I'm not sure where Anita is getting her information (I'm not even sure how she thinks she knows WHICH panel I am talking about, since she was not there), but I have an early draft of the Diversity Conference Program. The panel of which I spoke did indeed have TWO other speakers listed in an earlier draft. None of them was male, so it cannot be the person Anita discussed in her earlier e-mail. But this is not the point.

My point now is the same as my point in my original e-mail sent in support of the committee: it would do us well to stop jumping to conclusions and assuming that we know how much the committee tried to include X topic or have Y group represented, or what someone "implied" by saying Y comment in response to an already deeply contextualized discussion. Not only is it unreliable to do so, it is also hurtful and unfair to people and it discourages future discussions and events like the Diversity Conference.  

We cannot judge a conference just by a program because there could be MANY obstacles an organizing committee faces that we just don't know. It is unfair and cruel to refuse to give the organizing committee a benefit of a doubt. They have shown a tremendous amount of good faith concerning their sincere intentions and efforts as a group of people trying to better philosophy for all of us. Attacking them without first asking what efforts were made is denying them a benefit of a doubt that they deserve.

My only intent in responding was to draw light on this point. I felt that the organizers did try to (and succeeded in) hosting an inclusive and proactive event. And when I argued this fact well, the anger shifted to me, and sentiments were attributed to me unfairly.

If we really want to have more events like the Diversity Conference, and if we want them to be successful, we need to stop attacking one another. We are, as the saying goes, "on the same team." I have no doubt that there are people who are thoughtless and unconcerned about (and even hostile towards) the rights of various people. But my impression is that this group isn't constructed of such people. Hostility needs to be directed elsewhere. The conference was terrific. This exchange is counterproductive.

Audrey   

--- On Mon, 6/10/13, Anita Silvers <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> From: Anita Silvers <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Diversity and Disability
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Monday, June 10, 2013, 6:18 PM
> Dear FEAST Colleagues,
> I’m reluctant to prolong the conversation about the
> regrettable bashing of the Dayton Diversity Conference that
> was executed in the name of individuals with
> disabilities.  But I’m overcoming my hesitation in
> the hope of a teachable moment to help members of this list
> recognize some of the kinds of conduct that constitute
> disability discrimination.
> 
> One of the most virulent kinds, addressed in the U.N.
> Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, is to
> substitute the aims and judgments of other people for those
> of individuals with disabilities.  In line with this
> caution, I’m reporting what I myself have heard first hand
> about tge Dayton Conference and am not supposing that other
> disabled individuals share my view unless they have told me
> so directly.
> 
> To begin with, for years our discipline has had to endure
> unsubstantiated attacks made in the name of individuals with
> disabilities on organizers of events.  Two years ago,
> for example, an attack was broadcast over the internet based
> on completely false claims about the
> wheelchair/mobility-limitation accessibility of the venue of
> the APA Central Division.   As a wheelchair
> user with many years of direct experience of the venue, I
> knew that the charges – made by a non-wheelchair user who
> had never been at the site – were false. 
> Nevertheless, as Chair of the APA Inclusiveness Committee, I
> asked the APA Ombudsperson to investigate; her conclusion
> after a thorough investigation was that the charges were
> false.  I do not know what the attacker, who in the
> past had engaged in similar misrepresentation purporting to
> speak for individuals with disabilities, meant to
> accomplish, but the result was to create unnecessary fear
> about nonexistent barriers for some individuals with
> disabilities who planned to attend the
> meeting.   
> 
> I was not at the Dayton meeting, having previously made a
> commitment to be in Boston that left no margin for the kinds
> of travel precautions I must arrange because I travel with a
> wheelchair.  But before, during, and after the Dayton
> meeting I heard from friends with various disabilities who
> praised it and commented on the organizers’ readiness to
> make accommodations.  Let me underline that, of course,
> I do not know every philosopher with a disability and am
> just reporting what I heard from some such
> individuals.  
> 
> What finally prompted me to comment, however, is an exchange
> on the FEAST list, undoubtedly made in good faith by both
> parties, that could, I fear, discourage the inclusion of
> individuals with disabilities from diversity efforts in
> philosophy.  This had to do with the representation of
> individuals with disabilities at the conference.  
> 
> First, some such individuals were identified in one or
> another way with disability; others participated in a
> differently identified role.  Second, as Andrea
> observed, some individuals with non-visible disabilities
> choose not to identify publicly as disabled in order not to
> expose themselves to disability discrimination (whether
> people with psychological disabilities are more vulnerable
> to discrimination may not be answerable because disability
> discrimination has so many faces and
> modes).   
> 
> Third, Audrey seems to have opined that there aren’t many
> people with disabilities in philosophy in the first place,
> and therefore we are hard to recruit for a conference. 
> If that is true, then of course the discipline as a whole
> should be engaged in affirmative efforts to recruit more
> such philosophers.  Such a program would be very
> welcome.  But the suggestion in her description that
> individuals with disabilities are unreliable and don’t
> show up is exactly the sort of thing that feeds disability
> discrimination. And I believe it to be misleading.
> 
> As I indicated, philosophers with disabilities appeared on
> several parts of the program, talking about issues other
> than disability.  I trust there is no requirement that,
> unlike other members of under-represented groups, we must
> restrict our philosophical work to a single aspect of our
> identity.  Moreover, disability issues have attracted
> much philosophical work from individuals who are not members
> of this under-represented group, probably much more than for
> other minorities. So one can’t tell from a conference
> program what the representation of individuals with
> disabilities actually is.  
> 
> Disability discrimination remains widespread and oppressive,
> but it is counter-productive to invoke it to attack the
> Dayton Diversity Conference, and may be counter-productive
> as well to reference its effects to defend the
> conference.  It is true that one (not two) members of
> the panel on disability did not make it to the Dayton
> meeting – that one individual was on his way until an
> airline failed to transport his power wheelchair
> correctly.  This was, of course, a violation of the Air
> Carriers Act; sadly, in the last few years airlines have
> been less and less compliant with existing law. But we need
> to be on guard against allowing discriminatory barriers -
> which unfortunately continue to make participation in some
> events more challenging for individuals with disabilities -
> a pretext for dismissing admirable efforts (like those made
> by the organizers of the Dayton Conference) to effect full
> inclusion. 
> 
> Thanks for your consideration,
> Anita Silvers
> Professor and Chair, SFSU Philosophy Dept.
> Chair, APA Inclusiveness Committee
> 
>   
>   
> 
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