No Pity : People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement

Rating:
Summary: A must-read for everybody
Review: As a deaf person and an educator, I find myself very involved whether I like it or not in being an activist. I was taking a law class on disability law, and the second footnote in the required text was on this book. That intrigued me, and when I read the reviews about the book, I was even more intrigued. This book is a must-read for anyone who might or does work with the disabled. We no longer want the pity, the institutions, and the exclusion from society. We want to be viewed as normal except with one part or a few parts that may not function as some would consider normal. We want an equal education, equal opportunity to jobs, equal opportunities to participate in society. And everyone will be the better for it. Mr Shapiro as a non-disabled person, wrote a book that was compassionate but strived hard to see things from our point of view. This ability probably stands him in good stead as a journalist. He even taught me things I didn't know about other disabilities. Educators, lawyers, politicians, parents, social workers, and health care professionals need to get off their duff and read this book. They can no longer turn a blind eye or claim ignorance as an excuse to not allowing those of us with differences our rights under the law.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Most Important Books I've Ever Read
Review: Four years ago this book was part of a class taught by James McLeskey that changed my life. Because this book is so well written, and because it time after time moved me into zones of cognitive dissonance about what I knew and about what I believed, it had the effect of making me incredibly uncomfortable about my own unrecognized prejuidaces concerning folks with disabilities. As Shapiro says, it is the only minority group which we can join at any time, and the older we live, the more likely we are to acquire disabilities. I currently teach classes about inclusion of students with special needs in general education classrooms, and this book has received rave reviews from many students and made many others angry. As a teacher hoping to open space for questioning, that's exactly what I want in a book.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly Crafted But Worth Your Time
Review: Having done my undergraduate work in English, criticism of printed material has become similar to breathing. I've written countless papers condemning authors for their various shortcomings, all the while never having myself written anything approaching art. The hypocrisy of my position as a self righteous reader, condemning the efforts of those I'd be hard pressed to emulate, has often occupied my curiosity.

This same quandary reasserts itself after reading Joseph P Shapiro's No Pity, a compelling account of society's misperceptions and remedial efforts regarding the thirty-five to forty three million Americans with disabilities. Shapiro's work uncovers a sometimes forgotten struggle by providing a compelling journalistic account of both legal history and the personal struggles of individuals who must confront disabilities. The result is a more enlightened reader. Yet, however successful Shapiro may be at removing the blinders from the eyes of his readers, one can, like a sanctimonious student of literature, find several flaws within the text. One is compelled to reach the conclusion that No Pity is both insightful, but terribly short-sighted.

First, Shapiro uncritically parallels the struggle for disability rights with the legislative and judicial victories associated with African-American civil rights. For instance, Chapter 2 begins, "In the fall of 1962, James Meredith, escorted to class by U.S. marshals, integrated the University of Mississippi. The same school season, a postpolio quadriplegic named Ed Roberts entered the University of California at Berkeley. Just as surely as Meredith ushered in an era of access to higher education for blacks and a new chapter in the civil rights movement, Roberts was more quietly opening a civil rights movement that would remake the world for disabled people." By associating the disabled rights movement with the efforts of African-Americans to obtain civil rights, Shapiro casts greater legitimacy upon the former by its association with a movement for which most Americans, through the value of hindsight, have a great deal of sympathy. However, such exploitation of an altogether different subject is neither original nor fair. For instance, other civil rights movements have also attempted to co-op the racial struggle for civil rights into their own movements. Locally, Hands Off Washington, a political group fighting a proposed ban on any minority set-asides for homosexuals, and nationally, Bastard Nation, an extreme adoptee rights advocate group, have both attempted to cast their own particular struggles as being the logical and inevitable conclusions of broader classifications of civil rights begun by African-Americans. Yet by doing so, both Shapiro and these other movements minimize the particularized oppression that gave rise to the earlier movement. Neither the disabled, homosexuals, nor adoptees are the target of lynching, Jim Crow laws, fire engine hosing, or vicious police dogs. Nor has the color of ones skin any relation to ones abilities to function in a majoritarian community; thus, segregation and unequal legal status in relation to race has no justifiable characteristic. On the other hand, people with disabilities cannot always function in ways similar to the majority; thus, inequality in law can, to some extent, be justified in relation to the disabled. Unfortunately, Shapiro refuses to explore the implications and complications of correlating the plight of the disabled with that of African-Americans.

Next, Shapiro's editorial approach seems confused. On one hand, Shapiro adopts the didactic nature of an advocate. For instance, in Chapter Ten, when telling the personal story of Jim, an institutionalized developmentally disabled adult, Shapiro's scorn at those who would keep Jim confined from the community is unmistakable. In addition, Shapiro briefly discusses his own attempts to emancipate Jim from his surroundings. On the other hand, Shapiro often changes his tone and persona; becoming the detached, objective journalist he credits himself being. Specifically, Shapiro recounts the deaf separatist movement at Gallaudet University in a positive but objective tone, yet later describes the offense many people with disabilities have for the Special Olympics due to the separatist nature of the events. The reader is left confused, wondering what exactly should their response be to these to contradictory sentiments. Meanwhile, Shapiro has no suggestions, and any attempt to suggest that his silence is due to journalistic objectivity has been illegitimated by his earlier didacticism. Shapiro seems to provide normative prescriptions only when they are easy and convenient, while the reader is left searching for an appropriate response to the conflicts Shapiro describes.

Yet, reading provides a number of benefits. Just as people venture to a movie for different reasons, such as escapism, drama, artistic appreciation, or terror, readers need not be moved to read by any particular motivation. A poorly crafted read may be entirely worthy of one's time for considerations beyond the ascetic quality of the work. Such is the case with No Pity, a poorly crafted, by eye opening account of the struggles of the disabled which has made me question my own tacit understandings of society in general.

Rating:
Summary: An adoptees struggle
Review: I agree with the last reviewer. In my own struggle to be granted access to my own identity and genetic heritage, I've met with nothing but obstacles. The state treats me as if I'm a stalker, when I may not even want to meet my birthfamily, just have access to a right others take for granted every day, like my own birth certificate. The state acts as though I'm less than human, and incapabale of being an adult. I have to grovel for what "scraps" they may throw me. I've tired of that, and have decided my dignity is not worth my identity. At least in the civil rights struggles of african-americans, and other racial issues, there is awareness of the need for change. Yet in this ever increasing politically correct world I'm still stuck in a throw-back civil rights struggle to have equal access to my birth records. Adoption records were sealed to protect the children from the pain and stigma of illegitimacy, NOT to protect the birth mother's right to privacy. No proof of rising abortion rates have been found in open records states, in fact quite the opposite has happened, as in the case of the state of Kansas. Yet we are still denied equality, and are made to feel different, and forced to be ashamed of the very thing we should be protected from- bastardy. The world has long forgotten that being a single mother was considered a shameful thing, and single mothers are now applauded for making the choice years of women's rights movement's hard work has provided- the right to choose, in all aspects of reproductive rights, including being a single mom. But for those involved in adoption, the pain and stigma of this now old school issue is still raw. I can identify with those with disabilities, as well as gays, in that we are treated unequally for circumstances we never had a say in. We need to be raising awareness in all aspects of civil rights struggles, if we are ever to gain a level playing field for all members of the human race, no matter their differences or challenges. Let's please not waste precious time arguing whether or not "Civil Liberties" is the right label, when labels and stereotypes are half the battle themselves.

Rating:
Summary: Response to Cindy Heilman
Review: In regards to the review by Cindy Heilman below, it is apparent that you missed a major point of this book. When you state that "Neither the disabled, homosexuals, nor adoptees are the target of lynching, Jim Crow laws, fire engine hosing, or vicious police dogs."

You must have missed the disability history about Nazi death camps, false imprisonments in institutions, forced sterilization, abuse by caregivers, death by neglect, murder of those with mental disabilities thought to be under demonic controls, murder of disabled children in underdeveloped countries, the list goes on and on. I'm not an expert on the experiences of gays and adoptees, but as far as gays...it seems they face some of the most violent crimes that helped institute hate crime statutes. The history of African-Americans has been tragic and an embarrassment for our country, but they are certainly not alone in facing hatred and violent discrimination.

As for your statement regarding the difference in abilities justifies unequal treatment, you are missing the point that we all have differing abilities and must find ways to use our assets to contribute to society and accommodate our weaknesses. This holds true for any college student who has picked a major that accommodates their strengths while downplaying their weaknesses or any member of any sports team who picks the position that will give the team the best advantage. Disabled people are not asking for unfair advantages, they are asking for equal access. A level playing field. The same opportunities to build on their strengths and contribute to the society that has blocked them out. Even under horrendous Jim Crow Laws, African-Americans were sometimes allowed to go into the back of a restuarant and be served. People with disabilities aren't even allowed to the resturant door sometimes. Although their is a uniqueness to some of the issues surrounding disability, the civil rights aspect of amicus and access are exactly the same.

Read "Make them go away" by Mary Johnson for a more straightforward, updated essay on this situation if you still don't understand.

Rating:
Summary: The most influential book you could ever read.
Review: My perception has changed in ways immeasurable in regards to people with disabilities. Now, every single day I am aware of the small and large ways in which those with disabilities are discrimated against by temporarily able-bodied individuals. I am buying several copies to lend and give out, I hope others do the same.

Rating:
Summary: The most influential book you could ever read.
Review: This book is written in an easy-to-read style by a journalist who has covered disability issues for many years. It explains how he came to see that disability is a civil rights issue, just like racial or sexual discrimination. And it provides a very interesting history of the American disability movement in particular.