DEI and Disabilities Redux
(Editor’s Note: The Arc of Alabama, like all Arc chapters, is a non-partisan organization and refrains from taking partisan positions. However, we are also committed by our charter to advocate for people with IDD. Unfortunately, there are occasionally issues that require our advocacy that have become politicized. The following is not intended to promote any political position over another, but diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical elements of our advocacy, and as such, need to be robustly defended.
This post originally appeared in our August 2024 newsletter and is being repeated in our February 2025 newsletter)
If you follow the news at all, you know that DEI is a term that appears frequently. DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) is a concept generally embraced by the corporate community as being good for business by broadening the available labor pool and bringing an expansion of skills and perspectives to their companies.
And yet in many states, DEI has been strongly vilified and even banned from application within the public sector of politics and education. But it’s important for us to think about how the term applies to the disability community and what elimination of DEI from our lives might mean.
Let’s examine each term.
Diversity. It’s not just about skin color. It deals with age, ethnicity, religion, and, yes, disabilities. Without acceptance of diversity, people who are not part of the majority tend to be sidelined or excluded from participation, whether it be in employment or education, or other aspects of life. We want, and encourage, potential employers of persons with disabilities to consider diversity as a positive, not a negative. We want our communities in general to think of diversity positively. Having the diversity of people with disabilities living, working, and socializing in our communities benefits all members of the community. We need diversity.
Equity. Decades of struggles to achieve equity in access to public spaces and services culminated in passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act that required all business and public places to make themselves accessible to people with disabilities. For businesses, this meant an expanded customer base. For public facilities, this opened up the community and all its services to everyone. Equity of access has been enshrined in law, and we need to keep it everywhere. Equity is not just a disability right, it’s a human right.
Inclusion. Inclusion is so important to the The Arc’s mission that the National organization has issued a position paper on it. Here is a summary of that position.
“All people benefit when persons with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities are included in community life. People with disabilities should be welcomed and included in all aspects of our society. This includes public activities, programs and settings, and private establishments which are open and accessible to members of the general public. People with disabilities should receive the supports they need to participate actively in community life without having to wait.”
The paper goes on to describe the opportunities believed should be available to children and adults with IDD. These include access to support, relationships, education, recreation, housing of their choosing, and access to preferred religious opportunities, among others.
Rather than thinking of DEI in terms of the limited and negative scope assigned to it by politicians, we need to keep in mind its importance to all of us in the IDD/disability community. As advocates, care givers, self advocates, and service professionals, we need to keep in mind what it means to us and what a positive concept it is.