In honor of Women’s History Month, Emory University’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion held a conversation with Haben Girma, the first deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School (Mass.), on confronting ableism. The virtual event took place on March 17 and was facilitated by Ani B. Satz, a professor at both Emory’s School of Law and the Rollins School of Public Health.
Girma began her presentation by providing visual descriptions of herself and the environment to accommodate other blind individuals listening to the presentation.
Girma, who is African American, explained that visual and auditory descriptions often indicate when individuals are people of color but not when a person is white.
“Advocates recently, especially during the pandemic, have been calling it out,” Girma said. “Don’t assume whiteness in audio descriptions and visual descriptions.”
Despite misconceptions about living with a disability, Girma affirmed that disabled individuals, including herself, are capable. However, she noted that institutions and technology often do not accommodate their needs.
“My biggest barrier has not been my disability,” Girma said. “My biggest barrier has been ableism.”
She recounted her experiences with ableism, starting with her childhood. Growing up, Girma was removed from physical education programs because of her disability, but at a camp for the blind, she learned to salsa dance by feeling the beat coming through her dance partner. There, she fell in love with dancing.
Despite the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibiting disability-based discrimination, Girma was once barred from entering a dance club because of her guide dog.
“My disability does not stop me from dancing, but ableism sometimes stops me from dancing,” Girma said.
She also experienced ableism while navigating the college admission process, as some colleges were unwilling to accommodate her. However, Girma’s alma mater, Lewis and Clark College (Ore.), hired a translator and converted her class materials to braille.
While at college, Girma said she experienced ableism in the dining hall, where the menu was only available in print, and the cafeteria manager refused to offer it in an accessible format. Girma threatened to sue under the ADA if her needs were not met. The manager then apologized profusely and sent emails with the menu. The next year, a blind student transferred into the college and could easily access the menu.
Although Girma said she was set on opening up new opportunities for herself and paving the way for other women with disabilities, she struggled to find work after completing her undergraduate education. She said her superb college record and extracurricular activities interested employers, but they came up with excuses to not hire her upon learning about her disability.
“Society keeps telling disabled people over and over again, ‘work twice as hard, work three times as hard,’” Girma said. “We are already working hard. We need employers to do the work dismantling ableism.”
Girma was eventually hired at the front desk of a gym, where she said she unconventionally fixed a treadmill experiencing technical issues. She ran her hands over the machine and discovered the on-off button at the bottom.
“Disabled people come up with alternative techniques, and we need employers, schools and community members to recognize that alternative techniques are equal in value to mainstream techniques,” Girma said. “The dominant culture defines disability as a burden; I define disability as an opportunity for innovation.”
With a newfound passion for advocacy, Girma decided to apply to Harvard Law School, where she encountered more moments of marginalization.
At a networking event, she asked an attorney to communicate with her by typing, but he refused. Instead of speaking to Girma directly, he only asked her translator to tell Girma that she is inspiring. Girma said she wishes “inspiring” was used properly around disabled people.
“A lot of people use the word ‘inspiring’ around disabled people, and it has become a euphemism for pity,” Girma said. “It is a way to mask a lot of the awkwardness and discomfort that many non-disabled people feel around disabled people.”
Girma said the word should only be used when her story inspires an individual to make the world more accessible. She then closed her presentation by encouraging viewers to consider implementing changes in their community that increase accessibility.
“When you invest in accessibility, when you lean into a disability challenge, you come up with new solutions that benefit the entire community,” Girma said.
