Opposites attract

Empowerment can be found in many different corners of reality. It can be found in a 12' by 12' ring in a place called "J.J. Baja's" restaurant in Georgia, where wrestlers of short stature hurl insults at the crowd, egging on the audience to yell things like, "They're amazingly funny, who doesn't like midgets?" Some may be offended by the term midget, but not these wrestlers, who call their outfit The Micro Wrestling Federation and explain, "It's not sports exploitation, it's capitalization." A statement, spoken by the same man who said, "We didn't go to LPA (Little People of America) meetings. Everything that was small to us, like a bottle of soda . . . my dad pushed that on to me and said, 'Hey, look at that midget.'"
LPA is no saviour, and may not always be an empowerment zone, but if somebody can find self esteem by reclaiming an antiquated, objectifying term, and by earning money at a show no different than one put on by PT Barnum, I hope it's not called empowerment. Because whatever self esteem they have, hasn't been earned. It's been kidnapped from other people of short stature who still today are forced to confront prejudice in social and professional environments.
Of course, there are many more opportunities for people of short stature today than there were two or three generations ago, and the barriers that still exist today can not be directly linked to entertainment like the microwrestlers who encourage the public to think of them as objects rather than people. But when it comes to role models, I'll take mine in the form of people like Serge Rush, a high school wrestler who, instead of inviting audiences to gawk, wrestles. While he may not make a living as a wrestler, he's done more for integration, independence and acceptance than the microwrestlers could ever hope. Instead of a object, Rush is, "a teamate."

Represent

Last week, congress held the confirmation hearing of Representative Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor.

Throughout the process of administration appointments, leaders in the disability community have lobbied for disability representation. While, with the list of appointments so far, the disability community has not received appointments for which it is hoping, the community still works to earn commitments to represent disability concerns from prospective cabinet members. Appointment hearings are one avenue to receive the commitments.

At the appointment hearing on Friday, January 9, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa said the national unemployment rate of people with disabilities (according to the latest statistics -- 63 percent), is “true blot on the American character.” Harkin then asked Solis what the Labor Department could do to address the unemployment problem. Evidently, Solis said she would "focus on programs to help military veterans returning from combat who suffered injuries." While the unemployment rate of people with disabilities goes much deeper than veterans with disabilities, and the issue has been around for much longer than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I'm glad Harkin raised the question and I am glad disability is on the radar of the Labor Department.

Let's hope Harkin and other legislators continue to push on disability, including at the confirmation hearing for the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, on Tuesday, January 13th.