Federal anti-discrimination advocate
Claudia Gordon is Special Assistant to the Director
of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) in the Department
of Labor. Her responsibility: to ensure that contractors doing business with
the Federal government don't discriminate on the basis of color, gender, religion
or nonbelief, age, race, ethnic background, national origin, disability, or
veteran’s status, and so forth.
She personally experienced the worst sort of discrimination
during her early years, but also had a strong foundation of love and support
that enabled her to withstand it. She was born in rural Jamaica.
Her mother, who had only an eighth-grade education, worked as a domestic servant
and laundress to support her three children. She immigrated to the South Bronx
so she could earn a better living, and planned to reunite with the children
as soon as she could. They were left in the capable care of her eldest
sister, Mildred Taylor, a schoolteacher.
When Claudia was 8, she suddenly developed severe
pain in her middle ears—possibly otitis media. Mildred took her to
a small clinic; there were no hospitals nearby, and, in the clinic, no doctor
on duty. The nurse on duty couldn't figure out what was wrong, only that Claudia
was going deaf. Otitis media is treated with antibiotics for the infection
and analgesics for the pain. She didn't receive any treatment.
As she later told a reporter, “My life changed overnight.”
Although she had been “the brightest and most outgoing kid in my class,” she
was pulled out of school, lost her friends, stayed home, and became an object
of ridicule.“I thought I was the only deaf person in the world.” In Jamaica,
deaf and disabled persons are stigmatized. Gordon recalls that a deaf woman
who lived in the area was called “dummy,” and that the children threw stones
at her. Later, she recognized that “the life of this woman . . . almost
became my own but for my mother’s triumph in successfully bringing me to America
by the time I was 11 years old.”
Freer a frustrating start in public school, she
was transferred to Lexington School for the Deaf, learned sign language, participated
in sports, and became a top student—valedictorian of her junior-high and senior-high
classes. By the time she reached her junior year in high school, she knew that
she wanted to become a lawyer. She was strong enough to shrug off those who
doubted that she could do it, or considered it an impossible goal.
She earned a degree in Political Science at Howard
University, and studied disability-rights law and policy at American University’s
College of Law. When she graduated in 2000, she became the first known deaf
African-American woman to earn a Juris Doctor (law degree).
She then won a Skadden Fellowship (which has been
described as the “legal Peace Corps”) for 2000-2002, and worked as a staff
attorney at the NAD Law and Advocacy Center and a consulting attorney with
the National Council on Disability. Working with impoverished and minority
deaf people, she became intrigued by the prospect of working in a Federal office.
Passing legislation to safeguard the rights of disabled persons was one thing.
Implementing these laws was a different challenge entirely. She wanted to have
direct involvement in the enforcement of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and
the American with Disabilities Act of 1990, combating “the blatant discrimination
that people with disabilities continue to face.”
Gordon has been actively involved with the National
Black Deaf Advocates. She was Miss Black Deaf America in 1990, and NBDA Vice
President from 2002 to 2005.
She participated in the Ralph Lauren
Polo Jeans G.I.V.E. (“Get Involved, Volunteer, Exceed”) ad campaign promoting
volunteerism, launched in 2003. She was featured on posters in malls
across the country, including one opposite Macy’s on 34th Street in Manhattan,
making an ILY sign, beaming, confident, and beautiful. The NBDA was a beneficiary
of this campaign.
In 2004, she became Senior Policy Advisor for the Department
of Homeland Security, Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. She assisted
in the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities in Emergency Preparedness,
monitoring how Federal agencies worked together to ensure that deaf and disabled
persons were included in emergency-preparedness plans.
The Obama Administration appointed her to her current
post at the OFCCP. Even though “it’s not as well known as its sister agencies
like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Civil Rights Division
of the Department of Justice, OFCCP has powerful investigative and regulatory
authorities for protecting workers, promoting diversity, and enforcing the
law.” She enjoys the challenges of working with OFCCP Director Patricia Shiu,
her colleagues, and a nationwide staff of “nearly 750 dedicated public servants.”
She doesn't have much of a personal life, but does credit the love and support
she’s received from her family.
“I am motivated by knowing that although progress is
being made towards inclusion and access, there is still a great deal more work
to be done.”
Most quotes are taken from Maude Baggetto’s interview