Even with everything currently going on in Missouri, I’m not one to get into race relations very often. Just as with religion I believe that race is something that can be so automatically divisive, if one allows it to be. And it is my personal belief, that most of us allow just that. Yet, I’ve never understood why we do. When it comes to race, religion, gender, politics, and other sensitive social topics, I am a very open person. I consider myself to be an open person in terms of the fact that I try my best to understand the perspectives of others and not immediately impress my own views upon them.

On that note, I can’t stand it when people say “Oh, I don’t see color,” or “I don’t see your disability.” First of all, let’s face it: it is quite obvious that I am an African-American male with a disability. I think that statements such as “I don’t see color” are pretty absurd. I think that these things (race, gender, ability) are impossible to ignore. In fact, I think it important to see those things in people becuase they inform our perspectives, our ontology, where we’ve been in life, and quite frankly how we’re moving forward as well.

What is important is to NOT JUDGE someone based on those things. You should see those things in others but not let them affect allow you to judge you treat them, especially if you don’t know the individual person.

When it comes to disability advocacy, I always stress the empirically proven importance of person-first language. I.e., I’m not a “disabled person” I am a “person with disability.” There is a stark difference in not only speaking differently but in how it affects your mental perceptions as well. Person-first, identity-first, and identity-centric thinking is so valuable when it comes to interacting with anyone, especially those who may be different than you.

So, when Billy showed me a video excerpt of Morgan Freeman on 60 Minutes, I was taken aback. I had never seen it before but was actually pretty annoyed that I had not. I feel as if this 60-second clip, point blank, is 100% identical to how I feel about the same exact topic. In fact, it extends from race to politics, race, class, ability, gender…the list goes on.

I’ve always respected Mr. Freeman and I do even more now. Check out the interview below.