THE ADA ENTERS ITS FOURTH DECADE
SADLY, PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES STILL ARE SEEKING
EQUALITY, INCLUSION, ACCESSIBILITY AND INDEPENDENCE
“Disability discrimination is not a lesser form of discrimination. It is not benign. It is not understandable. It is not rational and there is no rational basis for it. A civil rights agenda is hollow without a commitment to combat disability bias and ableism.” — Gregory Mansfield, Disabled Lawyer. Disability Rights and Disability Justice. Twitter: @GHMansfield
By Steve Wright
I have never been fond of starting off an essay with a quote.
So, the quote above is the first I’ve ever used in one of my advocacy essays.
But I wish I had written those words in italics.
The end line, posted on Twitter by activist Gregory Mansfield, capture exactly what I have been trying to express since the explosion of Black Lives Matter and related movement for race-based civil rights burst onto the scene in 2020.
Of course, I support BLM. Of course, I grieved for George Floyd and desired justice for him and his family.
But when every politician and corporation in America scrambled to frame its diversity and justice movements seemingly only within skin color, I felt uncomfortable.
I wondered, in this once in a lifetime movement to be more inclusive — where were the mentions of people with disabilities? I read thousands of diversity and inclusion statements, but saw disability mentioned maybe once or twice.
I wanted to express concern, but feared it would sound like I am against equity and inclusion in terms of race. I’m not against it, I just want everyone who is marginalized to be uplifted by hiring, promotion and other programs.
I recently read a story about Senator Tammy Duckworth sponsoring legislation to fund the retrofitting of every transit station to include access for disabilities.
This is great. And about time. Only a fraction of subway and elevated trains are accessible to wheelchair users in New York, Chicago and many other places where movement by transit is essential to getting to work, home, medical appointments, shopping, recreation and all other daily needs.
For more than a century, this nation has been content with that kind of exclusion.
Imagine if we dictated that people who are Black, Hispanic, Jewish, Catholic or part of the LGBTQ community could only access a fraction of the essential public transit in their dense urban cites.
No one would accept it. But disabled people have had to accept that second class status.
Then I thought about Duckworth and felt good about the story, but bad about the sponsor.
Why is it that the only people who initiate something for people with disabilities are those with disabilities?
When I think of my own life, I am a straight, White, Anglo Saxon Protestant male raised within the middle class.
That hasn’t prevented me, dating back nearly four decades ago to college, from being very active in defending the rights of people with skin color, religion, language, culture, gender, gender identity or income level different than mine.
I was even writing about and advocating for people with disabilities long before I met my wife — a brilliant lifelong civil servant who uses a wheelchair for mobility.
It just made sense to put myself in other people’s shoes. It wasn’t that hard to.
Certainly, I was not them nor was I pretending to understand their experiences. But just pausing to give a damn about diversity and supporting it in thought and deed — it wasn’t a big leap.
So, I am asking — as part of the disability community — please, all of your folks who have been marginalized by society. Please, think about things in your community that could help level the playing field for people with disabilities.
Fighting separately over the same crumbs that those in power — especially conservatives — would toss down at us, we all still struggle for equity.
Together, unified, taking care of each other — it’s the only way we truly rise to close income, job, housing, access to medical care and other gaps. It’s the only way those marginalized can truly gain independence.
Steve Wright is a Pulitzer-nominated, award-winning journalist who lives in Miami. He blogs daily at http://urbantravelandaccessibility.blogspot.com/ Tweets at @stevewright64 and writes about disability issues for countless publications.
