Journal Entry 4 - Disabilities and Oppression.

As a current and future librarian, information professional, as well as a student studying Universal Access I in fact, do not think it is important that my peers and I understand that persons with disabilities experience oppression. Why, you are most assuredly asking, along with whether or not my cold, calloused heart is still beating? We do not need to understand this simply because we already know it. What I mean by this statement is two-fold.

First and foremost, it is intrinsic to the missions of both libraries and information agencies to be informed, to be knowledgeable, and the oppression of people with disabilities is neither new nor hidden. Instead, this oppression is a historical norm Mackelprang and Salsgiver (2009) concisely tell us, “in most societies throughout history, disabilities have been viewed as abnormal, and people with disabilities have been marginalized” (p.23).

Second, in speaking specifically for the United States, this oppression is so widespread and so mainstreamed that it cannot possibly be escaped. Any nondisabled person that did not taunt someone with the ugly words “retard, freak, or crazy” at some point in their childhood, grew up in a very different country then myself and, I will safely assume, the majority of this country’s citizens. Instead, I would argue (and here is where you see that my heart is not nearly as cold as you initially suspected,) librarians and information professionals such as myself, need to move beyond the simplistic understanding that disabled persons are oppressed and ask the questions of how, why, and what can be done about it.

If, for example, I can be looked at as both an average individual as well as an average early career information professional, although aware of oppression to people with disabilities, I had previously never taken the time to closely look at how it is realized, whether or not I exhibit it, and how this affects disabled individuals, my interactions with them, and society at large. Indeed, what I could tell you is that at times, despite my knowledge of and guilt associated with it, I too experienced what Mackelprang and Salsgiver (2009) describe as “feelings such as pity, fear, and revulsion [that] are unconsciously and automatically experienced” (p.8) when nondisabled people encounter disabled people. Now though, I have come to understand that it is my context and the context created by the moral and medical models of our society that have led me to react in this way. Now, I can recognize what Mackelprang and Salsgiver (2009) would term my own as well as society’s oppressive, abelist reactions, what their affects are, and what I can do about them.

First, I will remember that rather than view, or worse yet, treat a disabled person like a “perpetual child,” I can recognize this stereotype and battle its theft of “opportunities for growth and development” (Mackelprang and Salsgiver, 2009, p.10).

I can now recognize pity as another harmful and stereotypical reaction that “places persons with disabilities in a totally powerless position… [that are] not in control of their own lives… [and are] dependent… damaged goods… not normal… not capable of taking care of themselves… not a force to be reckoned with… [and that] no on would want to be like them” (Mackelprang and Salsgiver, 2009, p.94).

I will no longer view a disabled person as sick and will fight this stereotype knowing full well that it prevents individuals “from learning the skills necessary for economic survival and advancement” and instead posits that individual as a burden as well as “passive… grateful for what they receive” all while forcing them to view their disability as something to be healed or overcome “at any cost” (Mackelprang and Salsgiver, 2009, p.95).

I will struggle against the desire to position a disabled person in a place of blame as this “provides justification for discrimination.” I will recognize that it is frequently the professionals that “provide the institution, models, and tools needed to achieve success” knowing full well that it is these same professionals that define the success in terms of “compliance, perseverance, and dedication… to overcome his or her disability” (Mackelprang and Salsgiver, 2009, p.96). 

I will fight against my own and societies frequent attempts to contain disabled persons thereby limiting their “choices, exposure, and life experiences, as well as the opportunities for disabled persons to fully participate in society” (Mackelprang and Salsgiver, 2009, p.86).

I, other library and information professionals, and in fact every nondisabled person, will do well to remember that disabled individuals are not, as we sometimes and shamefully regard them, ugly, sexless, incompetent, cursed, freaks, and or dispensable as all of these stereotypes are terribly harmful in their own ways.

Finally, and as importantly, I will work toward the personal and societal understanding that it is “societal barriers, not individual characteristics, [that] present the greatest challenge to full participation for people with disabilities”(Mackelprang and Salsgiver, 2009, p.8).

Resources:

Mackelprang, R.W., Salsgiver, R.O. (2009). Disability: A Diversity Model Approach in Human Service Practice. Chicago: Lyceum Books Inc.