Images, Myths, Stereotypes

Images, Myths, Stereotypes 

There are very few positive and public images of white disabled people and even less of black disabled people. Everywhere, the image is given and the myth perpetuated that disabled people are poor, pathetic, helpless victims of charity handouts; of subnormal intellect and substandard education who need to be treated in 'special' ways. Add to this the often feared and complex issue of race and racism then what we have in the black disabled person is a virtual non-entity. An individual stripped of any real identity; an individual unable to find total acceptance within the black community because of their disability; isolated from the white disabled community because of their race; and rejected and oppressed by a wider community because of a combination of the two.