If you're like most Americans, when you hear the name of deaf and blind activity Helen Keller you think "privilege."
No? Well, maybe that's because...
HELEN KELLER COULDN'T SEE OR HEAR.
That's like the total opposite of privilege.
Despite those major disadvantages, however, Keller overcame them. She learned to communicate and become a symbol of hope for people with disabilities everywhere.
But now, sadly, she needs to be canceled.
Because who needs your two most important senses when you're rolling in dat white privilege? Amirite?!
TIME did a piece on things you don't learn about Helen Keller in school. The article was about how educators don't focus enough on teaching about the actual achievements of people with disabilities, and instead just concentrate on their disabilities. In the case of Keller, for example, most people are only taught about her childhood struggles to learn to communicate, but not about her achievements later in life.
Okay. Not sure if that's true, or not. I was taught about Keller's achievements. But, whatever.
The article goes on to show how Keller achieved a lot in life and became a bit of a radical in her adult years (she was a member of the Socialist Party among other leftist affiliations). This is the stuff of Keller's life that the author presumably wants to be taught more in schools. Go figure.
But even as underprivileged and radical as Keller was, it's still not enough for some people. TIME quotes a Black disability rights activist named Anita Cameron who didn't think Keller was radical enough, or rather Black enough to deserve all the attention she's gotten. Cameron called Helen Keller, "just another, despite disabilities, privileged white person," And another example of history only telling the story of privileged white Americans.
Wow. 😲
Quite the take.
This OBVIOUSLY made some people pretty upset.
Mary Vought, told the Washington Examiner,
"As a mother to a child with a disability, this is extremely offensive. Helen Keller dedicated her life to advocating for those with disabilities and illness. To suddenly cancel her now because of her skin color is not only outrageous, it's racist."
Au contraire, Ms. Vought! It can't be racism. Or don't you know? You can't be racist against white people.
