I am strongly in favor of abolishing the subminimum wage for disabled workers. This is the absolute least we can do to make progress in the direction of baseline equality for Americans with disabilities. I have disabilities, but because my disabilities are not visible I do not experience the same discrimination in the workplace that would lead to a) being treated differently in the workplace b) not getting hired in the first place or c) being paid less than somebody who is clearly able-bodied and -minded. I can believe that there is a relatively good-faith argument here that this will make it less attractive for companies to hire people with disabilities, but I think there are many more insidious reasons for why clearly disabled people face discrimination in the hiring process. Focusing on treating these people as inherently less valuable allows discrimination in the community to be perpetuated and even strengthened. We should be focusing on what will enable people with disabilities who have capabilities at all different levels to be successful in the American workplace. This means healthcare reform. It means taking legal instruments like the ADA away from the "sue to enforce" model. It means a change in the culture of devaluing and dehumanizing people with disabilities. It means coming to terms with the spectrum of disability, including understanding the unique issues faced by those of us born with ovaries.
This is one tiny move forward in addressing the bigger issues that perpetuate the USA's fundamentally unequal society. Again, I strongly support the abolition of the subminimum wage.
Attaching my response in case it might help somebody else. Full text is in the alt text!
#accessibility #disability #14c