Letter to the Editor
Discrimination,
Like Lost Cemeteries, is also Common.
Dear Editor,
I think the reader who stated
it is “exaggerating when you
view [the loss of a state cemetery] as a slight to the disabled,” actually
does a great job of making our case [“Lost Cemeteries Are Common,” Access
Press, December 10, 2006]. To show how routine it is, she cites examples
of lost cemeteries of African-Americans and Native Americans. These
are also victims of discrimination, apparently not deserving of societal
respect even in death. If the abandonment of cemeteries is common,
then it only means a greater number of people have been discriminated
against.
Here in Minnesota, it was state policy to bury people with disabilities
in numbered graves in cemeteries out of the public view. And it is
this institutional practice of disrespect and neglect that has led
to the loss of the Rosemont Cemetery in Rochester.
Remembering With Dignity has been working for twelve years to hold
the state of Minnesota accountable for the lack of maintenance and
public access to state hospital cemeteries. We are asking the state
to publicly apologize, acknowledge and take responsibility for naming
the thousands of state hospital residents buried in numbered and
unmarked graves. We hope that more people will join us in this effort.
Sincerely,
Jim Fassett-Carman
