The New Paternalism

Abstract

The contention by some disability rights advocates that people with disabilities are an oppressed minority must be subject to academic scrutiny. Certainly, people with different impairments and functional limitations have been subject to a history of discrimination, much of which has been state supported. Yet, this does not mean that the entire disabled population is now and will forever be an oppressed minority. This article examines the concept of "oppression" as it may apply to Americans with disabilities at the beginning of the 21st century. Although some may still be characterized as oppressed, this term does not accurately apply to the majority of people with disabilities in the United States at this time in history. This article considers the negative implications of a disability rights strategy based in part on the characterization of people with disabilities as an oppressed minority and concludes that this approach is inconsistent with the antipaternalistic philosophical roots of the disability rights/ independent living movement.