Diversity Inroads at the 2012 Olympics

It seems the USA Dream Team has super powers beyond the basketball court. As I listened to Bryant, Durant, and James being interviewed after helping the Team win a Gold Medal for their country, I heard them verbalizing what I was thinking, what I was saying to myself, what I have advocated for so long. They spoke of having respect for their competitors. They proclaimed the importance of focus on doing well in the sport and putting forth their best effort to win - for their country. They expressed the supremacy of being a professional in your field. And they demonstrated the veracity of their expressions with the gestures of appreciation extended to their competitors and their coaches.

That was what the Olympics was about in Great Britain. It was the exemplification of the standards we need to use to guide us in the execution of our daily lives as we work - and live. Using the focus that the Dream Team members exhort will deliver the best that can be achieved. It will also deliver the best price to be had.

However, it became clear on a daily basis that these Olympic games were groundbreaking for more than the World records that were broken and reset. This was an Olympics that was also a celebration of diversity. Starting with age and while not the oldest in the history of Olympic games, Japan's Hoketsu at age 71 was the oldest Olympic competitor (equestrian) this year. Likewise, the 39 year old Iovtchev of Bulgaria was the oldest male gymnast this year. He noted that had he not entered the competition, a great many in his country would have wound up unemployed. His presence helped to continue the Bulgarian gymnastics federation.

It was rumored that there was a woman over 50 who competed in gymnastics but I can find no record of such an entrant. Perhaps the rumor was about 86-year-old Johanna Quus but she was not an Olympics entrant. She performed at the Cottbus, Germany World competition. However, the women's beach volleyball team included three women, Jen Kessy, Misty May-Treanor, and Kerri Walsh Jennings, who are aged 35, 35, and 34, respectively.

Speaking of women, are you aware that women were not allowed to compete in the original Games? They sort of wrangled their way in. It took a few centuries for them to actually gain access to the field and legitimately vie in the competitions. They made it by the Nineteenth Century. These 2012 Games were the first in which women were represented in all national Olympic committee entries. This was the first time for Qatar, Brunei, and Saudi Arabia to have women in the games. Muslim women also made inroads. They pushed the barriers out of their way and succeeded in making striking accomplishments on the fields of competition and behind the scenes in planning and deveopment. This year the religious holiday of Ramadan fell directly in the midst of competition. Woroud Sawalha faced challenges of attire in addition to those of their sport and restrictions on where they could train. They made astounding victories in their own rights.

Then there were those who entered the Games and did not look like any of their competitors. Oscar Pistorius was the first athlete who is a double amputee to compete in and win the Men's qualifying 400M. Although a teammate took a fall during the Men's 4x400 qualifying heat that appeared to disqualify South Africa for that event, South Africa (his team) lodged a protest and was allowed to compete for a medal in that race. The men's team took no medals in either of his events.

Pistorius probably faced challenges as grueling as those endured by fellow countrywoman Semenya. The sweetness of victory was not kept from her. Semenya came from last in the Women's 800M to cross the finish line as a Silver Medalist.

Lest I be accused of overlooking youth, women's USA gymnast Gabby Douglas at age 16 was the first Black woman to win Gold in the the Women's Gymnastics and also helped her team to win the All Around Gold.

There's so much to say about these 2012 Olympic Games. However, it's time to take a breather. But many of the situations that arose is these Games brought back memories of bygone Games and competitors. Those will come in a little while.

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Facing the Facts

It's been more than 20 years since the revelatory incident happened. It drastically changed my opinion about me and the way I perceive things.

As I approached a store entrance, an attractive young man who appeared to be in his early to mid 20s pulled into a handicapped parking space. He was driving a new sports model car. By virtue of the fact that he killed the engine and readied himself to exit the vehicle, it was apparent he planned to remain in the spot and was not using it to gain access to another space.

I stopped as I passed him to share some information. "Excuse me. This is a handicapped parking space. You may want to park somewhere else," I advised.

"But I am handicapped," he replied.

It was an indelible experience. In that instant, it was obvious to both of us that I had a major prejudice that needed to be overcome; it was an attitude about those with handicaps that needed to be altered in a major way.

Other Views

Since then, I've encountered others who have not yet had that type of revelatory life experience and speak of the handicapped or disabled in condescending terms and judgmentally dismiss them as not capable of filling some type of vacancy because of their "handicap."

It was interesting to listen to the executive recruiter who met a manager who is a Thalydamide survivor. "He only has one hand," the recruiter exclaimed, "But he can do all the things I can with his one arm. He can drive a car. He can type faster than I do ..." and he went on to describe the "adaptations" the manager has developed in order to do all of the tasks that others do with two limbs.

Considering this recruiter's amazement with the novelty that one with a "disability" can actually be hired for a management position and successfully function on the same level with their peers, the next question was who had recruited and hired this manager. After all, the manager was working for the recruiter's client. This recruiter, it appeared, would have passed on the manager; he would have considered the man as not qualified. However, the manager has all of the qualities one could want in an essential member of your corporate executive team.

The Right Question

Having assistive devices is not a red-flag situation that your candidate is not qualified for the position. It's only an observable signal that the person has a different way of doing the things that many other candidates manage. The interviewing question that should be put to all candidates is not, "Does your handicap require any special accommodations?" Nor should the first thought be the additional costs of having the person on your team because of major modifications to the workplace in order to have them there. Instead, the appropriate question for all candidates who are under serious consideration is, "Do you need any accommodations in order to fulfill the requirements of the position?"

What Isn't Seen

What's interesting is there are many invisible "disabilities" that are never addressed nor accommodated. The only reason a person with a prosthetic eye, for example, is never "accommodated" is because it isn't immediately obvious. If it never comes up in the interview and if the candidate has reached a means of dealing with doing the same work as their peers with a minor, unobtrusive adjustment, no one is the wiser unless the medical records search discloses the matter.

Other conditions that are not obvious yet may be legally termed a disability are emphysema, pregnancy, anemia or heart murmur. They are "invisible" conditions (in the case of pregnancy, short-term invisible) but are not carte blanche total disqualifications of an otherwise qualified candidate. These conditions may require some accommodation provided by the company or, in greater likelihood, an adjustment of some sort by the person with the condition so that they are able to do the same work in the same amount of time (or less time with better results) as their peers.

Changed Perceptions

That was more than 20 years ago. My perception of what having a disability means and how people who are classified as such appear has drastically changed. My idea of entitlement for a person with a disability has also drastically changed.

The pivotal lesson here is to take stock of what you believe a person with a disability means and to what they are entitled. If you believe they are just as entitled to a marketable wage, advancement, and access, if you believe they are just as capable of producing cost-saving and quantifiable positive results for your company, you deserve the opportunity to have them on your team or present them to your client.

Yvonne LaRose was recently selected to serve on the Los Angeles Metro Accessibility Advisory Committee. She was a Disabilities Accommodation Provider in the Bay Area of California from 1993 to 1997. From 1993 to 1996, she was a news reader for Broadcast Services for the Blind (BSB). The service is a private band radio station based in the Rose Resnick Lighthouse for the Blind that reaches 13,000 listeners in 13 counties). From the BSB studio, she produced and hosted her very popular bi-weekly radio newscast, "Legally Speaking" that aired from 1994 to 1996.