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 difficulties faced in life of deaf people are very different than the ones faced by those that can’t speak English or those that are Mormon or that are a member of a minority racial group.
The problem in all of those cases isn’t with who you are.
The problems of all the others you listed are problems of bigotry. The problems of deaf people are more than just bigotry(although that is most certainly a problem they face). If we were to wave a magic want and cure the world of bigotry and prejudice and discrimination, what problems would black people face? What problem would those that can’t yet speak English face? What problems would Mormons face? But deaf people would still have the problem of not being able to hear.
Disabilities are different things than diseases.
Yes, disabilities are different that diseases, and they are also different than just being a member of a minority racial group.