By Raya Al Jadir, freelance writer, disability campaigner, podcaster and Ability Today student
I was born in a country where I rarely, if ever, saw other disabled people, and to this day, I don’t know why. I just know that as a child, I believed I was unique and ‘special’ in a very solitary sphere that no one fully understood.
Moving to the UK and enrolling at a special needs school was a turning point in my life; a pivotal moment when I finally met other disabled people, and not only were they of similar age and disability, but they were also like me from an ethnic minority. In a class that consisted of 15 pupils, 7 of us were from an ethnic minority and I foolishly believed that this was how our future will be; inclusive and diverse with a strong sense of belonging.
I moved to different schools and still encountered a diverse mix of people with disabilities. However, the further I progressed in education, the less I saw of disabled people, regardless of ethnicity. The thing that has puzzled me for a while is that the UK and England in particular are very diverse and multicultural, so why is this not reflected across the disability field, especially in the media? Though disability representation has been on the increase in the media for the last decade or so, there are very few, if any, disabled people from ethnic minorities.
Disabled ethnic minorities are missing in the media
As long as I can remember, I have been an avid soap opera fan; Eastenders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street are part of my daily rituals, and despite the progress they have made in having disabled characters played by real-life disabled actors, I challenge you, the reader, to name more than one disabled character from an ethnic minority. To be fair, a few years ago EastEnders offered a small one-off role to Shani Dhanda, who appeared as an estate agent representative in two scenes. So why is there a lack of representation?
Two years ago, disability equality charity Scope released data showing that TV viewers feel Black, Asian and minority ethnic disabled people are severely underrepresented on our screens. Their research shows that in 2022, only one in ten people saw a disabled person who was Black, Asian or from another ethnic minority. There are exceptions, with a few high-profile presenters and broadcasters, including former Paralympian Ade Adepitan and entrepreneur and broadcaster Shani Dhanda.
Scope called for change, advocating through its ‘An Equal Future’ strategy for better on and off-screen representation, which would help improve attitudes around disability.
Lack of improvement
Two years on, things haven’t changed at all. This is important because representation in the media has real-world consequences, with the potential to reinforce or challenge perceptions of disability.
An attitudes survey carried out by Scope in 2022 found that negative attitudes towards disability and disabled people are still commonplace, especially in the workforce and on public transport, with 3 in 4 disabled people experiencing negative attitudes and behaviour from others in the past five years. The experiences of women and younger disabled people are more frequent.
Scope says “the impact of these attitudes has led to lower levels of well-being and poorer self-confidence. It has left many disabled people feeling isolated and lonely, withdrawing from activities they once enjoyed”. The report listed the media as one of the agents for change.
Advocates argue there is a glaring gap in the representation of ethnic minority disabled people, and that it should not just be about the stories that TV companies tell, but also who they employ to tell them.
According to 2021 Census data from the Office for National Statistics, there are 10.4 million disabled people in England and Wales. The Office for National Statistics’s Annual Population Survey estimates 10 per cent of disabled people aged 16 and over are from a minority ethnic background, compared with 14 per cent of the total population who are from a minority ethnic background.
So why are these figures not represented within our Media? I put this question to Eleanor Lisney from the Sisters of Frida organisation, which is building networks of disabled women so they can share experiences and support. She stated that cultural awareness is important for engaging communities and addressing representation.
“More people and workers of different ethnicities need to be more inclusive and understanding of the nuances of identities. Don’t just check boxes; spend time building communication, visiting their communities, and being understanding of their perspectives. Build the bridges,” she said.
Changing the narrative
For over ten years, I was a regular writer for Disability Horizons magazine, and I recall having numerous conversations with the editor at the time about including more disabled people from diverse backgrounds. The idea was welcomed, but I struggled to find and convince people to participate in the interview.
When Disability Horizons closed down, a fellow writer, Zubee Kibria, and I joined forces and started a podcast called My Voice, which focuses on disabled people from ethnic minorities, and for the past two years, we have had more than 30 guests from various backgrounds across different fields, such as sport, fashion, wellness and literature.
Zubee thinks that “the more voices we can amplify from those who are from an ethnic background, the bigger the difference we can make across all industries”.
She believes that when employers recruit, they often overlook candidates from ethnic backgrounds. It’s just used as a tick box exercise. “Disability is seen as a negative in certain cultures, and that can put unnecessary barriers in the way. Disabled people’s voices are not heard.”
While I agree that more needs to be done to address this lack of representation, I also believe that people like me need to be a force for change and not sit back and accept the status quo.
Education as a starting point
This issue isn’t limited to the media world. Its starting point is education.
The report Lived Experience of Black/Global Majority Disabled Pupils and their Families in Mainstream Education by the Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE), found there is inadequate support for Black/Global Majority Disabled pupils and their families in terms of advocacy, peer support to share information and provide clarity on entitlement, and help to empower them and protect children’s right to mainstream education.
There are many active disabled people from ethnic minority groups trying to change the narrative. Unfortunately, from what I have discovered, there is not enough coordination.
If they join forces and become a power that big media companies can’t ignore, perhaps ethnic minority disabled people will have greater recognition and representation.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Media Diversity Institute. Any question or comment should be addressed to [email protected] of the Media Diversity Institute (MDI).
