Blog Task #1: Disability
Kimberlé Crenshaw is credited as introducing the term intersectionality in essays published over 30 years ago; one being a core text for this Unit (1990). She offers a lengthy analysis citing numerous examples, but a more succinct (and recent) treatment can be found in an emotive TED Talk delivered in 2016. Calling on this, she utilises the term intersectionality “to deal with the fact that many of our social justice problems like racism and sexism are often overlapping, creating multiple levels of social injustice” (2016, 04:50), and later adds that “we all know that, where there’s no name for a problem, you can’t see a problem, and when you can’t see a problem, you pretty much can’t solve it” (08:30).
With knowledge of this term I commenced watching the three videos of people identifying themselves as disabled: the first being Ade Adepitan, a Nigerian-born British television presenter and wheelchair basketball player, interviewed by Nick Webborn, the Paralympic GB President (ParalympicsGB, 2020). Clearly this must be about the intersection of race and disability, but the intersectionality was not significantly highlighted. At one point Adepitan does state that he intersects disability and race, and comments on schemes aimed to “have more disabled people” and to “have more black people”, but not disabled black people (06:07). Nevertheless, some salient points are made: Adepitan declares that what makes someone disabled is not their disability, but society (01:57); and Webborn, citing Rosa Parks’ stand on segregated transport, argues for making transport better for everyone, rather than the discrimination of having a section specifically for those with disabilities (04:58).
The second video concerns Christine Sun Kim, a Berlin-based American sound artist profoundly deaf since birth. So what’s the intersection? Disabled and female, perhaps? Well, I couldn’t discern an intersection, but again there are some notable comments. Kim speaks of the advantage of sharing a culture and language as part of the deaf community, making it a comfortable place to remain within rather than be “oppressed in the way that they are in the hearing community” (Art21, 2023, 07:36), but later raises the issue of visibility and says she wants “deaf lives to be in your mind, and be part of what we consider acceptable, what’s normal” (12:30), so there is tension between withdrawing and striving to be noticed.
The final video is an interview with Chay Brown, co-founder of TransActual which supports the trans community, the intersection being transgender with mental health issues. Brown describes himself as ‘privileged’ within his community due to being a white man and with a ‘hidden’ disability (Parapride, 2023, 00:58), and I would add to this that he would also be seen as a leader within said community. Brown goes on to detail issues faced by disabled people within the LGBTQ+ community, covering accessibility for those with reduced mobility (02:38), and difficulties in dealing with non-verbal communication for community members with neurodevelopmental disorders (01:35). However, whilst his examples are from the trans community, I do not see the intersection with disability as such: the points raised are entirely valid in how we should consider those with disabilities but this only demonstrates that the same discrimination takes place within the trans community as it does without. I can see this being a double-hit for a disabled LGBTQ+ person, but am I missing something? I feel Brown’s idea of intersectionality doesn’t align with that of Crenshaw.
I look forward to reading the thoughts of my peers: perhaps that will open my eyes.
578 words
References
Art21 (2023) Christine Sun Kim in “Friends & Strangers”. 1 November. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NpRaEDlLsI (Accessed: 28 April 2024).
Crenshaw, K. (1990) ‘Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color’, Stanford Law Review 43 (6), pp.1241-1299
Crenshaw, K. (2016) The urgency of intersectionality. October. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality (Accessed: 28 April 2024).
ParalympicsGB (2020) Ade Adepitan gives amazing explanation of systemic racism. 16 October. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsxndpgagU&t=88s (Accessed: 28 April 2024).
Parapride (2023) Intersectionality in Focus: Empowering Voices during UK Disability History Month 2023. 13 December. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yID8_s5tjc (Accessed: 28 April 2024).
I found interesting your viewpoint on how we as individuals consider disabilities. The application of intersectionality can vary across contexts and individuals may prioritize different aspects of their identities at different times. The interviews with Adepitan (2020) and narratives by Kim (2024) & Brown (2023) highlight the experiences of individuals at the intersection of disability, race, and sexism including those who are black, transgender and deaf. Rather than simply challenging the complexity of multiple identities, I believe it is important to consider how these differences impact their lives. We should reconceptualize disability and racism to foster solidarity between black and white individuals with disabilities and transgender. Intersectionality, as proposed by Crenshaw in 1990, allows us to challenge the fixed categories of identity. Challenging the groups that are ‘home’ to everyone is not easy. This can cause discomfort as it challenges the centrality of certain groups. For instance, in the context of disability and racism, intersectionality explains why black individuals with disabilities can not simply prioritize the community’s interests over addressing interracial discrimination. Disability can unite people across different identities, but it can also perpetuate discrimination within schools and universities. I believe that what is important is to acknowledge the diversity within institutional settings and the existence of various discourses within them. This can elicit tensions and inherent flexibility that allow for multiple interpretations. Brown (2022) suggests that institutions consist of diverse perspectives and practices. Individuals within these institutions have the ability to blend or adopt different elements of these discourses to suit their own objectives. In other words, there is a recognition that institutional settings are complex ecosystems. As a result, different voices and viewpoints can coexist and provide individuals with opportunities to navigate and utilize these complexities to their advantage irrelevant of any disability.
References
Brown, A,D.(2022). Identities in and around organizations:Towards an identity work perspective. Human relations, 75 (7),pp. 1205-1237. DOI:10.1177/0018726721993910.
Brown, C. (2023). Parapride. Intersectionality in Focus: Empowering Voices during UK Disability History Month 2023 [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yID8_s5tjc (Accessed: 1 May 2024).
Crenshaw, K. (1990). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review 43 (6), pp.1241-1299.
Kim, C.S. (2024). Christine Sun Kim: “Friends and Strangers” [Online] Available at: https://youtu.be/2NpRaEDlLsI?si=QV59cxUazGY4Ca2t (Accessed :1 May 2024).
ParalympicsGB (2020) .Ade Adepitan gives amazing explanation of systemic racism. 16 October. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsxndpgagU&t=88s (Accessed: 1 May l 2024).
Thanks, Zoi, you offer some thoughts that I need to give time to digesting. But one aspect that I’ll respond to here now is for us to “challenge the fixed categories of identity”. Maybe it’s (partly) because I am a white male, which can be viewed as a privileged position, but I am very reluctant to categorise people unless they first declare how they themselves wish to be identified. If someone, for example, is happy to describe themself as being disabled then I’m comfortable to use that category for them. But maybe there’s another level to this, and you mention “challenging the groups that are ‘home’ ” to someone (perhaps picking up on Kim being comfortable within the deaf community): is someone identifying themself as disabled because wider society has chosen that for them, rather than it being a genuine free choice? There are real reasons why we do, sometimes, need ‘tags’ for people (the UAL Dashboard for example!), but it is fraught with complications.
You may find an earlier post, entitled “No More ‘Black’ Artists” where I give my reflections after reading bell hooks’ essay, of interest too, as I also address this idea of labelling people, but in the context of race.
I concur with your perspective, Andrew. It appears that society often stigmatizes and marginalizes individuals who lack privilege or are disabled. It is essential to approach statistical data with care, and perhaps we should consistently consider control factors such as -race i.e. white individuals-and what kind of effect this factor has on disability and their contributions in the workplace. In future work, we should realise the deep correlation between ‘home’ disabled individuals and ‘non -home’ disabled building a highly relevant correlation mechanism to provide comprehensive changes for societal inclusion of the disabled at work.
I have found Crenshaw’s positionality in intersectional identities rather interesting .
Reference
Crenshaw, K. (1990). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review 43 (6), pp.1241-1299.
You write very well Andrew and you had clearly engaged fully with the material. I can understand your comments on Chay and perhaps the lack of intersectionality. What I found more interesting with his case was that there were many barriers taking place and that his situation is perhaps more complex then the others. I found it interesting that he referred to himself as privilidged due to his whiteness – despite the fact he is probably marginalised in many other ways. I’m not sure it came across fully in the video from Ade, but I agree it would be more interesting to hear his viewpoints on how being black and disabled presents barriers for those who do not have his skill set and platform.
Yes, in the case of Adepitan he seems to have been successful in both his sport and his media career, so neither of the potential areas of discrimination have inhibited his achievement as far as we can tell. I hope it doesn’t sound flippant to say that his particular sporting success was only possible because of his physical disability. But he does mention an earlier age when being called a ‘cripple’, or having the ‘N’ word targeted at you, had to be tolerated, and thus he has been on the receiving end of such abuse. Adepitan does talk about schemes to get more disabled and more black people into sport, but not disabled black people: I have no knowledge of the schemes he mentions, but the way forward should surely be for these existing schemes to ‘intersect’, rather than have a third operation specifically for black disabled.
Thank you for sharing your views in such detail. You highlighted an interesting observation from Christine’s video about the tension between her comments on withdrawing and striving to be noticed. I suspect those contradictory feelings might be common for people in similar circumstances. On one hand, they may sometimes avoid dealing with the difficulties and challenges of explaining and communicating with people who don’t understand them, seeking a safe space. On the other hand, there is a strong desire to make others aware of their struggles and advocate for changes that would lead to wider acceptance and normalization of their condition.