Power Grid Blog
Disability Day of Mourning
March 13, 2013 | Chad Carson
Chad Carson at the Disability Day of Mourning
Earlier this month, I attended a Disability Day of Mourning vigil in Washington, DC. Disability Day of Mourning started as a response to the murder of an autistic person named George Hodgins and the media’s sympathetic response to his caregiver, who murdered him. To commemorate this day, we gathered at Farragut Square and spoke the name of someone that was murdered by their caregiver.
Caring for someone with a disability can be extremely taxing; especially if the person is unable to perform basic living tasks (getting into and out of bed, feeding oneself, dressing and undressing, bathing, etc.) because of physical and/or mental differences. Society does not have adequate supports for children and adults who are unable to live a, so called, “normal life”. To understand the motivations of a murderer is one thing. However, to sympathize and justify an act of murder is another thing altogether.
To justify the actions of a caregiver murdering the one that they give care to, is to devalue and dehumanize the true victim of the crime. This in essence, implies the victim’s life was without meaning and just a painful burden to the perpetrator. To blame a person with a disability for their murder is comparable to blaming a rape victim for the violation of their own body. To blame the victim is to create a false narrative of the violation of their human rights.
The tragedy of the people, whose names we spoke, was failure on the part of both their caregivers and the communities where they lived. As individuals and as a society, we need to treat one another better- be it with or without a disability.
Click here, to read the blog post about the murder of George Hodgins; March 28, 2012.
Click here, to read the ASAN News Story about the event; February 4, 2013.
Comments
Submitted by DJ at 11:53 AM on March 14, 2013