I think that among the many "marginalized" identities that I discuss on this blog, physical impairment is one I often overlook or unintentionally ignore. And yet, within my own family, I have an awareness of visual impairment: my father is legally blind in one eye, which makes driving, for him, somewhat of a challenge (although he can, and does, drive). And one of my cousins is also legally blind--yet her visual impairment has not stopped her from living an extremely rich life, which includes traveling to Egypt (something I have always wanted to do) and belly dancing (she performed for us all at her wedding).
Now--I'm not equating physical impairment or disability with race. Once upon a time, I sat on a committee that was awarding fellowships for "diverse" (read affirmative action) candidates. One person who applied was a white American woman who was confined to a wheelchair. One of my fellow committee members was incensed that we should consider her application (she was a finalist in 2 members evaluations) because this fellowship was to increase racial diversity, and he was offended that there should be an equation of race with physical impairment--that being black would be seen as a liability akin to paralysis.
And yet, in a recent NPR piece (click here), a commentator does not go so far as to equate race with disability, but does believe that of identity factors that might impact people's understanding or ability to relate to David Paterson, it is his blindness rather than his blackness that people will find more difficult to relate to.
Anyway, in honor of David Paterson's ascendancy to the Governor's office, let me end by including two articles from The New York Times, one that gives his political profile (click here) and the other (click here) that does talk about his blindness as education and inspiration for the state of New York and the rest of the nation.
[March 19, 2008: CORRECTION: David Paterson is actually the SECOND legally blind governor in national history. In 1975, Bob C. Riley, then lieutenant governor of Arkansas, and legally blind due to, I believe, injuries from WWII, became acting governor for 11 days in 1975]
