I have said many times in
previous incarnations that I view autism primarily through the lens
of a different aspect of humanity (for lack of better word, a
culture) rather than a malady to be removed entirely. In that
aspect, I view autistic rights as a facet of human rights. The goal
of my advocacy is to promote autism as a valuable asset to the whole
of humanity, and that if the collective gives accommodations to the
autistic, the autistic will provide benefits to humanity in return.
It is for this reason that
when I hear autism and its descriptors being thrown about as
pejoratives I am offended; the idea that we are still the “other”,
that we are to be shunned at best and eliminated at worst. This is
why I was offended when Curtis posted his tweet regarding a fan
looking autistic last year, and why I was offended by the lyrics of
Jodeci Freestyle this year. However, I could not in good conscience
hate the men themselves; they were ignorant of the hurt they were
causing.
It is easy to demonize
those who inflict harm, to automatically assume the slices from a
sword are inflicted deliberately by a cruel oppressor, when the more
likely scenario is that of a small child picking up the sword and
swinging it carelessly. It is harder to step away from the child,
calm down, and observe the situation objectively; harder still to
then walk back to the child, grab the sword calmly and tell this person
that they are harming people with it.
But that is what we in the
human rights community must do if we are to move forward with our
goals, and the autism community in particular. We advocates must be
strong enough to take the slices without retaliating, explain that it
hurts, why it hurts and calmly ask that they stop swinging. Very few people hurt
deliberately; the majority hurt carelessly. And from my experience,
J. Cole and Curtis Jackson hurt carelessly, not deliberately, and
deserve the forgiveness asked by them.
