A week has now passed since the hideous anti-Muslim attacks in Edinburgh. This attack comes on the heels of too many other horrific attacks in Scotland and across the globe.
Each one leaving sorrow and fear and ripping the fabric of society. Each one based on hate and the explosion of false rhetoric.
Disabled people know what it means to be targeted with hate because of difference. We have experienced hate crime, exclusion, victimisation, ridicule and systemic degradation — sometimes presented as being “for our own good.”
Inclusion Scotland has strong values, and we hold fast to them in all the work we do and how we do it. All our values are equally important to us, but ‘inclusion’ is decisive.
Without the full inclusion of all disabled people regardless of our race, where we come from, whether and how we worship, what age, gender or sexuality we are – all are welcome and valued.
Disabled People’s Organisations like ours do not work alone. We work together and we collaborate with our allies to stand strong and to amplify the collective voice for inclusion. Our allies are individuals, civil society organisations, academics and many others. And we are stronger with them. It is this network of allyship that helps to repairs the rips in the fabric of our shared society.
Together we show our protest to injustice in ways that do no harm. Those who attack others rightly face justice, and those who support and encourage them have a lot to learn from us.
To all our members and allies, keep safe and keep inclusion at heart.