John is a high school student with a disability. He was born paralyzed from the waist down. In school, bullies would constantly make fun of John, saying things like:
- You’re nothing but a cripple
- God cursed you, that’s why you’re paralyzed
- You’ll never get a gf because you’re disabled
- Cripples can’t accomplish anything in life, etc.
They would sometimes drop an object and mockingly ask John to pick it up, before bursting into laughter. They never physically hurt John but would verbally abuse him on a daily basis, tormenting him on account of his disability. John even considered committing suicide once or twice over the years.
One fine day, the school’s smart, handsome, perfectly-able quarterback sits next to John and says, “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can’t hurt me. Speech can’t hurt you unless you choose to be offended.”
In your opinion, is John weak-of-mind for getting offended by these bullies’ ableist remarks?
PS. Some people would categorize what John experiences as ‘Invisible Damage’
The above are the results from the poll that I administered in my political group – Civil Political Discourse 🇺🇸
Facebook interviewed me personally back in October, 2020, and commended me for being able to host healthy, political conversations. My group is sorely lacking a robust Democratic/Progressive presence, so if you fall on the left side of the isle, I doubly encourage you to join. That being said, we welcome members of any political affiliation.
If you’re interested in seeing the rest of the commentary or participating in future thought experiments, I invite you to join my group.
