Today is the 20 year anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Although this isn’t a perfect law, it has succeeded in putting the issues about disability center-stage.
In writing the Fresh Perspectives blog, I do lots of research. I sometimes like to read an article or book concerning matters I know I disagree with, yet, I try to read them with the “mind of a beginner”. I did this with a controversial book called “Make Them Go Away” by Mary Johnson. Clint Eastwood and Christopher Reeves have their pictures on the cover, and the book touts the inherent problems with the ADA. The focus of the book is that the ADA should not be a civil right law, and the people with disabilities do in fact need help, not a law.
I read the book with an open mind, and it did in fact show me some of the flaws in the ADA legislation. Then, I thought back to 1960. I was 5 years old then, and I saw a ward of kids with Muscular Dystrophy. In 1960, people with disabilities weren’t part of the community, were considered “abnormal” and were pitied, and most were institutionalized. People generally weren’t receptive to those who were different, and people with disabilities were separated from the community at large. Separatism for both minorities and people with disabilities were the norm.
The questions I pose to you are this; if separatism isn’t a civil rights issue, then what is? How can the ADA NOT be a civil rights law? From where I sit, it is and it should be!
Having grown up in the 1960’s, I have memories of feeling broken and abnormal. I have those memories because I walked differently and was treated differently. Now, some 50 years later, although I use a wheelciair, I am part of the community at large. And since ADA in 1990, opportunities for PWD are greater than any time in our history.
Understanding is the key, and the ADA has promoted understanding exponentially. Yet, there is so much more to do. The ADA isn’t perfect by any means. It is a work in progress.
Together we can, and do, make a difference!
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