Get Over it: But What are We Getting Over?

President Obama has taken some heat over his bad special olympics joke on the tonight Show. The criticism Obama has been subjected to has not resonated with the general public and most political commentators. The Wall Street Journal lamented the fact Obama was "getting lashed by the political correctness police". The Washington Times chimed in that Obama's joke was a "ginned-up controversy" from the forces of "political correctness. A quick google search will reveal thousands of articles have appeared in the last few days and based on a random sampling one could easily conclude people with a disability are humorless people. One theme comes through loud and clear: Get over it! It was a bad joke and nothing more than that. People with a disability cannot take a joke and are hyper sensitive.

I think I have a pretty good sense of humor. I also think disability can be very funny and more than one student has told me I am an entertaining lecturer. So, have I missed the point with regard to Obama's attempt at humor? In a word, no. Obama's joke, like the Saturday Live Skit lampooning Governor Patterson a few months ago, is not funny because it is based on a stereotype. The stereotypical assumption is that special olympics athletes are inept mentally and physically. This is not true. Some special olympians are gifted bowlers. How do I know this? Unlike most Americans I have watched the Special Olympics. My viewpoint is based on fact not an antiquated stereotype.

To date, I have come across just one insightful critique of the controversy Obama created with his so called joke. On the blog Wheelie Catholic Gary Karp commented on an entry entitled "The Question". Gary Karp lamented the fact that Obama's special olympic quip overran a key point he wanted to get across when he was able to ask the President a question about disability at a town hall meeting. Gary Karp is correct: Obama's joke about the special olympics has generated a lot of press most of which is not good for reasons I mentioned above. Karp wants the focus to be on whether a "true renaissance in the lives of people with disabilities" has taken place. In a remarkably astute observation Karp began his question to the President of the United States by stating:

Sir, my question regards the true renaissance that’s happening with people with disabilities. They are an emerging population — millions of people with more potential in capacity, more mobile, more educated, more healthy, more empowered technology, but still trapped in very, very old social models that see them in terms of tragedy and charity and need and care. And the modern population of people with disabilities simply does not fit that model.

Amen! Boy, I wish I could have been with Karp when he said this. I doubt I could have been as articulate, polite, and on point if given an opportunity to ask the President a question. Karp is correct about people with a disability as being an emerging population that are trapped by antiquated notions about the meaning of disability. In the last two decades more people with a disability are able to access an equal education and schools are becoming better at dealing with students that have cognitive and physical disabilities. But one thing has not changed as rapidly: the unemployment rate among people with a disability is staggeringly high. To me, this is a clear sign that people with a disability encounter an overwhelming social bias when they try to enter the work force. Given the choice between a qualified person with and without a disability I suspect most employers will choose the person without a disability. This is a significant problem and as the economy has nose dived in the last year the people who have struggled the most include those with a disability. Thus, Karp asked the President how will his economic stimulus package "release the emerging potential that's currently wasted and untapped?"

How indeed will the economic stimulus package empower people with a disability? This is a story I would like to see the Wall Street Journal cover. People bemoan the high rate of unemployment but no national outcry or debate has taken place with regard to why people with a disability are unemployed in overwhelming numbers. Instead, people with a disability that assert their civil rights are considered to be "difficult" or have a "chip on their shoulder". In the case of the special olympics joke people with a disability are considered "humorless" and "politically incorrect" when they object to baseless stereotypes. How exactly are people with a disability supposed to succeed? The mainstream media is quick to exploit great visuals of a person with a disability doing something "remarkable" that reinforces the well worn idea of people "overcoming: their disability. Yet no stories emerge about the ordinary person with a disability that simply wants to have a job, career, family and community in which they are treated equally. The reasons why this is so difficult is worthy of sober study.