The Difference Between “Potential” And “Privilege” In Disability

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A child that is white and raised in an upper or upper-middle class home with educated parents will be afforded far greater opportunities than would a child of color, raised in a lower-income home. Having parents who are not educated will further strip the child of some of the opportunity to fulfill potential. This is true of any child in the United States of 2016. I’m going to say that income and education hold more importance than race, but we do live in a country that needs a campaign like #blacklivesmatter for a reason. White privilege is real.

There was an article in the Washington Post recently about parents of a young man with Down syndrome who “saw his potential.” The parents in the article sound fantastic, but the question remained: would a family of less financial means be able to do the same thing? Would other parents have had the health care or been able to afford to take their child to a top foot specialist? Would they be able to get their son custom-designed orthotics every year? What about the annual checkups at Duke?

My point is that the parents in this particular case saw the potential in their son and had the resources to help him fulfill it. But many families don’t have that.