UK-Black disabled people losing out on jobs, says new report (Archive)

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UK-Black disabled people losing out on jobs, says new report

Title of Article: Black disabled people losing out on jobs, says new report
Article:A new study on disabled black people and employment has found that they areworse off than other people with disabilities and that disability organisationsare failing to acknowledge the racial disadvantage they suffer.

Raymond EnisuohBlack disabled people need better representationFor disabled people, carers and those with long term impairments from ourcommunities to have a real say in the decision making process in the UK, we haveto be there too.

National Council of Disabled People, Carers..from Black CommunutyA new study on disabled black people and employment has found that they areworse off than other people with disabilities and that disability organisationsare failing to acknowledge the racial disadvantage they suffer.The report: Ethnicity, Disability and Work, commissioned by the Royal NationalInstitute for the Blind (RNIB) which included interviews with 28 people ofAfrican origin and 20 people of African Caribbean origin, shows that some blackpeople feel that the political agenda of disabled organisations tend to givetheir concerns a very low priority and consequently voluntary and communityorganisations are not seen as being particularly helpful in securing employmentfor disabled blacks.Specifically, the report claims that “there is a tension” between theperceptions of disadvantages that arise from “disabilism” [discriminatory,oppressive or abusive behaviour arising from the belief that disabled people areinferior to others] and those resulting from racism.The report recommends that both statutory and voluntary disability organisationsshould focus on placing race higher up the agenda and should reconsider theirown attitudes and practices to ensure that they meet the requirements of racerelations legislation, as well as their obligations under disabilitylegislation.The report calls on the government to establish a quota system for employingblacks with sensory disability and suggests job applications should not includea declaration of disability until after the short-listing stage. Only 15 percent of black adults [and those termed “ethnic minorities”] with sensoryimpairments in the UK are in employment according to this study.The three-year project is the first major study on this issue which gives avoice to some of the concerns of black disabled people whose views are oftenignored or neglected by the mainstream. Black Britain tried to contact JulieCharles, the founder and chair of Equalities National Council [an independententerprise run by its service users] for this story but she was unavailable.But a release by the emerging National Council of Disabled People, Carers andthose with long term impairments from the black community affirmed their beliefthat the needs of black disabled people were not adequately catered for.The release said: “For disabled people, carers and those with long termimpairments from our communities to have a real say in the decision makingprocess in the UK, we have to be there too. Not as a tokenistic lonely minorityfigure but collectively and as a decisive voice on policy. If we are notrepresented nationally then our needs will not get the recognition they rightlydeserve.”David Sessay, 60, is originally from Sierra Leone, has lived in Leeds for manyyears and is registered blind due to chronic glaucoma. Sessay was forced to giveup his job and business due to his sight loss and has experienced the lack ofjob opportunities available for disabled Africans and African Caribbeans in thiscountry first hand.Disabled issues are geared to the mainstream viewBlack disabled people can become socially excluded when their needs are notcatered for.Employment issues are rough, extremely rough. I could go on and on. Basicallyit is very discriminatory and everything is geared to the mainstream view ofthings and not ours. They don’t understand our issues.Gary Powell, Chair of the Black Disabled People’s AssociationSessay told Black Britain: “If it wasn’t for the generosity of my kids I wouldhave been a vagrant going out and begging for my daily meal even though I’dpreviously worked all my life. RNIB is one of those organisations that are toofragmented; they should play a more important role. I told the RNIB that I wouldhelp them just to make African Caribbean people more aware.”Gary Powell, Chair of the Black Disabled People Association agrees with thestudies findings that “disablism - like racism - can be institutionalised” andclaims that employment issues are near the top of this list.Powell told Black Britain: “Employment issues are rough, extremely rough. Icould go on and on. Basically it is very discriminatory and everything is gearedto the mainstream view of things and not ours. They don’t understand ourissues.”Powell, however, argues that for black disabled people there really is nofunctional difference between disabilism and racism.Powell told Black Britain: “Disabilism and racism-you can’t separate the two.They are inseparable. It’s all very well focusing on race but if you aredisabled as well it makes it even worse, so I wouldn’t even attempt to say thatone has more priority than the other.”The Chair has mixed feelings on the studies suggestion that “disabilityorganisations, both statutory and voluntary, must focus on raising ‘race’ higherup the agenda.” claiming that in practice this is not as straightforward as itseems.Powell told Black Britain: “That depends on what context that you use race in.What I’ve found is that it’s more people from disadvantaged communities. Race isfeatured but that tends to be very broad, certain races or groups sufferdifferently from us because of different cultural or economic problems.”Powell concluded by stating his own recommendations when dealing with disabledpeople from the black community. He claims that until black people start to dothings for themselves and feed into the mainstream then the mainstream will keepassuming exactly what it is that black people really need.Powell told Black Britain: “Black disabled people need to be consulted more.It’s a two way thing but I think that what needs to be done is betterconsultation so that that they can get a better understanding and really justnarrow the culture down.”Last year Disability Rights commission chairman Bert Massie sparked hugecontroversy when he appeared to claim that disabled people experience moreprofound exclusion that black people.Massie told a press briefing at the launch of the national debate on disability:“Neglect and institutionalised exclusion is even more profound for disabledpeople than those barriers correctly highlighted in Lord McPherson’s report onthe murder of Stephen Lawrence.”DGV Source: http://www.blackbritain.co.uk/news/details.aspx?i=2235&c=UK&h=Black+disabled+people+losing+out+on+jobs%2C+says+new+report****************************************************The Author's views reflect only their opinion and do not necessarily reflectthat of The Disability Grapevine