Embracing Cultural Diversity in the
Rehabilitation System

Bill Tainter, Director
Catherine Compisi, Ph.D., Assistant Deputy Director, Transition Program
Curtis Richards, Assistant Director, Consumer Affairs
California Department of Rehabilitation

Abstract

The term diversity is most often used when discussing issues regarding ethnic minority groups and women. Another cultural group which deserves consideration consists of persons with disabilities. Americans with disabilities are an integral part of the fabric of diversity, sharing a common thread with African Americans and other groups in their demand for acceptance as individuals, respect for abilities, and celebration of their differences. This paper discusses issues of diversity as they relate to Americans with disabilities.

I would like to present an overall perspective regarding disability and diversity which sets a framework for developing strategies to include people with disabilities in our communities, including the workplace. This is a view that considers disability as part of the fabric of diversity. It must embrace the diversity of all persons with disabilities and consider them as members of the disability community. This community in itself is a cultural group that has come to be identified as a civil rights minority group that requires the same strategies and remedies for inclusion as other minority groups. For persons with disabilities from ethnic minority backgrounds, we must acknowledge and respect all aspects of their diversity.

Ignoring any one aspect of a person's background be it ethnicity, gender, or disability does not benefit the person or the society as a whole. This view that considers persons with disabilities as a civil rights minority group is not the way disability issues have always been viewed. The medical model and other approaches deviate significantly from this concept. It is a view that, we, persons with disabilities have chosen for ourselves after watching and learning from our brothers and sisters from previous civil rights struggles. It is a view that seeks legal protection in non-discrimination laws and fair policies that follow. It is a view that asks for the presentation of persons with disabilities in a context of dignity and equality, not pity and patronization. These are the basic tenets of disability as a diversity issue and must form the basis for accepting people with disabilities in the workplace as well.

Within this context, I would like to discuss how the newest civil rights movement, the disability rights movement, draws directly on other civil rights movements, and how the cultural experiences of persons from other minority groups parallel those of persons with disabilities. Although the specific issues may be different, the experiences and solutions are fundamentally the same. Therefore, if you can identify the issues of diversity and truly develop sensitivity toward them, you will understand the principles pertaining to all groups.

The disability rights movement is the newest movement to join the civil rights agenda. Twenty-five years after the Civil Rights Act and the civil rights movement of the 1960's, the disability rights movement is coming of age. At long last, persons with disabilities have the same civil rights protection as people from other ethnic minority groups and women. At long last, the U.S. Congress, through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the 1992 Rehabilitation Act Amendments, acknowledges that discrimination is a major factor in the lives of persons with disabilities that must be eliminated. No longer will arbitrary laws and policies such as the "Ugly Laws of Chicago" exclude persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities have realized that legal protection is a fundamental foundation to full participation and equality just as people from other ethnic minority groups have discovered.

The new laws and policies promote integration, full participation, and inclusion which are not uncommon concepts to other ethnic minority groups. These laws move away from "separate but too often unequal services." They facilitate the movement from other individuals making decisions about the futures of persons with disabilities. They seek to affirm that we adapt our environment and the workplace always to meet the needs of all of our employees, and that reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities be viewed from this perspective. They give permission for people to ask about the experience of disability. More importantly, they stress that institutions must address the unique aspects of each person's diversity; be it the type of disability, ethnicity, or gender. They emphasize the need for a diverse staff that includes persons with disabilities.

As the newest civil rights movement, we, its members, need you who understand civil rights issues and the issues of diversity to help lead the way to bring persons with disabilities into the diversity family on a natural and equal basis. We still too often are left behind. Think about when we discuss discrimination, Affirmative Action, and diversity. Generally, persons with disabilities do not come to mind. Think about diversity training and diversity studies; too often they do not include disability issues. Think about our language. We know racism, sexism, and even ageism; how many people know the meaning of "ableism" or "handicapism?" How recently have you heard the expression, "lame duck" or "blind leading the blind?" Think about the media presentations. Items are published on disability that would never pass on other issues. We need to come to the day when this lack of tolerance of diversity is equally unacceptable for disability as it is for race, ethnicity, or gender.

Now, let us look at cultural aspects of diversity including disability culture. We will find that the experiences of people from other minority groups parallel those of persons with disabilities. What are some of these basic cultural experiences? The first is portrayal through negative images. In the past, demeaning symbols have been used by the majority culture to define the minority culture. These are offensive and stereotypical images unacceptable to the minority groups. What are some of these images for various minority groups and women? Aunt Jemima, Blonde Bombshell, Charlie Chan. For persons with disabilities, the poster child represents this type of image. This portrayal creates images of persons with disabilities as: brave, determined, and inspirational. Children with disabilities, even adults, smile through their unfortunate fate. Common characteristics of these images include the following: a person is expected to be cheerful, smile, or shuffle and appreciate their second class status. These images are unacceptable for any group. Again, we must come to the day when more people know these images of persons with disabilities for what they are, stereotypes and patronization.

The second cultural experience is that people with disabilities, as other minority group members, are being seen as "damaged goods," that is, coming from a minority background makes you less, not different. This is fundamental for persons with disabilities for whom images of "being less than whole" are still portrayed with impunity. A common experience in this realm is the idea that success can only be achieved by "getting rid of the difference," that is, one must strive to be like, look like, and act like the majority culture. For people from ethnic minority groups, this meant changing their hair, dress, language, and values. For persons with disabilities, this means living for the cure. For example, walking at all costs when a wheelchair provides more mobility but looks less normal; or lip reading and pursuing endless speech therapy instead of using an interpreter. We must understand that these are issues of diversity for persons with disabilities.

A third common experience is the fact that people from a minority group who succeed are seen as extraordinary. This is an inherently patronizing concept since it assumes that most members of the group cannot achieve at such levels. Regarding persons with disabilities, this concept is strongly ingrained in society's mind. If persons with disabilities just try hard enough, they can overcome all odds. This person is a "super crip," the flip side to the poster child, but just as harmful.

Like other civil rights movements, the disability rights movement discards the notion that persons with disabilities must be better than others to be equal; that most persons with disabilities are not "courageous" or inspirational. Like people from other minority groups, persons with disabilities just want to lead "normal" lives and have what everyone else has. Society automatically underestimates the capabilities of persons with disabilities as it underestimates the talents and abilities of people from other minority groups. Just as in the case of other civil rights movements, it is not the person who needs to change, it is society that needs to make the changes. This expectation regarding persons with disabilities is harder for people to understand. People cannot change their color or gender, but they are expected to change their disability status. As Judy Heumann, disability activist and Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services put it:

Again, this is a diversity issue for persons with disabilities. It must come to be understood this way by all.

As a result of our common experiences, as with other minority groups, there is an emerging disability community. As with other groups, we are proud of our culture and are seeking to shake off the way we have been portrayed by others and the effects of the unequal treatment we have received. This is not very different from the struggles of African Americans. There are 49 million Americans with disabilities. We are beginning to see persons with disabilities take pride in being identified as having a disability. We are coming to realize that we are who we are because of our disabilities, not in spite of them. This is a fundamental change for persons with disabilities, rehabilitation professionals, and the world at large. However, it is not a fundamental change from the paths of persons of other minority groups. We all have sought to change the way we look at ourselves, to shed the decades of negative images which too often become "self-fulfilling prophecies," and to change the way society as a whole looks at us as well.

Persons with disabilities have rejected society's tin cup image (HANDICAP). We have rejected the idea that we are childlike and dependent, or in need of pity or charity. Like people from other ethnic minority groups, we are demanding basic human and civil rights; and we are succeeding. For the first time in the history of this country, persons with disabilities are defining themselves. We are saying we want to be celebrated, not just accepted as we are. We are rejecting the stigma that disability is bad or sad and that we should hide our disabilities! We are taking pride in our identity and the positive traits it gave us: acceptance of the abilities of others, organization skills, ability to accept challenge, and willingness to fight for everyone's civil rights.

We must still change one fundamental tragic fact. As with people from other minority groups, we have shared one common experience; discrimination. We share the pain of discrimination among ourselves as well as with our counterparts in the various ethnic communities. According to a 1985 Louis Harris and Associates' Poll of persons with disabilities, 74% of disabled Americans say they share a common identity with other disabled people; 45% believe they are a "minority group in the same sense as African Americans and Hispanics." In other words, people with disabilities are more likely to see themselves as part of an oppressed minority. Often, the discrimination is crude bigotry. In other cases, it is more subtle. It is based on paternalistic assumptions that people from the minority group are not entitled to make their own decisions and lead the lives they choose. This has clearly been the assumption for persons with disabilities. The biggest problems of discrimination are more everyday, more entrenched, and quite visible in the workplace. Only one third of persons with disabilities are employed. Two thirds say they can work and want to work, but are prevented from doing so because they face discrimination in hiring or through the lack of transportation. They, we, want to work and can work...instead of being forced to accept welfare.

Those of you from different ethnic groups understand this. Our dignity is at stake. You and your brothers and sisters have experienced similar forms of discrimination. The disability community is a diverse group of individuals. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, or socio-economic status.

CONCLUSION

What are the fundamental issues in embracing diversity for persons with disabilities in the workplace? We must truly embrace disability as a part of the diversity issue. Our affirmative action and employment practices must follow from this perspective. This will be no easy task for it is asking for a fundamental change in the way persons with disabilities are commonly viewed. In adding disability to the diversity umbrella, we must not take away our efforts to understand and address the unique needs of all aspects of diversity. Rather, the fundamental concept must be that each aspect of a person must be celebrated, understood from his/her perspective, and appreciated. To ignore or demean one aspect demeans the entirety of the person. It is time to quit talking about it, and embrace diversity in all aspects of society and for all people who are different, including persons with disabilities.

I do want to underscore one more important point that we must all understand. There is a role for everyone to play in the struggles of all minority groups in order to achieve equality. However, people from that particular minority group must lead and define their issue. Again, this is not a foreign concept to the women or African American civil rights movements. Leadership and definition of issues must come to be seen as the same for the disability rights movement. There is a new militancy since people with disabilities have come to recognize their strength in numbers and have gained a sense of pride and community. We should all play a role in empowering minority groups, including people with disabilities by: a) achieving the promises of all the civil rights guarantees offered in state and federal laws, and b) eradicating institutional bias and prejudice which oppresses us all, regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, or disability. We are a diverse society. We must embrace, not fear, diversity in every aspect of our lives, with every element of our communities, and with every bit of our hearts and souls FOR ALL PEOPLE!

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Page last updated on March 20, 1997 by Mary Kaye Rubin