personally, but I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is a nice person. I’ll do this if he can give our community the benefit of the doubt and see us as strong viable individuals who do not need nor want his nor anyone else’s pity.

It is my opinion that we as a community need to spend time educating the general public to the fact that we are just like them except for our impairment. That yes we do need some special rules that will help us fit into society easier such as the ADA. However, we do not want nor need your pity, we want your support. There is a difference you know, or do they know? I think we need to educate them.

Raising money for muscular dystrophy research etc. is a wonderful thing. It should be done however because society strictly from a humanistic standpoint wants to make peoples’ lives with it easier. Don’t raise the money out of pity.

How do we change the general public’s perception of our community? To answer that question, I think that we go no further than banning together as a group both politically and economically. In the United States, the annual disposable income in our community is somewhere between $170-175 billion dollars. Disposable income is income that is spent on non-essential things. With that kind of economic power, if we all joined together, they would have to listen.

In the United States, there are an estimated 54 million disabled individuals. Let me tell you that is a large number. Our community transcends race, color and religion. We are truly unique. You can ask any economist and sociologist what would happen if a group of 54 million people with a disposable annual income of $170-175 billion joined together? I’m sure that any one of them would say that group would be one of the most powerful groups in the country. You know why, because there are power in numbers?

We don’t want to be pitied. We also don’t want to be treated like second class citizens because we are not. All we have to do is to join together as a community. Forget our separate agendas. That is the reason why I write for disABLEDperson.com. One of their ultimate goals is to bring the disabled community together so that we can become both a political and economic force.