Please visit www.TheTroubleWithJerry.org. As many know, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to give Jerry Lewis an Oscar for his “humanitarian” work for the MDA. During his decades of hosting the Labor Day Telethon, Jerry Lewis has helped to perpetuate negative, stereotypical attitudes toward people with muscular dystrophy and other disabilities. Jerry Lewis and the Telethon actively promote pity as a fundraising strategy. Disabled people want RESPECT and RIGHTS, not pity and charity. Join us in protesting this action. Visit the website, add the website to your own blog, sign the petition to the Academy, come to L.A., or plan a protest in your own city.
compassion is not pity. it is love for each other.
i do not have md or als. i have spinal cord injury.
i wish someone would host a telethon that brings in over 50 million per year to help find a cure for me. when he began, society’s views were far-more archaic than now. children in wheelchairs did not even go to school and disability rights were unheard of. perhaps mr lewis did, actually, pave the way for more open social dialogue. his quotes taken out of context is just unfair. if you read the 1990 article from which the offending words come, you may view this in a different light.
thank you for the opportunity to respectfully disagree.