Disability Oppression Research Paper

Disability has been a difficult topic of society for years. Many people find discomfort in the presence of the disabled and many feel pity for those who are disabled. Back in the 1800s, the disabled were perceived as unable to contribute to society, often forced to undergo sterilization, and forced into institutions and asylums (“A Brief History”). In fact, this treatment of the disabled and mentally ill has been persistent until somewhat recently, when the Civil Rights movement took place, and those with disabilities decided to take a stand for their rights. Although people with disabilities continue to face difficulties in finding jobs, legitimizing their opinion, having the right to vote, and choosing whether or not they receive or refuse

People with disabilities are part of the society; Are present in any area of ​​human endeavor. The worst maltreatment suffered by individuals with disabilities is that they are not seen, with exceptions, like any other person. Disability is not a characteristic of the subject, but the result of their individuality in relation to the demands that the environment poses. The type and degree of disability that the person suffers from prevents them from using their resources autonomously, being forced to look for other alternatives to meet his essential needs. People with disabilities, in fact, in everyday life, are not like other people: they have limitations and problems that do not affect ordinary people in the same way. The aspect that matters is that these people, with their limitations, have the right as all to the maximum development of all their potentialities.

Americans with disabilities make up the largest minority group in the United States. Approximately fifty million people in the United States live with physical or mental handicaps. This minority group is unique in that it is made up of people from all socioeconomic classes, genders and races. Mental and physical impairments do not discriminate. As with other minorities, Americans with disabilities face unique challenges and discriminatory behaviors. For centuries, disabled people had to battle irrational fears and stereotypes due to the lack of medical understanding. The first demand for equal treatment for disabled people came in the 1960s. The struggle for disability rights has followed a similar pattern to many other civil rights movements – first negative stereotypes must be challenged, followed rallying for political and institutional change and lobbying for the self-determination of a minority community. As a result the examples of the African American civil rights and women’s rights movements encouraged the disability rights movement, and after decades of campaigning and lobbying, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990.

Disability has functioned historically to justify inequality for disabled people themselves, but it has also done so for women and minority groups. That is, not only has it been considered justifiable to treat disabled people unequally, but the concept of

What comes into one’s mind when they think of a disabled person? Most people feel pity and embarrassment, and feel these disabled people are nothing but useless. In “Disability,” writer Nancy Mairs discusses the experience of being a disabled person in a world focused on strong and healthy people. The danger in this single story is that people with disabilities are discriminated against and put away with forgotten care. Mairs states, how debilitated individuals are continually barred, particularly from the media. People with disabilities are the same as the average American person, but because they are disabled, they are seen as meaningless human beings and

More than fifty-six million Americans have one or more physical disabilities. Many of these individuals are physically able to partake in everyday activities, yet they are excluded from these opportunities (Crockett). People with disabilities are intentionally isolated by society due to a stereotypical assumption of their lack of abilities to participate and contribute (Harris 368). They are viewed as objects of pity, who are unable to work, go to school, or live on their own”(Crockett). Ed Roberts, an individual with a disability, clearly states, [we] “are considered the weakest, the most helpless people in our society, [but] are the strongest, and will not tolerate segregation, [and] will not tolerate a society which sees us as less than whole people” (Laney 21). He wants to “reshape the image that society” has on them and prove that people with disabilities are just as capable as everyone else. George H.W. Bush signed the American with Disabilities Act into law on July 26, 1990. (The Americans with Disabilities Act: A Brief overview). Bush knew that the act was “powerful in its simplicity” and that it would “ensure that people with disabilities [were] given the basic guarantees for which they have worked so long and hard” (Americans with Disabilities Act, Medicine 3). The goal was to help people with disabilities live the “American Dream” and be identified by their potential and not their inadequacies (Rodgers 2). Since the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into

Disability in a socio-cultural context can be defined as "a barrier to participation of people with impairments or chronic illnesses arising from an interaction of the impairment or illness with discriminatory attitudes, cultures, policies or institutional practices" (Booth, 2000). The traditional view of disability often focuses on the individual, highlighting incapacities or failings, a defect, or impairment. This focus creates obstacles to participation on equal terms since an individual who seems to lack certain capacities may not be able to attain autonomy.

There are so many different thoughts that run though a person’s head when they hear the word disability or see a person with a disability. During the Roman and Greek eras a person with a disability was treated very badly, they were killed or abandoned in the woods in Greece, drowned and burned during the Spanish Inquisition, shackled to their beds in the U.S institution because there was an insufficient number or staff members to care for residents and not allowed to attend neighborhood schools and much more. People with disabilities were treated like they weren’t human. During the Greek and Roman era people with disabilities were considered punishments of the Gods a bad or evil sin. Being chained left on hills to die, locked away and forced

Society’s ideological constructs and attitudes towards minority groups are created and reinforced through media imagery. Although negative associations that maintain inequities with regard to race, gender and homophobia (Conner & Bejoian, 2006) have been somewhat relieved, disability is still immersed in harmful connotations that restrict and inhibit the life of people with disabilities in our society.

When people hear the term oppression, they immediately associate this word with the struggles minorities have endured throughout history. This term does not only apply to the tribulations of various ethnic groups but also to persons with disabilities. Oppression means the use of authority or power in a way that is cruel and unjust. Even though the times have changed, both minorities and persons with disabilities still fight this battle daily to be treated equally.

Throughout our history as a nation, individuals with disabilities have been viewed in many ways. Most were held to a very negative perspective for many years and some are held to that same perspective to this day. Unfortunately, the portion of our population that live with a physical or mental disability have had to deal with inequality and oppression. So, why does this unjust treatment or perspectives of these individuals continue to happen? What can our society do to change it?

What do you think of when you hear the word “disability”? Do you think of individuals who need extra resources? Or do you think of individuals who are limited by society? The topic of people with disabilities is often controversially. Some individuals take the firm stance that labeling a person as “disabled” can be helpful as it ensures that individual that they will get the extra resources they need to have the best quality of life. On the other hand, people take the stance that the term “disability” should be eliminated because it leads to social stigma and individual who do suffer from health, whether it is physical or mental, complications are often given less opportunities because they have been labeled as “disabled.” Especially because some individuals are targeted as being “sick” when they are healthy, which

However, the disability culture doesn’t just stop in American society, it extends all over the world and into different communities. It is also where people are born and raised and the resources available to them in their environments that helps constitute whether families can help support their members with disabilities or if they can even find those kinship ties within their communities. Some parts of the world don’t have as strong of a disability community so often times it can be very difficult for those with a disability to find someone who has lived through similar struggles. The location of the person with the disability has a big impact on whether their family will be able to support them emotionally, mentally, and physically. For example, in America, there has been an evolution over the past decades of how society views those with disabilities. We went from the establishment of “ugly laws” to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, where those with disbailities need to be given equal opportunities and cannot be discriminated against. However, in other countries they don’t have the same amount of resources or community support as the U.S. so it can become much more difficult for those within the disability community to find support from their family or each other. And the concept goes further to the culture in which people have grown up in, in China or India the presence or absence of disability in constructed by broader notions of kinship and radically different epistemologies from those used in the West” (Adams et al., 83). In some places a disability, depending on the conditions, can be seen as a gift from God or in other instances and cultures as a

There was an attempt to Christianize the world. Christianity were finally established in the Americas, Australasia, the South Pacific and southern Africa. In my opinion as much as I understand their intention to spread God’s word globally they obviously tried really hard to assimilate indigenous cultures; to make these people believe that Christ is the only way. Many had died when they felt oppressed by the European and the Spanish. During the Middle ages Church of England ruled and pay little attention to the people. According to the Chapter, “…secular rulers regularly attempted to encroach on it claims to political influence.” (McGrath, 142).

This week’s discussion dealt with Individuals and Disabilities. Over the years, people who have a “disability" have been subjected to prejudice and more. And the first way to diminish someone is through language, by using words or labels to identify a person as "less-than," as "the others—not like us," and so forth. Once a person has been identified this way, it makes