Message to Santa Clara County

Partially delivered at the Women’s Equality 2020 Leadership Council Meeting on December 9, 2020

Disability is the unspoken word even before COVID-19 hit. Society disables individuals AND groups of people when they deviate from the “norm.” — whether it is from the color of their skin, income or education level, their differences and abilities, and/or use of adaptive equipment. Words like access and functional needs and accommodations while still important rarely identify this hidden group and in fact keep the group more hidden especially when the concept of disability rights let alone disability justice is not understood at higher levels. The county needs to actively work to remove the bias created by structural ableism through representation, education and awareness to realities of disabled people.

Many County offices and commissions attempt to address the many inequities that exist in our society yet disability is rarely a topic that is understood except by a chosen few who face a system stacked against them. Disabled people are denied equal access to employment, housing, and relevant assistive technology. During COVID the access is more dire and essential to things like testing sites, safe transportation options, and medical care. Too often we are defined as a burden on society, institutionalized, deemed less than, cast out into the streets.

Santa Clara county must prioritize disability rights and move towards a disability justice framework that embraces those most impacted to lead the changes that are needed in this county, this state, and in the larger nation. Thank you for listening.