Strikes, Boycotts, and Ableism

Posted on by Grayson Schultz

a computer sits on a desk with the definiition of capitalism pulled up - noun - ˈkapədlˌizəm - an economic and political system where trade and industry are controlled by private owners which pits all workers and systemically disadvantaged groups against each other in the name of profit - heading has title of this blog post

Many people on the political left like to act as though conservatives have the monopoly on being bigots. That’s included ableism… but, the reality is much different.

As Charis Hill notes in Progressives’ Big Ableism Problem (emphasis mine):

Progressives need to work on understanding that:

Ableism is the trickle down of a mockery of how the president drinks that becomes a denial of autonomy & accommodations, a substandard social security disability wage, or a brutal police murder of a black person whose own death is blamed on their underlying conditions.

There’s no such thing as a progressive ableist.

Note: There is room to say the above and acknowledge that we are each on a journey of learning how to unpack societal norms and systems of oppression that have been forced upon us. This is a great way to use the idea of plural selves from Meg-John Barker.

A great illustration of this political juxtaposition? How many people cited Trump’s mockery of a disabled reporter as ableism. Ableds thought “Well, if Trump admitting sexually predatory behavior wasn’t enough to end his campaign, making fun of poor, pitiful disabled folks should do it.”

We all saw how that turned out.

Yet, if you asked these folks what this reporter’s name or condition was? None of them could name Serge Kovaleski or arthrogryposis. Not unlike inspiration porn, Kovaleski was used as a pawn – a means to an end.

The left’s ableism issue runs deeper than that, including the invention of eugenics. This once ‘progressive’ idea was American-grown before 1900, inspiring Hitler and countless others:

Eugenics was born as a scientific curiosity in the Victorian age. In 1863, Sir Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, theorized that if talented people only married other talented people, the result would be measurably better offspring. At the turn of the last century, Galton’s ideas were imported into the United States just as Gregor Mendel’s principles of heredity were rediscovered. American eugenic advocates believed with religious fervor that the same Mendelian concepts determining the color and size of peas, corn and cattle also governed the social and intellectual character of man.

So, it was no surprise to me when I opened Twitter this morning to see a bunch of lefties tearing down a disabled person.

Disappointing, but not surprising

FYI – if you have sensory issues, allergies, etc.? A lot of those things wind up being brand-dependent, whether that’s medication or food.

As if that wasn’t enough, people are also claiming that this individual should have kept their mouth shut and just ‘dealt’ with it.

Obviously, that’s easier said than done. Secondly? Part of what disability twitter is about is pointing out the covered spots other people have. Pointing out the need for nuance here does not, in any way, harm anyone.

It’s simply a call to not be a shit bag. It shouldn’t be that hard.

Some bots – and even humans! – are reposting the text of the original tweets as if it’s copypasta. Others are posting shitty ‘jokes.’

I hate ableds so much.

Wait… Should we be boycotting?

The Kelloggs workers have not officially called for consumers to formally boycott. Boycotting if the workers have not asked you to can actually harm their efforts. Companies will use this to show why unions are ‘bad’ instead of listening to them.

A spokesperson at BCTGM did suggest that folks can choose to avoid these products in solidarity, though:

You can follow the BCTGM International Union and their Twitter account to stay updated on any changes.

On Strikes and Boycotts

Going back to Meg-John’s idea of the plural self, it is absolutely possible to hold space for multiple realities. This is one situation that calls for that level of nuance.

One
Strikes and boycotts are an important part of the labor movement. They help to correct some of the power imbalances inherent in our society. In a capitalist system, the loss of production – and, therefore, money – is often the only thing that companies will understand.

Two
As a society, we need to remember to make space for those who may be unable to safely participate in strikes or boycotts. Pretending like we can all participate in the same way denies reality.

Three
There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Period. This is a system that has been designed specifically to harm everyone who isn’t in control.

Having to cross a picket line in order to survive is not a thing that is specific only to the disability community. People living in poverty, food deserts, etc., may not have other options for where to shop and who to give money to. You don’t get to make a moral judgment on another person based on privileges you hold that they don’t.

When we’re talking about oppression and both historically & currently disadvantaged folks? This isn’t an all-or-nothing situation. Hardly anything around justice work actually is.

If you’ve had to cross a picket line to survive? It does not make you a bad person. That alone does not mean you support the workers any less than someone who has the privilege to refrain from crossing that line. If you’re able to, there may be other ways for you to chip in, such as supporting those who are striking financially or raising awareness, etc.

Towards the beginning of the pandemic, I had to cross a picket line. I am #HighRiskCOVID19 and was unable to safely go grocery shopping. We relied on grocery and food delivery for months. I don’t know that I really even left my apartment from mid-March to early May 2020, save walking, taking out the trash, and getting a COVID-19 test.

I’m lucky enough that I’m in a better space physically. I can go to the grocery store and run other errands as long as I have my mask. Early on, especially with everything we didn’t know around COVID and living with another high-risk person? I wasn’t.

While a pandemic may be an extreme example, I hope that it’s a decent illustration that many disabled folks have had to rely on companies in times when others boycott.

All the disability community is asking for is an acknowledgment that this isn’t an either/or issue. Please stop tossing us aside because you want to see things in extremes.

What you could do instead

Examine your ableism.

There are a ton of resources out there:

What is ableism?
Unpacking ableism
Some allyship tips

I’ve collected more here that can help. You could even, idk, hire a disabled person to help you work through that. (I’m out of commission for at least a month, so don’t look at me just yet.)

Listen to disabled folks when we share that something is ableist.

Look, a lot of shit is ableist. A lot. Most of the time, if we point it out? We know what we’re talking about.

There are absolutely times where that hasn’t been the case. Those occasions usually result from a lack of intersectionality or awareness of anything outside of white disability discourse. It’s embarrassing and infuriating but exists.

Conduct mutual aid work.

This works more specifically with strikes or boycotts around services like Amazon, Instacart, DoorDash, etc. If you have the ability, you could go grocery shop for a disabled person who might otherwise rely on these services. Removing the access barrier that forces folks to rely on these companies for goods and services is a great move!

Plus, many historic boycotts only worked because there was mutual aid happening. The Montgomery Bus Boycott is one example. Community coming together is how we are going to get through these fights against oppressive systems like capitalism. That means we have to recognize that some of us are going to have different roles to play in addition to different needs. And that’s okay.

It’s almost like Audre Lorde had it right or something.

a photo of audre lorde with her quote - “Without community, there is no liberation... but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.”

Final Thoughts

Remember that the white supremacist system WANTS you to get upset at those who have no choice but to cross these lines.

It shifts your anger away from capitalism.

Don’t fall into that trap.