Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century

“My host is Professor Peter Singer, often called—and not just by his publicist—the most influential philosopher of our time. He is the man who wants me dead. Not, that’s not at all fair. He wants to legalize the killing of certain babies who might come to be like me if allowed to live.”

This quote demonstrates Johnson’s difficulty in reckoning with Dr. Singer’s ableism. While she considers his beliefs to be overtly genocidal, she actively tempers her appraisal of him in order to remain as polite and unbiased as possible. As a disabled person herself, this is extremely difficult for her.

“You know, Harriet, there were some very pleasant Nazis. They say the SS guard went home and played on the floor with their children every night.”

This quote from Johnson’s sister refers to the complex dimensions of what it is to be “evil” or otherwise monstrous. Here, she overtly compares Peter Singer to the Nazis. She argues that, even though many Nazis were complex people who could be “pleasant” and kind under certain circumstances, this does not make their actions any less violent or indefensible. The same is true of Dr. Singer; he advocates for the euthanasia of disabled people.

“It was Ki’tay’s ability to sit with and actively love oppressors and those who were violent towards him and marginalized communities—most often solely because they do not adhere to that which has been deemed ‘normal’— that truly set him apart. He could breathe life and love into those people within mere moments of making their acquaintance. This is what makes him special—reminiscent of what some here may call a prophet; others, a wise man; others still, a light or sage.”

This essay follows directly after Johnson’s essay about her discomfort with Dr. Singer, his genocidal views, and his pleasant manner. Much of her essay is spent on the logical reasoning and strategy around debating Singer. Ki’tay’s attitude towards “oppressors” presents a counterpoint to Johnson’s approach. Where Johnson hunts for a rational way to square her paradoxical thoughts and feelings, Ki’tay is able to “actively love” people like Singer. Ki’tay’s attitude is not suggested to be superior or inferior to Johnson’s; they are simply in conversation with one another.