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December 19, 2002
Tories have some catching up to do, apparently
Reading Clare Sainsbury's Martian in the Playground : Understanding the Schoolchild with Asperger's Syndrome (which you can, you know, look up if you're not familiar with the term), and at one point she writes:
Shying away from a label simply reinforces the perception that having a disability is shameful, embarrassing, something that must be "hushed up" if the person in question is to be treated as an equal (imagine the response if someone announced that the solution to racism in schools was to "avoid labelling children as black").
I'd swear the Republicans and Libertarians suggested exactly that here in the States, but prefer not to go looking for quotes to that effect.
Which leads me to mention WampumBlog, whose tagline is "Progressive Politics, Indian Issues, and Autism Advocacy."
I could try to explain how Asperger's relates to autism, but I'm fairly confident I'd not only get it wrong, but I'd misrepresent the positions of at least half a dozen people in the process.
And I'm guessing the tagline there is more accurate than the rotating series that appear here.
On a totally unrelated note, Powell and Jeb Bush Criticize Lott for Remarks:
With the furor over Senator Lott well into its second week, and his future remaining uncertain, Mr. Powell declared himself disappointed in Mr. Lott's laudatory comments about Strom Thurmond's 1948 presidential campaign, which was based on preserving racial segregation."I was disappointed in the senator's statement; I deplored the sentiments behind the statement," Mr. Powell said at a State Department briefing with the Danish foreign minister. "There was nothing about the 1948 election or the Dixiecrat agenda that should have been acceptable in any way to any American at that time or any American now."
Mr. Powell added, however, that he felt Mr. Lott was "speaking with sincerity" when he apologized.
Not interested in Jeb's opinion my own self, but you can read it at the NYT if you want.
There was this note further in the article:
Their comments are significant for several reasons. Mr. Powell, the most prominent black member of President Bush's administration, generally confines his comments to international affairs. Though he has spoken out on subjects like affirmative action, he has been reluctant to act as the administration's spokesman on racial issues. Mr. Powell's comments are also noteworthy because it is unusual for a cabinet official to speak out against a Senate leader.
If I was in a particularly bad mood, I'd mention how Powell (and to a lesser extent, Condoleezza Rice) are used for their symbolic value regarding Republican diversity/inclusivity/whatever, while both rarely speak directly to the issue.
Luckily, I'm not.
Apropos of nothing, the article linked to Condi's name up there contains an offhand reference to Paul Laurence Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask".
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,--
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
Can't imagine why.
Posted by Aaron at December 19, 2002 03:03 PM
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