By Barbara Pierce
“Where are you going?” Marcus Johnson is asked this question regularly as he gets on the bus each day to go to work.
“I have a physical disability, so I’m a wheelchair user. People assume I don’t work. What gives them the comfort level to ask me where I’m going?” he said. “It’s a mindset of ‘You don’t belong here.’ They don’t ask that of other passengers!”
He frequently encounters questions from the driver and other passengers. He wants people to know it’s not OK to ask these questions. It’s not OK to make assumptions about what his life is like.
Johnson, a 53-year-old man who lives in Harlem, is a passionate, articulate advocate for people with disabilities. As manager of Advocacy Programs at Independence Care System, he helps New Yorkers with disabilities access the services they need to live independently in their community, helps them become active members of their community.
According to the latest US Census data, almost 20% of the US population has some sort of disability. About 10% have a visible physical disability or some sort of mobility impairment. Well over three million Americans use a wheelchair ful time and that number is expected to grow significantly due to demographic trends.
Add those who rely on a walker, cane or crutches for assistance in walking and people with disabilities are the largest minority group in the U.S.; there are more disabled people than blacks, Hispanics, Asians and people who identify as LGBTQ+.
Just because you can see someone’s disability doesn’t give you the right to ask about it, Johnson said.
Motor vehicle accident
“I was injured 33 years ago, when I was 20,” he explained. “I was in Julliard, in my second year as a dance major. I was in a motor vehicle accident; I woke up and I was paralyzed. I have a high-level spinal cord injury; as I’m quadriplegic, I use a motorized wheelchair.”
After recovery from his injury, he went to NYU, obtained his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in social work. For several years, he’s been employed at ICS. He is also a co-leader of the Civics League for Disability Rights, a passionate volunteer-driven advocacy group ensuring that the marginalized and disenfranchised have a voice at the table. In addition, he is a certified rehabilitation counselor and a licensed mental health counselor.
What is the most important thing about how people perceive those in wheelchairs? “People make assumptions about people with disabilities. You assume that I don’t drink, I don’t work, I don’t have a life,” he said. “People assume they know what I can and can’t do!
“I have a life. I’m doing the same things everyone else is doing; I’m just doing them differently. I go out, just like you. I go to the theater. I work. I’m doing the same things you’re doing.
“You don’t ask other people these questions. Why would you think I don’t work? I’ve had to call out my colleagues. A new person will ask me: ‘What are your qualifications?’ It’s amazing! They don’t ask other employees that question! You should look at me as an equal. People make way too many assumptions.”
Other wheelchair users agree with him.
“As a wheelchair user, people assume I’m completely incapable. They talk to the people around me and not me. People don’t want to look at me because some people are disgusted with wheelchair users and others are embarrassed to look at us,” said 40-year-old Dominick Evans of Detroit in an article online at usatoday.com.
“I wish people would see that I’m a human being and that I have wants and needs and desires and dreams that I can fulfill just like everyone else. I wish that they would see that my wheelchair is not scary. That it gives me freedom and that it’s nothing that they should fear themselves,” he added.
“I live a beautiful life. I don’t want my wheelchair to factor into a person’s opinion of me,” said Chase Nadine, 37, of Victoria, British Columbia, in the same article. “The question I hate the most is ‘What’s wrong with you?’ since it automatically presupposes something is wrong with me. Nothing is ‘wrong’ with me. I am disabled. This isn’t a right or wrong thing; it’s a neutral thing; it’s a fact of life.”
Johnson summed it up: “Disability is a part of the rich tapestry of human existence. Individuals with disabilities have the same basic human needs as everyone else: love, companionship, respect and inclusion. Disabled individuals should not be made to feel as though they are asking for something extraordinary when they seek accommodation or understanding. By challenging the notion that their needs are ‘special,’ we can work towards a society where relationships are built on mutual respect and consideration, fostering a more inclusive and compassionate world for all.”
“Look at me as an equal,” he asks.