Intersectionality feels like a commonsense approach to understanding the make-up of an individual. No person is one thing alone, we are all made up of various histories, experiences, parts of our Self’s that we are aware of and perhaps also, parts we do not yet know. We are also all connected to one another and accountable for how much we try to understand each other. Empathy and understanding are key components to what I feel makes up the role of a teacher and they are key to how we interact with those around us in everyday life.
As John Donne says in his famous poem No Man Is an Island:
“No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.” 1
Ade Adepitan
Ade Adepitan is a bronze basketball medalist, TV presenter, children’s author, Nigerian born, wheelchair user and is black. As such his identity intersects, Ade says “I intersect disability and race, so I see discrimination from both angles”. 2
Ade is being interviewed by Nick Webborn and is asked “how can the Paralympic movement show that injustice and discrimination is not tolerated?”3. In response to this, Ade discusses how we are at a “really important time…. a crossroads for humanity, with what happened to George Floyd… the struggle and the journey that people with disabilities go through.”4
My favourite point that Ade goes on to talk about is the importance of giving people a platform, he says: “If we give people the chance to shine, the sky is the limit”. In particular, the references the advertising by Channel 4 used for the London 2012 Paralympic games, and the positive message that sent out to the public “5
“What makes people disabled is not that you have a disability, it’s not if you have polio… it is society what holds you back. It is systemic discrimination and oppression”6. He goes on to show how this is built into subtle structural things in society, such as wheelchair access, and how people with disabilities are segregated in society in things such as how public transport is structured. This is segregation by design, it shows that society is based on discrimination rather than inclusivity. This is systemic discrimination which is in-built and tacit. Ade discusses how we have moved beyond the overt discrimination of the 80’s but that we are still entrenched in systemic discrimination and that this is inbuilt covertly in the employment opportunities for people with disabilities and people of colour.
Christine Sun Kim
Christine is American, she is a mother, and she is a sounds artist, who works in drawing, performance and video. She has also been deaf since birth. Her identity as a deaf person is at the crux of her work, “the drawings and sound installations make visible and tactile sounds that as a deaf person from birth she can’t hear but that, at the same time, enable her listeners to hear through a deaf optic”7. Christine discusses how she has chosen not to read lips and that this is a political decision, she offers up a quote from Sara Navid to explain how difficult it is to learn to do so “I can one hundred percent promise that you learning sign language is easier that a deaf person learning to hear”8. She discusses how living in Berlin is affordable and how the state offers free day care and how the government supports people in Germany. Christine discusses how misunderstandings in her daily life have forced her to explain all her work components. In this, she discusses how most people have the privilege of invisibility and how those in the minority do not have this luxury.
Disability and Gender
Chay Brown describes himself as “a trans man with mental health difficulties, and I’m probably not neurotypical and co-founder of Transatual… I’m a trans man, I’m a gay man, I’m white which offers me a lot of privilege within the LGBTQ+ community”9, which is an organisation focused on how identities intersect. Chay discusses the important role that organisations play in providing access to all members of society through a person-centered approach. Chay also stresses that a lot of the issues around accessibility can be solved by including people from minority communities who have lived experiences of discrimination and in the decision-making process “inclusion first approaches are just the right thing to do”10.
Recurring Themes
All three people interviewed emphasise how they have been marginalised and discriminated against in society. One of the recurring themes that stood out most to me is how these discriminations are woven into the very fabric of our society; simple things such as, not all buildings being wheelchair accessible seems absurd. And then on a more tacit level, wheelchair users are confined to a location of convenience, how on public transport, wheelchair users need to call ahead to inform station staff they will need a ramp. Could we find ways that are less intrusive and alienating to include wheelchairs users? All three interviewees also discussed being part of a community of people and how these communities intersect and support each other.
It seems clear that a person centered, empathy led response is not the norm and that this needs to change.
Disability Consideration
As a teacher on the UAL Camberwell Foundation painting course, we have a responsibility to consider how best we can support students with disabilities and students who are part of minority groups. According to the 2017 UAL report Students’ Experience of Identity and Attainment at UAL, “black and minority ethnic students are 21.7% less likely than white students to gain first or upper second-class degrees”. This is something that needs to be rectified.
As a white, straight man, attempting to consider the reasons for this, I am perhaps not best placed to do so. But I would say that the reasons are manifold, that they are intersectional. These reasons could be historically based (but in the present, for example if a student is studying painting, perhaps their parents could be discouraging them from engaging fully in the course if their parents wish them to focus on a career that offers financial security, if for example their parents have suffered financial difficulty due to racism/disability), they could be from the systemic discrimination inherent in society (as touched upon above, this comes in a myriad of tacit and overt ways) and or within education (not many institutions or college have staff members that are BSL fluent) or could be university specific (at Camberwell we are not trained or advised on how to support students who are neuro divergent) or even individually specific (students could encounter prejudice from a teacher or fellow student).
Drawing on personal experience, during Part 1 on CCW Foundation this year, we had a student that had Tourette Syndrome. The college did not deal with this particularly well. Only some members of staff were informed initially and then an email was sent out late to all staff members. Not all staff members read this email. This led to staff members interacting in an un-aware manner with the student when the student was experiencing coprolalia. This could have been avoided by staff members communicating better with one another, but this is also difficult to achieve due to the system UAL employs of having most HPL contracts for staff members.
Consider any recurring themes or differing perspectives highlighted in the interviews.
References:
1. https://allpoetry.com/No-man-is-an-island Ade Adepitan, accessed on 23rd April
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAsxndpgagU accessed on 23rd Apri
3. as above
4. as above
5. as above
6. as above
7. https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/jlcds.2021.16, Siting Sound: Redistributing the Senses in Christine Sun Kim, Michael Davidson, accessed on 23rd April
8. https://youtu.be/2NpRaEDlLsI accessed on 23rd April, Sara Novic from X
9. Chay Brown from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yID8_s5tjc accessed on 23rd April
10. Chay Brown from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yID8_s5tjc accessed on 23rd April
A really enjoyable read which was thorough and generous in analysis and self reflectivity. Particularly useful, were your own interpretations of data examining attainment of BAME/disabled students. You were thoughtful and empathic whilst also acknowledging limitations related to your own identity. The tone of the writing and the spirit in which things were said, were entirely appropriate for these kinds of conversations and ones which should be maintain and developed going forward. Nice work
I like the way in which you speak to the complexity of intersectional identities in this blog, and your reflections around our individual responsibility to be empathic resonated with me.
Your writing about the way discrimination is woven into society made me think about the inaccessibility of the space I work in. In relation to the example you use – wheelchair accessibility, I have been told that accessible sewing machine converters can be accommodated in the space I work in, and have been – but that unless a specific student has a need for it, then it will not be provided. This links back to ideas around visibility and expectation – even if we don’t have a fully accessible space, could we not normalise accessible machinery – to make different people’s needs overtly visible, and consequently work to breakdown the othering that special accommodations create. This made me think about Chay’s remarks – that spaces and places should be accessible as a default, and if they don’t get used or aren’t needed on that occasion.
Great opening that talks about all of our complexities, and inter-connectedness as a community, society, species and really good to point to empathy as key to understanding others.
You picked up on what I think were really key points:
– Humanity at a crossroads, events could help push the majority of public inti a new level of acceptance and inclusion and empathy for others
– I also found the part about giving people a platform, to shine. It’s not about pity but giving those from marginalised / disadvantaged / discriminated communities, the tools, support, access to be on a level playing field with others, so they can show their talents.
– The Channel 4 ‘Superhumans’ campaign also came to mind and Holly mentioned this in the session last week. A key piece of communication that was about celebrating/empowerment, not pity.
– Agree, not about segregation or special measures, but about making things accessible for everyone, as the base level.
– For me, the interesting points in Christine’s interview were about how government policy can help or hinder access to equality. Something as simple as free childcare can mean a mother has time/space in their lives to work
– Her work was really interesting in creating a sense of empathy in the hearing community for deaf people. That could potentially highlight the inequality faced by this community.
– Some good points about Chay Brown and how he talked about including those from marginalised communities in the decision making process. This seems so critical and again, such a common sense approach.
– You summed all of this up very elegantly at the end with your text: “It seems clear that a person centered, empathy led response is not the norm and that this needs to change.”
– You also made some really good points in relation to the university’s stats on race and attainment and useful to give a specific statistic.
– As you say, there are many reasons that also intersectional: family pressures, historical experiences of racism in the family.
– As you say, training and staff preparedness is very important and must come from an institutional level with funding and access to appropriate training and support for staff, as well as the students.