Deepening Disability Justice: Beyond the Level Playing Field

i was very lucky to be born disabled in 1966, just as the disability rights movement was gaining strength worldwide — I was born into an era of disability activists agitating for recognition that we are human beings like any other, and that we should be treated with respect and dignity.

Participants in ADAPT, a grassroots disability rights group, demonstrate against proposed cuts to Medicaid in Washington, D.C.

Tom Olin

This is a political claim, but it’s also a theological one that has resonance with the fundamental precepts of most religions. As a Quaker, for example, I am taught to look for “that of God in every one,” in the words of George Fox, the founder of the Quaker movement.

In most cultural contexts and for many centuries, disabled people have struggled for inclusion and survival. Throughout history, many disabled children have died or been left to die. Although a few disabled adults achieved prominence in previous eras — including a blind Syrian poet, a dwarf civil servant from ancient Egypt, and a naval hero with multiple impairments — the majority have found it extremely hard to stay alive.

Over the ages, religion has been a mixed blessing to people with disabilities. The ethos of charity — understood as dana in Buddhism and Hinduism, tzedakah in Judaism, and zakat in Islam — has enabled some disabled people to find support and comfort. But traditional scriptures also describe impairment in terms of uncleanliness (Leviticus 21:16–23) or view problems in terms of possession by devils (Matthew 12:22 and Mark 5:2–20). Some scriptures also imply that a person is disabled as a punishment for their own sin or that of their parents (Exodus 20:5 and Matthew 9:2).

In the current moment, there exists much potential for religious communities to ally with the disability rights movement in creating accessible spaces of worship, new theological approaches to disability, and a new religious approach to disability justice.

The Social Model of Disability

Disabled people have organized powerfully within the last half-century to challenge our social oppression and cultural exclusion. As a group we have demanded the right to speak on our own behalf. We have rejected the idea of charity and pity. We have promoted the concept of human rights and equality. We have condemned institutions and asylums — which were once posited as appropriate oases of protection — as venues of segregation and abuse. This movement has been wide and profound, and very welcome.

The key ideological principle at the core of the global disability movement is called “the social model.” The social model of disability contends that disability is not a medical issue but rather an equality issue like gender, race, and sexuality: the problem is one of social structures, not individual bodies. In other words, environmental barriers, negative attitudes, and the inaccessibility of systems and structures are what render a person with impairment disabled. A slogan associated with the social model is, “Disabled by society, not by our bodies.” This phrase is deeply resonant with a verse from Hebrews, “Make a level path for my feet, so that the lame be not disabled” (12:13), which sums up how physical environments can either enable or disable people with different forms of embodiment. The social model enables people with impairments to stop thinking of ourselves as the problem — the true problem is the oppressive context.

All Barriers Crumble and Fall by Adrean Clark. The hands in this artwork are making the sign for “sledgehammer.” The written sign language at the top is a quotation from the first female valedictorian at Gallaudet University: “This day women have many barriers. We must come together in support and tear them down!”

Adrean Clark (adreanaline.com)

A Level Playing Field Is Not Enough

The social model of disability results in a “level playing fields” approach to equality. It is reflected in legislation such as the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), and many other pieces of national legislation. By drawing...