Much of the already small disability representation in the media focuses on white people, and often men. This includes Artie Abrams from the TV show Glee, Jack Hodgins from the TV show Bones, and Jake Sully from the film Avatar. Although we would never know it from TV and movies, the CDC reports that 19.67% of people of color have a disability compared with 20% of white people.
In many spaces, people with disabilities aren’t welcome regardless of race, often unintentionally. Even Ali Stroker, a white woman and the first person in a wheelchair to win a Tony Award in 2019, had to wait backstage because the venue for the ceremony wasn’t built to accommodate someone in a wheelchair getting to the stage. Mia Ives-Rublee is a transracial adoptee and the founder and coordinator for the Women’s March Disability Caucus, through which she helped coordinate services for over 40,000 people with disabilities. She has also worked with the Science March, Climate March, and March for Education to make them more accessible to all.
This episode was produced by Julián Esteban Torres López, Aïcha Martine Thiam, and Nicole Zelniker.
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