Letters to the Editor | Oct. 30, 2022

A terrific op-ed by Mihir Kakara on ableism and the need for barrier-free buildings and streets and the use of enabling technologies.

My husband, who is disabled and uses an electric scooter, and I have learned how often people just don’t think about what constitutes a barrier. Two examples: Recently, we ate at a very nice restaurant in Old City. We had told them we would need an accessible entrance when the reservation was made. In spite of that, the doorbell for the side entrance did not work (or couldn’t be heard). We were outside in the pouring rain for almost 10 minutes. When I finally got someone to come to open the door, many extra chairs and other things had to be moved to make the doorway accessible. The staff were appropriately apologetic after the fact, but it didn’t change how we were made to feel. Secondly, this past summer, flying on a major airline in Europe, we were told that the scooter was “too large” to put on the plane and would have to be forwarded to our destination the following day. This in spite of the fact that I, at 78, can break down the scooter into its parts and lift it into our Prius by myself.

These experiences are infuriating and demeaning and do not need to happen if we simply acknowledge that accessibility is an essential fact of life.

Barbara Gold, M.D., Philadelphia

I have a serious mental health condition, so stories like “Malvern police fatally shot a woman during a wellness check …” hit me close to home.

These tragedies are not rare. According to a 2015 tally by the Washington Post, roughly one-quarter of the people shot and killed nationwide by police officers in the first six months of that year were experiencing acute mental illness at the time of their death.

There is a solution: Around the country, many municipalities are adopting a crisis response model that almost always operates without involving police.

One such program is CAHOOTS, in Eugene, Ore. CAHOOTS teams consist of a medic and a crisis worker. According to the program, in 2019, out of a total of roughly 24,000 calls to CAHOOTS, police backup was requested only 150 times.

In Philadelphia, someone seeking help for a family member in a mental health crisis can call the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services’ Mobile Crisis Team instead of 911. It could save a life.

Joseph Rogers, executive director, National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse, Cherry Hill

The “Penn State cancels appearance by Proud Boys founder after protest and ‘threat of violence’” article of Oct. 25 uncritically quotes the university president’s flawed statement amounting to “both sides-ism” and victim blaming.

This is wholly incorrect framing — simply put, it’s Penn State administrators that allowed this. Proud Boys are known for violence and wrongdoing, as the 2021 insurrection attempt and more shows. Proud Boys are also known for white nationalist extremism by the FBI, and are classified as terrorist groups by Canada and New Zealand.

In contrast to blaming students and others who well know what Proud Boys are about, administrators must recognize their failure here by not barring the event knowing constitutionally unprotected and illegal acts would imminently occur, and by not citing other examples of justifiably and successfully canceling an event like the above.

Proud Boys’ DNA is ingrained with intimidation and violence. They brought that to the Penn State campus as social media amply shows. The president’s claim that the Proud Boys event resistance “furthered … the visibility” of their “cause” fails under basic scrutiny.

Brian M. Villa, Philadelphia

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