Welcome to the Sanford School of Pubic Policy's resource library for issues related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. We hope these items are useful to you.
Educational Resources
Race and Disability: From Analogy to Intersectionality
This article decenters the common sociological assertion that race and ability are analogous identity frameworks within disability rights activism and critical race discourse. Sociologists Angela Frederick and Dara Shifrer argue that the "minority model" of disability rights prioritizes the experiences of white, middle-class Americans and marginalizes the experiences of disabled people of color. They point out that language likening ableism to racial oppression produces language patterns that mask the privilege of white and/or able-bodied individuals. As such, the authors recommend a more intersectional approach to disability rights and racial equality. Research Article by Angela Frederick and Dara Shifrer
Stolen Bodies, Reclaimed Bodies: Disability and Queerness
Eli Clare emphasizes the importance of physical bodies. Social justice movements tend to ignore profound relationships that connect one's body with who they are and how they experience oppression. Medical, charity, supercrip, and moral models for perceiving able-bodiedness portray physical and mental disabilities as conditions that are outliers and in need of a cure. Structural inequality takes away agency and bodily autonomy from disabled individuals and designates certain bodies as "wrong." Clare advocates for reclaiming one's body and reshaping how we perceive irrevocable differences, frame them, and contextualize them. Research Article by Eli Clare
Mental Illness is Not a Capital Crime
Mental and physical disability is socially constructed in a way that mirrors race and gender, stereotyping women of color as "mentally unstable," whether they are "disabled" or not. Through the stories of Marlene Pinnok and Eleanor Bumpers, alongside other Black women who were violently treated by police because they were "mentally unstable," Ritchie argues that mental illness is mistakenly labeled as a capital crime and that this bias disproportionally harms women of color. Moreover, women (especially women of color) with disabilities such as deafness are at an increased risk for police brutality. OpEd by Andrea Ritchie
Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity
Andrew Solomon proposes that diversity unites us as humans and he champions the idea that generosity, acceptance, and tolerance are key to overcoming prejudices. In this book, Solomon describes the experiences of over 300 families who have coped with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, multiple severe disabilities, prodigy children, children conceived in rape, children who become criminals, and transgender children. Through these stories and his own story of becoming a father, he writes about families developing compassion for their children's marginalized identities and understanding the universality of difference. Book by Andrew Soloman
This study found that individual victimization (maltreatment, neglect, sexual victimization, etc.) puts adolescents at an increased risk for suicidal ideation and self-harm, but not for suicide attempts. However, pre-existing family-wide vulnerabilities (socioeconomic disadvantage, family history of psychopathology, etc.) also account for a large proportion of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. Thus, interventions to prevent premature death should target experiences of victimization and other pre-existing vulnerabilities. Research Article by Avshalom Caspi, et al.
Andrew Gurza shines a bright light on issues about sex and disability.
Gretchen Rubin and her sister Elizabeth Craft discuss happiness, good habits, and self-empowerment in this award-winning podcast.
Joyce Bender hosts this podcast on how people with disabilities can secure career opportunities and how employers, organizations and individuals can support employment and empowerment of people with disabilities.
Hosted by Frank Perino and Suzanne Tarazi-Ferraro, this podcast advocates for independence, empowerment, equality, total accessibility, and disability rights through systemic economic change.
Kyle Khachadurian and Emily Ladau untangle the giant web of disability that exists today.
This short film features kids and teens speaking truthfully about OCD and explaining how they learned to face their fears and regain control of their lives. Documentary dir. Chris Baier