Did you know that it used to be against
the law to be “ugly”?
Up until the 1970s, there was a law in
Portland and many other cities that allowed for the arrest of anyone
who was so “maimed, mutilated, or diseased” that his or her
appearance disturbed the general public. It was an aesthetic law
designed to keep cities gilded, much like homeowner associations are
designed to uphold a certain visual standard in a given neighborhood.
In 1972, two Portland State University students were arrested at the
Hotcake House on Powell Boulevard under this law. Their story is documented in a movie called Music Within.
Richard Pimentel, a Portland native,
grew up in an emotionally abusive home where he suffered neglect from
his mentally ill mother. After his father died, Pimentel was handed
off to his grandmother. He didn't speak until he was six years old
and was thus declared “retarded” by a school guidance counselor.
However, when he did start speaking, he knew he had found his
passion, his “music within,” as Oliver Wendell Holmes described
it. In spite of living in the dressing rooms of a strip club his dad
had worked for (not as a dancer, for those who were wondering),
Pimentel won two high school speech competitions. He was subsequently
offered a scholarship to PSU by Dr. Ben Padrow, founder of the
College Bowl. But when Pimentel went to see Padrow, he was told that
he needed to live life and earn a point of view. Pimentel could
definitely speak—he was gifted—but he had nothing to say. So
instead of going to college, Pimentel went to Vietnam.
A mortar explosion sent Pimentel home
early, but his hearing stayed in Vietnam. In an instant, he went from
a disgruntled young man trying to find a point of view to a disabled
veteran with little more than a shrill ringing in his ears. He had
tinnitus and was almost completely deaf. He was still determined to
be a professional speaker, so he enrolled in a vocational
rehabilitation program for returning soldiers. However, the Veterans
Administration told him the could not justify paying for his college
because he was deaf and therefore wouldn't be able to make anything
of himself. Pimentel went back to Dr. Padrow, who helped convince the
VA to give Pimentel a full scholarship, including room and board.
This was a necessary development in
Pimentel's life because had he not gone to PSU, he would not have met
Art Honeyman, the man who would change his life and, consequently,
the lives of countless others. One day, Pimentel saw Honeyman, who
had cerebral palsy, struggling to open a can of Coca-Cola. He went
over to help Honeyman and told him not to bother trying to talk to
him because he was deaf. Honeyman grabbed Pimentel and threw out a
witty comeback nonetheless. To Pimentel's surprise, he could hear
Honeyman. His voice was within his hearing range. Honeyman was the
only person Pimentel could hear, and Pimentel was the only person who
could understand Honeyman. Naturally, a strong friendship developed.
One night, the duo went out to get
pancakes in celebration of Honeyman's birthday and were not well
received by the new waitress:
"This waitress had never seen Art or anyone like him; she just stared," Pimentel recalls. "Finally, she said, 'I can't believe that something like you would come someplace where people are trying to eat. I won't serve you because I don't even know if you're a human being.'"And she ended by saying, 'I thought people like you were supposed to die at birth.'"I was stunned; I didn't know what to say. And Art turned to me and said, 'Why is the waitress talking about you this way? I don't think you look any worse than you usually do.'"*
The police were called and Pimentel
and Honeyman were put in jail under the Ugly Law. This was the moment
that changed Pimentel's passion from speech to sociology. He went on
to craft the Americans with Disabilities Act and trained companies
around the country in hiring and working with the disabled
community. Honeyman became a professor at PSU. He and Pimentel
remained friends until Honeyman's death in 2008.
The Ugly Laws that existed in many
cities are no longer in place thanks in large part to these Portland
heroes, and their contribution to widespread acceptance of people
with disabilities has had profound effects on innumerable people. I
highly recommend watching Music Within, which is currently streaming on Netflix.
*This quote was taken from a 2008 article published by Portland State Magazine.
Hey, that's Shelley Lipkin playing the doctor in that video trailer! I'm sure of it; he was in my film Population: 2. Great guy!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great name!
ReplyDeleteIt's scary that our laws were so barbaric as recently as the seventies. But how awesome is it that PSU had a role in crafting the legislation that ended the ugly laws and the shameful practices they encouraged.
ReplyDelete