Why do people think crazy is an ablest slur?
I donāt know⦠because itās been used to justify taking people like me, and taking away our rights and liberties and making us wards of the state. Because itās been used to fuel a culture of violence and fear- used to promote our extermination- to normalize physical and sexual violence against us. Because itās used to, without our consent, consign us to corrupt psychiatric institutions where we have a long history of being abused. Because we have been the objects of unethical experimentation and torture for a century or more, none of which raises an eyebrow.
Because police have literally executed us without cause. Because our only representation is misrepresented as a socially acceptable target; our only source of pride and community is the killer of the week on a crime show, who at best garners the condescending pity of the audience, who still all agree that we are subhuman abominations who need to be kept away from ~respectable citizens~ Because we arenāt allowed to have souls.
Because we have been suffering and dying for centuries and it is all seen as a necessary if not slightly unfortunate circumstance. We should be grateful weāre not rounded up and slaughtered for the public good. Oh but of course we donāt have the mental faculties to recognize this.Ā
So I want you to think about that the next time you call someone crazy, or psycho. I want you to think about that the next time you so trivially throw around words that invoke these centuries of pain, that are used to justify all I have mentioned above and more, and which continue to deny us justice today.













