In July of 2019, in response to the racist and xenophobic remarks publicly articulated by our then-president, the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) released a statement of solidarity. The statement was in support of people attempting to enter the US via the country’s southern border. In that statement, we acknowledged that the racism which fueled the comments extended beyond that individual and into our organization. We made several commitments in that statement to move beyond simply writing platitudes. We seized the opportunity to publicly announce our intention to face the systemic oppression that racially marginalized disabled people experience. Our commitment included people at the US’s southern border and beyond, including within our organization.
Since then, NCIL has embarked on a journey to becoming an intersectional organization. That process has led to the transformation of its body of Executive Officers. Our executive board is now a committee where racially marginalized members are the majority. The Board hired a subject matter expert on racial equity and Black woman as executive director. Our Diversity Chair is a Black woman. Both NCIL’s ED and Diversity Chair are members of the IDD community. Soon, we hope to announce the name of our new governing board president, a Black man. Thanks to our partnership with the Ford Foundation, we are further able to prioritize intersectionality in our programming. Our work to re-fashion NCIL as an anti-racist organization is far from over. We recognize that work is never ending. We are humbled by the road ahead of us. We are enthusiastically working toward an independent living network that is intersectional and, therefore, truly inclusive.
Two years after we expressed solidarity with immigrants at the US’s southern border the US finds itself, once again, in a position where its actions are causing harm to racially marginalized people fleeing their homes in the hopes of safety for themselves and their families. This is despite a change in the administration in the White House. Two years ago, the migrants were largely Latinx. The human rights violations included keeping people in cages. The violations included separating children from their adult loved ones. Today, those detention facilities remain in operation. Today, asylum rights still are not being honored. Today, the abuses include Black migrants. Today, the human rights violations Black immigrants are experiencing include being whipped by US Border Patrol agents.
As we noted in our statement two years ago, the treatment of immigrants at the US’s southern border was reprehensible. Although the population targeted by this treatment today has changed, our assertion remains the same. Unlike the previous administration, the current administration at the White House has pledged to ensure that immigrants to the US would be treated humanely, no matter their country of origin. The current Administration has highlighted racial equity as one of its original priorities. Today, NCIL calls on the White House administration to join us in following through with its own promises to racially marginalized people. The White House should heed the recommendations of the United Nations (UN) and stop expelling Haitian immigrants without first assessing whether they qualify for refugee status.
The complete and universal ratification of this monumental international disability human rights treaty is crucial for our movement as it provides a much needed tool to improve accountability at all levels in America and to build upon the solid structure already in place. Our laws and systems are good but not perfect.
