Raising a Ruckus: The Fear Factor


Allen Rucker

Anyone who has ever seen The Godfather or The Sopranos, or has an uncle who spends a lot of time “on vacation,” i.e., locked up in prison next to a guy named Tony “The Ant,” knows the mob’s main contribution to deep philosophical thought: namely, would you rather be respected or feared? No goombah with an IQ over a baked ziti’s would answer the former. He knows the only way you get real respect — mob bosses are called “men of respect” — is to be a psychopathic killer who even his grandmother fears.

Now ask yourself: Being a person with a disability, am I more respected or feared? I know some of you will answer choice number three, “None of the above.” But there is some respect, however begrudging, out there these days: restaurant maître d’s usually try to accommodate you, old people give you the thumbs-up, or probably in your travels, more than one person on an elevator ride has told you how “super” you are doing. The trouble is, there is very little return on this kind of respect. You can’t tell the elevator nudnik, “Thank you very much, that’ll be $20.” People respect you in little ways, like making a big show of running and grabbing the door for you, or smiling in your face while they reach for the Cheez Whiz in the market — ways that probably make them feel better than you are inclined to feel.

But fear? People only fear people with disabilities if they think they’ll get what you have by merely touching you. Other social groups, on the other hand, good or bad, employ fear as a strategy for social change. It can be objective or subjective fear. It doesn’t matter as long as you get the job done.

Take your gun lobby. Whether you are fer’em or agin’em, the fact remains: These people, every last of them, have a gun or two or 15. They can shoot you. You never know. Step over their property line or bump them a little too hard at the 7/11, and you’re likely on your way to the ER, or worse, the morgue. Just like the neighborhood “goodfella,” it’s the subliminal fear that makes you say in their presence, whether you mean it or not, “Oh, yeah, I’m a big believer in the Second Amendment, the inalienable right to bear arms of all calibers and clip sizes and all of that.”

Speaking for myself, the only bodily damage I can inflict on anyone is to run over their foot with my wheelchair, hopefully not a foot wearing a $2,000 pair of Tony Lama boots and toting a Smith & Wesson 500.

Example No. 2: Gay people scare people by just existing and turning out for the local Gay Pride parade. So they use reverse psychology. Rather than scaring you even more, they work to dispel your fear. Accept us, goes the strategy, and we promise not to corrupt your school children or French kiss in your presence. And it seems to be working! Gay rights are advancing at a furious pace, plus gays now have real power. They run big corporations like, oh, I don’t know, Apple, Inc., the second largest company on Earth. Non-gay people take these titans extremely seriously. Fear of guns is easily trumped by fear of losing your job.

Finally, if mortal or social fear doesn’t do the job, there is one other approach that plays fear to the hilt. Create a part of town where the nondisabled are scared to enter, much like street gangs do in East Los Angeles. The response by walkies will be, “Are you nuts? Go over there after sundown? Do I look like a complete idiot?”

You might not be interested in living in an all-crip neighborhood, but when “you make it out,” like anyone living in a tough part of town, you’ll be at the center of every cocktail conversation.

“Wow, you grew up there? What’s it really like? You must be afraid of absolutely nothing. Let me give you a really good job.”

How to create a scary neighborhood? Talk to Tony “The Ant.”


Support New Mobility

Wait! Before you wander off to other parts of the internet, please consider supporting New Mobility. For more than three decades, New Mobility has published groundbreaking content for active wheelchair users. We share practical advice from wheelchair users across the country, review life-changing technology and demand equity in healthcare, travel and all facets of life. But none of this is cheap, easy or profitable. Your support helps us give wheelchair users the resources to build a fulfilling life.

donate today

Comments are closed.