2 Miles

I'm just a sojourner and alien living in terra-firma passing through the sieve of this earth suit and I noticed that...

Racism stinks.

I understand that it's challenging to convey the concept of inherent privilege, which is often taken for granted by those who have it, and its impact on those who don't. This lack of awareness is a significant reason why many white Americans and Western Europeans tend to overlook or undervalue issues related to racial justice. Why do we need to keep (paying for) affirmative action if the status quo seems to be pretty good? I mean, aren't we in a post-racial society? 'Cause, you know - Obama? The best way to understand privilege is to take it away.

When we were confined to the four walls of home during the pandemic, we suddenly realized what a blessing it was to be able to go to explore a National Park. Racial privilege seems to be a bit more challenging to grasp. If you want to know what it's like to be black in the West, here is your challenge: the Wheelchair Empathy Experiment (WEE).

May need a better acronym, but I'm in Ireland - it's all good.

Grab a wheelchair and for 30 days live as if your legs stopped working...visit the halls of power in your city or better yet, your nation's capital. I know. WEE is a wee comparison. The barriers to access for the disabled are strong, but racial barriers are centuries old and built to last. The affect is nothing close, but it offers the beginning of understanding.

At the end of each day, reflect on these questions:

• How does it feel when there is literally no seat at the table for you?
• How long did it take to catch a taxi?
• How does it feel to be unable to access the people's house by the front door?
• How does it feel when the elevator or service that is supposed to be in place to assist your mobility is out of order or unavailable and has been that way for months or years because it's just not a priority?
• Can you tell how people feel about you or your condition by how they act? By how they look at you? By how they speak to you? What about the things left un-said?
• How does it feel to go to a theme park, the movies or other recreational area? Can you go to your gym? Join a sports team?
• How does it feel to go to a business and find that they perform the bare minimum to accommodate your status?
• How does it feel to have to prove your status as a citizen?
• How does it feel to wait months for a service, only to find out you reached out to the wrong government bureau and have to start over again?
• How much self-improvement can you do to accommodate your own disability? Can you get strong enough or resourced enough to carry or build your own ramp to get into your home or place of business? (giving you the side-eye conservatives)
• What is it like to check the box that states you are considered less than a whole person?
• Does your apartment accommodate your disability?
• What is it like to search for a place to live in your condition?
• What is it like when friends, parents, co-workers don't believe the day to day experiences you've had? When others don't think that you're treated differently based on how you present to the world?
• How does it feel to not be believed?
• How does it feel to be denied access?

At the end of day one you will be tired, disgusted and somehow ashamed for being treated as less than human. Multiply that by 30, then by 12 then by every year you've been alive, then add more for good measure.

Race, like disability, is a status conferred on specific members of society by people who themselves are unaffected. Who qualifies for what title changes from year to year and place to place. Racial barriers to access are visible, invisible, persistent, systemic, anxiety producing, exhausting, expensive, and othering. For those of us who are melanated and disabled, well - we're just kinda screwed, eh?

This week marks the 60th anniversary of the 1964 U.S. Civil Rights Act, yet American and British descendants of enslaved Africans travel miles off the beaten track for the dignity of being treated as citizens of the human race. We can't legislate morality, kindness or fairness, but if your ready to act on what you believe is true about genuine equality and justice, put down the wheelchair (unless you really need it) and walk with us.

Don't just go one mile, though - walk two.