One more thing:
But then there’s things like cochlear implants. They don’t remove the barriers for deafness, they remove the deafness, which is a different thing entirely.
But doesn’t removing the deafness also remove the barriers?
Sure, and according the many deaf advocates, it does it in exactly the same way curing blackness would remove problems with hailing cabs, counting on the police, and getting through in-person job interviews. That’s the core argument.
Maybe this going to offend and show by ignorance, but blackness isn’t a disease or disability. Deafness is a disability.
To which they’d say: You can be born black, you can be born deaf. You can become deaf, you can become Mormon. You communicate in Spanish, you communicate in ASL. The difficulties you face in life, with people understanding you, are very much the same. The problem in all of those cases isn’t with who you are. Disabilities are different things than diseases. In their lexicon, blackness, disabilities, Mormonism, and Spanish-speaking-a-tivity are in one group. Diseases are another thing entirely.