To honor the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Vice President Kamala Harris attended a roundtable discussion about disability rights.

As the group went around the table and introduced themselves, the Vice President also mentioned her pronouns and a description of what she was wearing.

And that was all it took for social media, and even other politicians, to erupt and begin mocking her for it. That moment broke my heart.

The truth is all VP Harris was doing was giving a quick aid for the visually impaired. Self-description is meant to be helpful to those who are blind or have low vision.

As Chair of Michigan’s Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC), I see the obstacles that Michiganders with disabilities face every day, including those with visual impairments. The goal of our organization is to help them live full and independent lives. In order to do that, it requires some level of acceptance and accommodation from all of us, just as the VP provided.

On the anniversary of the ADA being signed into law, how fitting that the VP considered people in her audience who experience low vision or blindness. It takes just a few seconds to add a description of yourself or the space you are in, yet it is a way to connect with audience members who, for any number of reasons, can’t see the speaker. Most people understand why it is important to have close captions and/or sign language interpreters available for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Adding one or two sentences to describe the speaker and setting is exactly the same. Imagine reading a novel or play that does not contain any descriptions of the characters or setting. That is hard to imagine because such a book would not sell.

What does it say about us when rather than applaud our VP for acknowledging those with disabilities, we choose to mock her all over social media? I can only hope this was a teachable moment for some who didn’t understand what she was doing. Even if it only impacted a few people, we took a step forward. I also take solace in the fact that our highest levels of leadership are acknowledging people with disabilities and listening to them. I can only hope that this, along with other aids, becomes a familiar and common practice one day. I think we can get there, but it will require empathy and the willingness to learn from all of us.

Jan Lampman

Chair of Michigan’s Statewide Independent Living Council