Disability discrimination today
Durban Review, April 19, 2009
People with disabilities are still today being subjected to physical and mental abuse. Recent examples include:
- A 20-year-old Minnesota man named John Maniglia, a member of the Minnesota National Guard pleaded guilty to his role in the brutal assault and torture of Justin Hamilton, a young adult with Intellectual Disabilities. The victim believed that Mr. Maniglia was his friend.
- Coerced fights between residents with Intellectual Disabilities, dubbed "human cockfights" have been confirmed at three Texas institutions, including the Corpus Christi School.
- In Atalissa, Iowa, officials of Henry's Turkey Service, are suspected of exploiting and neglecting workers with Intellectual Disabilities. The men lived in deplorable conditions in a padlocked bunkhouse for almost thirty-five years and were paid as little as .44 cents an hour.
A new report called "Getting Away With Murder", launched by Scope, Disability Now magazine and the UK Disabled People's Council (UKDPC) shows that disabled people throughout the UK are facing "a crisis of justice". Widespread casual and institutional disablism in Britain creates the conditions where disability hate crime can flourish without being recognized or challenged.
The following video depicts the horrible conditions that people with developmental disabilities lived under at the Howe institutions in Illinois.
According to the Chicago Tribune, twenty people died under questionable circumstances at Howe between September 2005 and May 2008.
Other articles on discrimination against people with disabilities
For related articles, visit the discrimination against people with disabilities section of Durban Review or select from the articles below. Other anti-racism themes, conference details, and news are available from the Durban Review home page.
- Questions and Answers
An introduction to the topic of discrimination against people with disabilities through short questions and answers - Defining disability
A look at different definitions of disabilty and where some fall short. - Categories of Disability
The five catagories of disabilities explained. - Online disability discrimination
A look at discrimination against people with disabilities on the internet. - Disability discrimination today
Where we as a society stand today, a look at some recent incidents and information. - Bruce Maguire, Telecommunications access and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Australian Human Rights Commission, 16 February 2009.
- Hannah Jacobs, Public blindness to discrimination against those with disabilities
Recent statements by public figures, including President Obama, highlight the casual discrimination against people with disabilities in todays society. - Nazi persecution of the disabled: Murder of the Unfit
Nazi persecution of persons with disabilities began with forced sterilization and escalated toward mass murder. The Euthanasia Program was in itself a rehearsal for Nazi Germany's broader genocidal policies. [External link]
