What Color Disability?
Ninety-five percent of characters with disabilities on current television shows are played by able-bodied actors, Squire, T.H., Kopić, K.,
Mitchell, D.C. (Ruderman White Paper, 2017). That is tantamount to the age-old practice of black-face; a term from the 1840’s where minstrels
popular, but since only whites could perform, they wore black make-up. It may no longer be the golden age of television,
approximately 1949-1960, (www.museum.tv/eotv/goldenage), but it is still where the majority of people regularly see people of different
races go about their, albeit scripted, existence. However, if that viewer is a child with a disability, who is hoping to see a mirror image, he will
ind it is slim pickings on American television. Consequently, people with disabilities do, very often, feel as if they are a separate culture.
The index of individualism vs. collectivism is primary in this discussion. Exploring the extent to which the disabled are properly included in
our social construct; media representation is the overall best educational opportunity to improve how society sees disability. Other common
barriers are overly protective parents, special education, and architectural barriers. Like all cultures and subcultures, there is a need to look at
this situation from different angles and points of view. Producers, for example, may look at this from the concern over insurance rates, extra
production costs for access and assistance, or whether their stars, who are the driving force behind the show have objections. No peer-reviewed
evidence of producers doing this work is available.
When discussing the index of indulgence vs. restraint as it pertains to disability, this is often a construct of the parent, educator, or other person deciding that they know best what will bring happiness to a person with disability, often to their detriment, and without regard to individual fulfillment of simple joys. Indulgence is often thought of as allowing gratification of our basic and baser human wants to ensure we have fun and enjoy our God-given existence. Its counterpart, restraint, is usually defined as controlling these instincts and following standard social rules. Societies that indulge its people believe they are in control of their life and emotions; those held tightly are convinced outside forces create the direction of their life and emotions.
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr said The history of our planet has been in great part the history of the mixing of peoples, Neuliep, J.W. (2018), and that is a large part of the issue with socialization of persons with disabilities. In chapter one of Neuliep’s textbook time is taken to discuss the differences of polite distance between people in various cultures; this also is true for persons with disabilities. Standing too close, treating adults like children because of their stature, or handling their mobility devices or services animals without permission are all faux paus. While billions of people have access to information, it needs to be noted that the digital divide affects the disabled through the inability to afford the technology or the add-ons necessary to use it.
Practical examples from this season’s television programming show that only one out of three very popular sitcoms whose characters have a disability, uses a person who has a disability. Speechless, starring Micah Fowler, who has cerebral palsy, plays JJ who is non verbal. The other two are Mom starring Allison Janney, whose boyfriend, played by William Fichner, is an able-bodied actor using a wheelchair; similarly, Superstore has Colton Dunn using a wheelchair. Media outlets, whether news, print, or the many entertainment platforms now available, continue to shy away from using people with disabilities, and tend to only tell their stories if the person is heroic in some way, and these stories are nearly always written by able-bodied writers. Society stereotypes anyone who looks different, whether their walk, their talk, their use of mobility devices, or anything that is considered not normal.
Seidler C.O. (2011) challenged sixth-graders to examine stereotypes about people who have disabilities, including discussing the notion that
he disabled don’t desire to merely emulate those who are able-bodied, but to life lives that are as full and complete as society and architectural
barriers allow, the class created a cartoon based on the struggles that ensued. While the class also included simulation exercises the author soon
l earned from disability civil rights groups, that “Gimp for a Day’ stunts are in no way supported by them, or, indeed supportive of the struggle.
Ethnocentrism is obvious in ableism. Weeber, J. E. (1999) recounts how her disabled siblings experience similar acts of discrimination as racial minorities. Causing the same pain racism inflicts. Many have the world view that to be able-bodied is superior to being disabled. There is an assumption that persons with disabilities wish they could be nondisabled, no matter the cost. Those with disabilities often feel the same prejudice and bigotry in employment, and housing. These barriers mark them as less than those who are nondisabled. It has the capability of convincing young people, in particular, that they are lesser people, and that they are not acceptable to the world just as they are. Children grow up feeling defective because some part of their body or their brain activity is different than most of their peers; they are also often separated from those peers because of out-dated educational rules and protocol.
Two minorities that are not specifically about race or color are those with disabilities and those who identify as part of the LGBTQ collective. In terms of being disabled or being gay, there is, of course, crossover of race and sexual identity. In 2012, there were approximately 56.7 million people with disabilities in the United States (www.census.gov). This is about 19% of the population or 1 in 5. Unfortunately, there is no solid data available for the LGBTQ population, but allowing for the standard 10% of the population that is always cited, based on the Kinsey Report (1948). That is about 32 million people. Why is this relevant? The gay population fair far better than the disabled population, especially in terms of being represented in media.
People with disabilities are often treated as a separate entity, or culture, even within the same family. As with most cultures unknown to us, fear
is an underlying cause of much of the discrimination. Media, whether news, print, or the many entertainment platforms now available, shies
away from using people with disabilities, and tend to only tell the stories if the person is heroic in some way, and these stories are nearly always
written by able-bodied writers, and generally along the hero or catastrophe theme. Society stereotypes anyone who looks different; whether it
is their walk, their talk, their use of mobility devices, or anything that is considered not normal.
Television is but one place where people with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities are affected disproportionate to the populations. To feel a culture apart In fact, in a separate report from Ruderman, it was noted that more than half of the people killed by police have a disability. Technology is making us all closer. We are more able to communicate across the cultures and around the world. The question for this generation is simply this: What benefit is technology if we still cannot communicate with the person down the hall or across the street because she is different? Perhaps Tom Bergeron was correct on the October 2nd, 2017 live broadcast of Dancing with the Stars, which along with another reality show, The Amazing Race, often features people with disabilities. In response to high school bullying of persons with disabilities he said, in part Don’t be an Ass.
References
ADA Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/miscellaneous/cb12-
Kinsey, A., 1948 Kinsey Reports. (2016). The Almanac of American Philanthropy
Krisberg, K. (2016). Killings by police often involve disabled. The Nation's Health,(5), 15.
Neuliep, J.W., Intercultural Communication: A contextual approach, 7th Edition, © 2018 by SAGE Publications.
The Ruderman Foundation Retrieved from http://rudermanfoundation.org/white_papers/the-ruderman-white-paper-on-the-challenge-to-create-more-authentic-disability-casting-and-representation-on-tv.
Police http://www.texasstandard.org/stories/half-of-people-killed-by-police-in-the-us-may-have-a-disability.
Seidler, C. O. (2011). Fighting Disability Stereotypes with Comics: "I Cannot See You, but I Know You Are staring at Me." Art Education, 64(6), 20-23.
Weeber, J. E. (1999). What Could I Know of Racism? Journal Of Counseling.
