Authors: Christopher Reeve

Still Me (46 page)

BOOK: Still Me

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All of you here in this room are leadersâin the corporate world, leaders of foundations, leaders who have tremendous influence in government. The message today is, Just because our company has succeeded, just because our people are doing well, that is no excuse to look the other way and to turn members of our family into strangers. There should never be a sense of being a stranger. We all must be included in the American family.

Those who have the most should give the most, on both the government level and the private level. If we would do that, if we would really work together, if, for example, an insurance company would give one penny of every health premium dollar, that would raise $24 billion for research. It would transform the landscape of the whole health front in America. One penny. You don't need to pass that on to the consumer. There's no insurance company in this country that can't afford one penny of every dollar to help disabled members of the American family. Yet, when this is brought up, they say, “You're mandating a tax. That's unfair.” I regard that as selfish and un-American. We must do what is necessary, and you can help. We must change that kind of thinking so that all the corporate leaders of these major companies will have the kind of compassion that Mr. Oesterreicher and his company have already demonstrated.

So, on behalf of the forty-nine million Americans with disabilities and the half billion around the world, we salute the leadership of companies like JCPenney. Thank you for what you have done. Spread the word. Think of the world as an inclusive family, and let's not leave anyone behind.

The point I'm making is how easy it is to look away. I think that we are all one big family, but in many ways we're a dysfunctional family because we still sometimes see ourselves as separate. We think deep in our hearts, “Thank God that's not me.” But it is all of us. At any moment some disease or condition of the central nervous system can happen, from Alzheimer's to Parkinson's to MS to the spinal cord. These all are afflictions that will affect us as America grows older. If we can just begin to see that there is no separation between the nondisabled and the disabled, then we will make real progress.

Today we are here to salute those people in the corporate world who realize that they have the leadership potential to promote real inclusionâJCPenney, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearnsâthese are major titans of the corporate world, who can set the example and communicate the message that we are all one inclusive family. Whatever happens to me could happen to my brother, or my sister, or my mother, or my grandmother. Once we've realized that connection, then it's easier to say, “It's not acceptable for someone to be excluded. It's not acceptable for my brother, who may be a person I've never met before, to not get a job. To not be a part of society. It's absolutely unacceptable.” The motivation to include, the motivation to say, “You, too, can be a part of the real world, not sidelined into a back corner where we merely maintain you and feel sorry for you,” this is the key to a society that can lay claim to being just and being fair.

This sense of equality is what we're really here to celebrate today. You, Mr. Oesterreicher [chairman and CEO], and everyone at JCPenney are leading the way. They need to be followed. The CEOs of insurance companies need to look at what they do and say, “Why do we deny a young man a shower chair so he can be kept clean? Why do we deny exercise equipment that would allow somebody in my condition to keep himself from atrophy?” Research is leading the way to the day when there will be a significant recovery of function. How can the profit motive overtake the need for compassion? Well, certainly companies like JCPenney put compassion first. Their example must be followed.

PHOTO CREDITS

Page numbers refer to the printed edition of this book.

Page 10, top:
TobÃ© Saskor

Page 10, bottom:
Ginny Gable

Page 11:
Susan Thompson

Page 12, bottom:
Chaco Mohler Photography

Page 13, bottom two (sailing and scuba):
Michael Stutz

Pages 28
,
41
,
45:
Andrew Woods

Page 83:
Eugene Pierce

Page 86, top:
Helen Morosini

Page 88, top:
Jay Thompson

Page 88, bottom:
Don Dubin