Jerry Lewis' Latest "Cripple" Remark
During a May 20 interview on CBS News Sunday Morning, Jerry Lewis said, "If it's pity we'll get some money. I'm just giving you the facts. Pity ... if you don't want to be pitied for being a cripple in a wheelchair, don't come out of the house."

These remarks are his response to charges by members of the disability community who criticize his use of pity to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Lewis' comments hit their intended mark: Infuriated disability rights activists fired responses off to the MDA, corporate sponsors and even potential telethon guest stars less than 24 hours after the interview aired.

In response, Muscular Dystrophy Association President Robert M. Bennett released a statement on June 1 saying MDA is deeply disturbed by Lewis’ comments. "In fact, our displeasure has been communicated directly to Mr. Lewis, who admits to having expressed himself poorly and has offered his deepest apologies." Lewis, national chairman of MDA, said in his apology, "Many of the people that I work closely with are in wheelchairs and I have never seen them as inferior to anyone else."

Advocate Laura Hershey, who has a form of MD, spearheaded a national letter-writing campaign to MDA about Lewis’ comments. She says about the apology, "I’m glad they’ve acknowledged how offensive the statements are, but what are they going to do about Lewis? He’s going to keep saying these things and they’re going to have to keep dealing with this kind of headache."

This recent clash between disability rights activists and Lewis is being compared to an old controversy over an article Lewis wrote for the Sept. 2, 1990 issue of Parade magazine, "If I Had Muscular Dystrophy." In part, Lewis wrote, "I'd just have to learn to try to be good at being half a person." When Evan Kemp, a wheelchair user due to muscular dystrophy and chair of the EEOC at the time, publicly denounced Lewis' article and attitudes towards disabled people, Lewis demanded President Bush fire him. Bush did not comply.

A sound clip of Lewis' quote can be heard at www.cripcommentary.com/LewisVsDisabilityRights.html.

For a different take on this issue, see "Jerry Lewis Speaks the Truth," by New Mobility writer Lorenzo Milam, at www.salonmag.com/people/feature/2001/06/06/lewis/index.html.