Protest Alert!
by Uriah McKinney and Emily
Smith
On Thursday, March 23, starting
at 7:00 pm, Peter Singer, a worldwide acclaimed philosopher, will
be giving a lecture at the University of Minnesota on animal rights.
Though this aspect of his scholarship has gained him international
praise, he has received criticism from many disability activists
for his offensive suggestions advocating infanticide. According to
his philosophy, parents should have the right to kill infants with known disabilities,
and especially cognitive disabilities, for the greater good of society. This
means that an estimated 54 million Americans, a population roughly the size of
France, are living in bodies that according to Peter Singer should have been
killed upon birth.
What is Singer’s justification for providing this new model
of eugenics? He argues babies with severe disabilities are less likely
to grow up and live happy, worthy lives. Parents should therefore
terminate them to make way for able-bodied babies who will be happier.
If ability determines happiness, as Singer asserts, why then are
there unhappy people who are physically healthy and “normal?” The
disability rights movement has consistently challenged this assumption,
proving time and again that happiness is not determined by ability.
Further, Singer’s position opens the door to discrimination
towards other minority groups, prompting the question, where do we
stop?
We do not disagree with
the principles of free speech. However, we do question the University
of Minnesota’s commitment to
diversity and an open environment of respect when it gives an individual
like Peter Singer, who promotes discriminatory beliefs, such a prominent
position from which to speak.
Please help support
us in our fight against Peter Singer by boycotting his lecture,
signing our petition urging the sponsors to cancel, and protesting
outside the Ted Mann Concert Hall on Thursday, March 23, 2006.
Contact Uriah McKinney and Emily Smith at the U of M Disabled
Student Cultural Center for more information by calling 612-624-2602.
