By: Jordan White
People with mental disabilities face harsher realities than those who are able-bodied. Within the media white voices and experiences are pushed as more important than people of color. It is clear that both circumstances play into racial prejudice against people of color with mental disabilities
A story that sheds light on racial prejudice against a person of color with a mental disability is the tragic incident of Jordan Neely. According to the New York Times, on May 1 Neely was on a New York subway where he was loudly shouting at passengers, but he was not physically causing harm to anyone. The Left Voice reported that he was a homeless man having a mental health crisis. A white man on the subway with Neely took this as an opportunity to put Neely in a chokehold. He was strangled for 15 minutes while being held down by another person. After 15 minutes, Neely was not moving, the two involved in his death left his body in the subway. Instead of offering Neely help, these people took his life and walked away as if his life did not matter. According to City and State New York, Governor Kathy Hochul said, “No one has the right to take the life of another person.” The governor believed that justice deserved to be brought to Jordan Neely. A situation like this brings up the argument of, would the outcome be different if Jordan Neely had been a white man?
Students at Auburn University at Montgomery were asked about their opinions about the mistreatment of those with disabilities. Mary Hield, a graphic design major said, “I think race does not matter, they should be treated as equals.” Another student named Pamela Mercer agreed that race does not play a factor in the mistreatment of the mentally disabled.” On the contrary, Reese Overton, a sophomore English major disagrees saying “People go above and beyond helping white people with disabilities, while to some degree they will help with people of color.” Overton believes that people of color only get some form of help, but not to the same extent as white people.
According to a 2021 study by Iryna Babik and Elena S. Gardner of the National Library of Medicine, negative attitudes toward the mentally disabled can disempower them. This in turn leads to their social exclusion and isolation. Living with a mental disability can lead to misunderstanding happening, simply because an able-bodied person does not know how to handle a disabled person’s extreme reactions. This can lead to violence to control against the disabled person, such as what happened to Jordan Neely.
According to the Psychiatrist website, acute psychosis is a clinical syndrome that involves hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thoughts or behaviors, or a combination of these. Mental disabilities are also not visible, so it’s harder to selfishness also plays into the mistreatment of those who are disabled. Sometimes they are easier to manipulate simply because they are seen as weak by the abuser. A 2014 study by Thomas G. McGuire and Jeanne Miranda from the National Library of Medicine, found evidence that only 25.0% of African Americans receive treatment for mental health. Many of them receive inadequate treatment from these providers. Which just continues the negative implications that Black people have with health care providers.
The mistreatment of disabled people, specifically people of color like Jordan Neely, continues to go on in society and will not change unless people put forth the effort. That there can not just be the talk of change, but actual action. Educate yourself on how to interact with the mentally disabled and practice patience with them. Just because someone is disabled does not mean they are any less of a human.