For Disabled Black Americans, Police Violence Highlights the Intersecting Threat of Racism and Ableism
In 2016, a photo of a large sign posted outside of a suburban Nevada home went viral. The first part of the sign read, in all caps and partly underlined, “Attention! An autistic man lives here. He does not know what a cop is or what a gun is. He makes loud noises. He will not hurt u!”
Tacked underneath the first sign, almost as if an afterthought, were two more signs: “He does not understand words or commands!!!” and “Oh yes: he is Black too.”
The woman who wrote and put up these signs, Judy McKim, told KTNV that they were inspired by an earlier incident of police violence against her autistic son, Zach. She said that while she didn’t enjoy the attention the viral post has brought her, she felt she had no choice.
"I don't like doing this,” McKim said. “I'm embarrassed. I'm embarrassed that everyone knows, I'm embarrassed that I'm on TV. I'm embarrassed that you guys are seeing my life, but that's reality."