The stigmatized disabled, (please see two cites below) such as the CPs (Cerebral Palsy, Cleft Palate, subjects of previous posts), may find that public institutions of higher education, funded by their taxes, do not want them because they would not want a graduate having a socially targeted disability, particularly a birth defect, out in the world with a degree from them. Whereas these universities might be afraid to be caught discriminating against minorities who are in a protected class and part of the civil rights revolution, there is no social pressure or legal sanction against schools marginalizing members of what dol.gov, ada.gov, and other Federal websites describe as “America’s largest minority.”
I speak from personal experience. In the fall of the year I graduated from college, I entered a prestigious midwestern university on a national scholastic fellowship. At the university’s welcoming event for PhD candidates in my department, the official conducting the event, seeing that I have a cleft palate, gave me a look of unbelieving disgust. In none of the classes was I made to feel welcome.
Many of us who have birth defects are conditioned not to speak out about the bigotry of the mainstream toward us, or even to recognize that it is happening. In my case, it was years before I realized that this devastating rejection wasn’t my fault. After a few years I obtained a graduate degree from a western city’s commuter university which was just starting its graduate program, a credential which gained me admission to a state university on the left coast. There were various harassments, such intentionally mispronouncing my name. Years later, participating in a senior citizen audit program at the same institution, when the professor administered an exam which auditors do not take, he openly discriminated by glaring at me as I sat quietly waiting.
In another course, the professor made no effort to conceal his prejudice. Whenever I asked a question or attempted to make a comment, he adopted a demeanor of ridicule or disgust.
This speaks to the situation generally for people having birth defects. It’s socially acceptable to be abusive. This sometimes makes it dangerous to go to parties. Someone, feigning legitimate interest, starts asking questions. They turn out to be rhetorical questions - the subtext is “What’s an [h-word] doing at a party?” - and nobody objects, instead everyone starts edging away.
It’s not just the state university that discriminates openly. At the state employment department, an employee near the desk where I was being assisted loudly teased a co-worker with a mustache about his “hairlip.” Subtle. When I was posing for a driver’s license photo, the state photographer said, “Cheese, whiskey, [h-word.]”
The sociologist Erving Goffman described stigma as a “spoiled identity.” For people having birth defects, this means that we, not having a social identity, are not part of society, and can’t have a normal life (many of us live in reclusive seclusion, because even as adults, going out in public incurs the danger of getting bullied).
The catchphrase everyone (unfortunately) knows - “I don’t care if it [h-words] the Governor,” means that this once-illustrious personage will find that life as he once knew it is over.
Nobody cares (that’s why parties - Parties! - are hazardous for us).
What would happen if we went to our Representative or Senator and asked if something could be done about the civil rights of people having birth defects and any other disabled people who are getting targeted?
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Doha Madani, NBC: “John Manly, one of the lead attorneys who helped represent more than 700 women in the settlement, characterized the idea that the university was not aware of the allegations, which spanned decades, as "a damn lie."
"There are many in the administration and the board of trustees who don't belong at that university," Manly said Thursday after the announcement of the settlement. "Not all, but some. ... They put the prestige, fundraising and the university brand ahead of the well-being of students for 30 years."”
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Jamie Yuccas, CBS News: “Hundreds of former patients have accused Tyndall of sexually abusing them during examinations. The lawsuit claims the university knew about the complaints against him, yet did nothing to protect students. …
"I knew there was something wrong with the way he talked to me and the filthy disgusting stories he told me, but when he was taking pictures under the guise of treatment... I didn't know those things were wrong." said Audry Nafzinger, now a sex crimes prosecutor. "They are very powerful institution, USC, and the fact that they just didn't care and threw us to the wolves is so disgusting."”
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