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Beyond Compliance Position Statement on the Tunnel of Oppression

After experiencing the Tunnel of Oppression we remain firm in our belief that this program, and others like it do not fit the Beyond Compliance (BCCC) agenda for diversity programming. Our vision of disability education includes programs and events with three tiers of goals. All programs should, at least, meet the first goal. We strive to meet the others as well.

Goal 1:

Programs are centered on real lived experiences.

Goal 2:

Programs challenge the participant to examine their own behavior within appropriate social constructs.

Goal 3:

Programs ultimately move the participant to act to break down stereotypes and barriers between people.

The Tunnel of Oppression does not meet any of our goals. Let’s look at the Tunnel goal by goal.

Goal 1: Programs are centered on the real lived experiences (of individuals with disabilities or the characteristics being represented.)

The scenes presented in the Tunnel all depicted events that do happen.  However, they were not based on specific true instances – they all dealt in simplified and stereotyped representations of situations.  This combined with the level of theatricality employed to create a visceral response made the scenes appear overly dramatic and harder to believe.  It created a process of othering in which it was difficult to identify with any of the characters in the scenes. In fact, students we spoke with stated that the tunnel felt unreal and that they did not believe the scenes represented happened.  We will address three instances individually:

The representations of disability (learning disability and visual impairment) and linguistic minority that were presented during the instructions phase of the Tunnel were not based in real experiences of people with disabilities.  Dyslexia, other print-based learning disabilities, and low vision are manifest in ways that cannot be captured by an able reader’s inability to read a short set of instructions.  Dyslexia is more than reversed letters or “words jumping around on the page.” The inability to read a three paragraph page does not touch on the feelings of a person who has struggled to access the print-based world for an entire life time and come up with a life-time’s worth of coping mechanisms.  It only minimizes the importance of the disability in the individual’s life.  This falls into the category of simulation.

The scene from “The Accused” portraying a gang rape on a pinball machine was a horribly violent representation of rape that no one could help but have a visceral reaction to.   Watching this scene did not inform anyone’s knowledge of how to deal with rape including date rape, how to help a friend, how to prevent rape, or how to address a culture in which this happens.  Furthermore this did not represent the more common experience of date rape.  Sexual coercion is often subtle, slowly undermining the individual’s determination to set boundaries.  This portrayal made it difficult to identify with either victim or perpetrator even if one may (as may be likely) have experience with sexual coercion.  It would be easy for a person to deny how they may participate in rape culture because they have not participated in gang rape, and it may be difficult for a victim of date rape to feel justified or supported since her rape experience was not so clear cut.  We might add that The Accused is a good movie that addresses how victims and others may speak back to rape and be an agent for change.  This message was lacking in this out-of-context scene.  In fact, lack of context caused it to be comprable to a pornographic rape scene.

Much like the rape scene, the body image scenes did not allow space for a person to have difficulties with body image and self-esteem without it being escalated to the level of bulimia or steroid use. Eating disorders are often not about body image but more complex issues of control.  Again, presenting only the extreme made it easy to deny the more common and no less important experiences.

We feel that these scenes were not based on specific real lived experiences.  As stated before, the sensationalism and theatricality harmed rather helped people’s understanding. The black lights and strobe lights do not facilitate understanding of oppression. These theatrical tools manipulate the participant to experience a more powerful emotional response. This does not translate into meaningful content; instead it serves to trivialize the experience.  The scenes were simplified and artificially separated into specific issues (ex: male body image, religious prejudice, LGBT students); this compartmentalization of the Tunnel hindered the understanding of the complexity and intersection between identity categories. A final objection to these simplified representations is that they left out the positive side of identities, the pride in the diverse cultures or representations of how individuals can be agents for change rather than victim.  There is always hope, even in instances of bulimia, rape, racism, etc.  We felt these scenes effectively removed the hope from these situations to isolate it and present it as something separate in the “Room of Hope.”

Goal 2: Programs challenge the participant to examine their own behavior within appropriate social constructs.

The organizers of the Tunnel of Oppression have emphasized the debriefing session as an important part of contextualizing the program.  We felt that the debriefing does not lead students to examine their own behavior and how they may be participating in the oppression of others.  The discussion that one of our participants witnessed maintained that oppression was viewed as something that happens to other people by other people. There was no discussion of social and cultural constructs that permit oppression.  Because students were directly instructed not to take action, not to touch or interact with the actors, they were confined to the role of voyeur.  This allows the student to see the characters represented as other than them.  The “othering” was clearly seen in the small group discussion, there was no ownership of being part of this culture.

Goal 3: Programs ultimately move and enable the participant to act to break down stereotypes and barriers between people.

Students were asked, during the debriefing, “What is your responsibility in addressing these issues?”  The response was to work one on one to educate people. Though well intentioned, there was no discussion of specifically how to do this, students were not asked for their commitment to a specific action, nor was there any concrete discussion of what this education might look like.  There was nothing that would lead an observer to believe that the Tunnel of Oppression served as an effective call to action.

Additional Comments:

The Tunnel is a haunted house of victims. The perpetrators of the violence were, in many cases, invisible.  The ones who were present could easily be seen as individual jerks.  We do not feel that the Tunnel made a clear link between the violent and sad scenes it portrayed and the larger issues of power and oppression.

A program’s popularity should not be equated with effectiveness. The fact that it is powerful does not make it educational. A visceral response is not necessarily a valuable one.  In fact, some emotions may actually impair one’s ability to think rationally, observe critically, and analyze experiences. 

We must lament the fact that this program was embarrassingly inaccessible to people with disabilities, especially visual or hearing impairments. In this way it embraced and supported the oppression it was attempting to combat.

Recommendations:

We have seen (and created) programs on campus that represent diversity in ways we support. Guest speakers, like Judy Shepard, theatrical presentations like The Vagina Monologues and The Laramie Project, film presentations like our Disability in Film series and a similar LGBT series this Spring, and discussion based programs like Talk to Me to Get to Know Me all lead to students having a real understanding of diverse cultures. We support more programs, like these, that meet our programming goals.  In addition, for further information we have attached an excerpt from the Anti-Defamation League’s philosophical framework on effective diversity programming.

We believe the Tunnel of Oppression is potentially harmful in its simplifications of oppression. This program was not solution based. We cannot support this program, or others like it, happening at Syracuse University.  We have worked hard to try and present clearly both our objections and goals.  We hope our thoughts will be received in the spirit of constructive criticism and feedback.  We are happy to work with organizations in the future to create programming.
Anti-Defamation League

A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute 

The A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE®

Institute Philosophical Framework

Much research exists about both the acquisition of prejudice and about the pedagogical strategies that have proven to be most effective in combating prejudice. This academic research, in conjunction with empirical evidence by ADL staff, helped to define and refine the philosophical belief system that underlies all of ADL's education programs.

Research states that the first critical step in reducing prejudice is for people to come to grips with their own unconscious stereotyping and the damage it can do. According to Gordon Allport, prejudice serves a useful function as it helps to organize one's perceptions of the world.

As early as infancy, people begin to distinguish between the familiar and the strange, the "me" and the "not me." In childhood, people join groups and learn to draw boundaries between "us" and "them." By adolescence, group identity becomes even more important.

In order to effectively address bias and prejudice and promote intergroup harmony among students, researchers have found that certain dynamics must be in place. Anti-bias efforts are most beneficial:

*          When all students are involved

*          When it is in-depth, long-term and infused into the overall curriculum

*          When students are introduced to multicultural activities at as young an age as possible

*          When teachers have the attitudes, training, materials and support needed to deliver the activities and lessons

(Campbell and Farrell 1985; Garcia, Powell and Sanchez 1990; King 1983; Merrick 1988; Rich 1990; Ruiz 1982; and Swadener 1986, 1988).

Many anti-bias efforts focus on bringing diverse groups of individuals together to discuss concerns and improve intergroup relations. With respect to school-based efforts, research has found that diversity programs rarely improve cross-cultural relations if the treatment of diversity is too brief and/or superficial. Presenting facts and information about other cultures has little or no effect on attitudes or behaviors. Additionally, "one-shot" or limited exchanges rarely result in the reduction of bias or prejudice (Byrnes and Kiger 1986-87; Garcia Powell, and Sanchez 1990; Gimmestad and DeChiaria 1982; Hart and Lumsden 1989; Merrick 1988; Pate 1981, 1988).

What methods seem to be effective in addressing prejudice and improving intergroup understanding among young people?

1. Cooperative Learning: Numerous research studies have shown that learners of all ages when organized into culturally heterogenous teams and achieving success at the completion of a task or activity, experience significant decreases in intergroup tension, noted by both observers and participants (Byrnes 1988; Parrenas and Parrenas, 1990; Pate, 1981, 1988; Slavin, 1990; Swadener, 1988).

2. Empathy Development: Effective practices which are aimed at developing understanding, positive regard, and prosocial behavior (empathy), have proven to foster more positive intergroup relations.

3. Developing Critical Thinking Skills: Activities which assist students in the ability to identify and challenge faulty thinking or common fallacies, which are often associated with prejudice and bias, have proven to reduce prejudice in some subjects by revealing that it is not logically supported. (Byrnes 1988; Pate, 1981, 1988; Walsh 1988, etc.)

4. Developing High Self-Esteem: Probably the most widely-proven link is between developing a positive self-regard and having a positive regard for those who are culturally different from oneself. Individuals who feel good about themselves and their identity are less likely to be prejudiced and biased towards others. (Byrnes 1988; Garcia, Powell and Sanchez 1990; Hart and Lumsden 1989; Mabbutt 191; Pate 1981, 1988; Peck, Donaldson and Pezzoli 1990; Walsh 1988).

{Many of these findings were excerpted from the Fostering Intercultural Harmony in Schools: Research Findings Report, prepared by Kathleen Cotton, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland, Oregon, 1993}.              

© 2002 Anti-Defamation League

http://www.adl.org/education/edu_awod/awod_philosophical.asp

Reflections on Diversity:
Disability in Film

The Beyond Compliance Coordinating Committee with
The Center on Human Policy presents

Reflections on Diversity: Disability in Film is a film series focused on addressing disability as another form of diversity. Films challenge common assumptions of normality and ability and recognize the humanity of all people. A small reception after each film is planned to facilitate discussion. All movies are captioned, Sign Language interpreters will be present, and narration is also available. For more information, please call Cyndy at 443-3851 at Center on Human Policy.

September 15th • Liebe Perla  
Liebe Perla is a documentary about the Nazi’s treatment of people with disabilities and the friendship of two women.  Dr. Beth Ferri, from programs in Teaching & Leadership, Cultural Foundations of Education, & Disability Studies, and Dr. Laurence Thomas of the Political Science department will present the film.

September 22nd •The Eighth Day
The Eighth Day is a Belgian film about the relationship between two men, one of whom has Down syndrome.  Josy McGinn, French language coordinator, Shari Bottego, president of the Down Syndrome Association of CNY, and Dr. Doug Biklen, Director of the Facilitated Communication Institute and Professor in Teaching & Leadership, Cultural Foundations of Education, & Disability Studies will introduce the film.

September 29th • The Execution of Wanda Jean
The Execution of Wanda Jean is a documentary about the execution of an African-American lesbian who is labeled mentally retarded. David Kaczynski, Director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty; Paula Johnson, Professor of Law; and Adrea Jaehnig, Director of the LGBT Resource Center will introduce the film.

October 6th • No screening - Yom Kippur

October 13th • Brother’s Keeper
Brother’s Keeper, a 1992 Cannes selection, is about a trial in Munnsville, NY, in which a man labeled mentally retarded is accused of murdering his brother; this film, though, is ultimately about community inclusion. Dr. Robert Bogdan of the Sociology and Cultural Foundations of Education departments, and Michael J. Kennedy from the Center on Human Policy will introduce the film.

October 20th • King Gimp
King Gimp is an Academy Award winning documentary about the artist Dan Keplinger, a man with cerebral palsy. Mr. Keplinger will introduce this film.

October 27th • The Color of Paradise
The Color of Paradise is an Iranian film about a boy who is blind and his relationship with his father and grand-mother. Dr. Mehrzad Boroujerdi, an Iran scholar and Middle East expert from the Political Science department, and Arlene Kanter, Professor of Law and Director of Clinical Legal Education, will introduce the film.

November 3rd • In the Land of the Deaf
In the Land of the Deaf is a French documentary that explores Deaf culture from a variety of personal perspectives.

November 10th • Mrs. Dalloway
Mrs. Dalloway, a British film based on Virginia Woolf’s novel, explores post-WWII society, mental health issues, and choices/opportunities of women. Dr. Pamela Edwards from the History department, Dr. Claudia Klaver from the English Department, and Carole Hayes-Collier from the NY State Office of Mental Health will introduce the film.

November 17th • My Flesh and Blood
My Flesh and Blood, the 2003 Sundance Documentary Feature Audience Award winner, is about a single parent to thirteen children with various disabilities. A panel including Anne Winschel from Exceptional Family Resources, Pam Walker from the Center on Human Policy, Kelly Colabello from Onondaga County Children's Division, and a representative from the SU School of Social Work will introduce the film.

November 24th• Dance Me To My Song
Dance Me To My Song is an Australian film (and Cannes selection) written by and starring Heather Rose, a woman who has cerebral palsy and uses a computer to communicate.  Dr. Rosemary Crossley, director of the DEAL Communication Centre in Melbourne, Australia, and Dr. Marjorie DeVault of the Sociology department will introduce the film.

December 1st • Johnny Got His Gun
Johnny Got His Gun is a film that explores the consequences of war through the experiences of a man rendered blind, deaf, and immobile by bombing.  Andy Mager of the Syracuse Peace Council and Jerry Berrigan will introduce the film.

Enter the Hall of Languages from the back entrance--this is closest to you from the Quad 1 lot. There will be two sets of doors. The second set has an accessible entrance with a press button for the doors. Go through the first floor door and there is an elevator on your left. Ride the elevator up to the second floor and around to the left is 207. Restrooms are found in the central foyer. Accessible restrooms are found in the central foyer on the first floor.

If possible, those who are not SU students, faculty, or staff, may want to call at least a week in advance to receive a parking permit for the night of the film. Otherwise, the closest lots are the Marshall** and Waverly** lots or the Crouse Irving Memorial (CIM) parking garage, located on the corner of Waverly and S. Crouse. Walking from here, cross Waverly and follow S. Crouse up as it turns into Crouse Dr. You will see the Quad 1 lots ahead and the Hall of Languages to your left. It is easiest to get to 207 from the back entrance.

**SU student permits are valid after 5 pm in these lots.

To view a Campus Parking Map, go to: http://bfasweb.syr.edu/parking/north_map.html

For more information, please call Cyndy at 443-3851 at the Center on Human Policy.

Access to Higher Education:
Students with Disabilities Speak Out

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES—WE NEED YOUR STORIES!

· Faculty/classroom experiences
· Student activities and campus involvement
· Residential life
· Friendships, dating, and peers
· Physical access
· Any important part of your college experience and its interaction with your disability.

Debbie Simms
Center on Human Policy
Syracuse University
805 South Crouse Avenue
Syracuse NY 13244-2280
315-443-4355
FAX 315-443-4338
dasimms@syr.edu

· Keynote Address
· Students Speak Out
· Faculty Perspective on Building Community

· Faculty
· Student Activities
· Residential Life
· Friendships, Dating, and Peers
· Physical Access

· Reports from Groups
· Final Words

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

This forum will be taking place in Rooms 304 A and B of The Schine Student Center, 303 University Avenue at Syracuse University. Links to directions and a parking map are located at the end of this web page.

Partial support for this conference was provided through a donation to the Center on Human Policy by Joan Cassidy.

For additional information or to request access accommodations, please contact Debbie Simms at 315-443-4355 or dasimms@syr.edu

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER

ABOUT THE ADVOCACY BOARD