Content warning: ableist language
It’s interesting how certain insults are connected with certain types of issues. For example, when I bring up anything to do with race or racism, I’m called divisive. When I brought a motion to move a statue from its place of power in front of the court house, people from across the country wrote to me to tell me that I’m an idiot. It was very consistent.
Calling someone an idiot is ableist.
“Idiot” was a term used to describe someone with “low intelligence”, presumably with an intellectual disability.
When people called me that, they were essentially saying that they disagreed with my beliefs and thoughts about celebrating people with statues. They thought that statues, even ones erected in the 1980s were immovable monuments that should not be seen through a contemporary analysis that would paint those peoples’ historical actions as controversial or harmful. They told me that I was erasing history by moving a statue and that made me an idiot.
They disagreed with me. Fine.
Everyone has a different perspective on these issues, some informed by listening to impacted people and reflecting on history, others because they don’t like change, and others still because they like the way the story has always been told. In disagreeing with me, they were unable to respect my viewpoints or even consider what might be the reasons for my actions. They weren’t curious. They weren’t open to learning or reflecting. The only answer could be that I have low intelligence.
Was their insult really all that thought out? Probably not, but the consistency of the insult was striking.
Ableism and ableist language are very common in our everyday speech, actions, and work. It’s so deeply ingrained that we’re not even remotely aware that it’s there. I am pretty certain that you and I both say ableist things every day, both in the words we use and the way we frame issues.
However, what is particularly fascinating is the language we reach for when we want to insult someone. When we want to dismiss them. When we want to humble them or embarrass them. We reach for ableism. What does that tell us? That we believe that being disabled is the worst thing imaginable. Perhaps not consciously, but that belief is there in our unconscious.
English language insults are very revealing. The people who call[ed] me an idiot revealed a lot about themselves and the way they see the world. That insult doesn’t quite hit the way that they want it to and it reflects a lack of deep consideration, learning, or reflection on their part which is quite interesting since the issue being discussed is history represented through statuary and what that represents for us as a society.
Would you like to learn more about ableist language and alternatives? I’ve included some links below.
Also some interesting insights and reflections here.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK4qHEXB2kr/
Image description: Nadine lays on the couch and is making a kissy face at her black and white Moo cat. Glowing cursive font says “you’re an idiot.”
