I'm not sure many people realize that the Americans with Disabilities Act is constructed almost identically to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Both guarantee civil rights and equality in the areas of employment, public accommodation, etc. Both protect oppressed and historically marginalized minority groups. Both took hard-fought battles to become enacted into law.
It's not a coincidence by any stretch of the imagination; the early pioneers with disabilities who fought for the ADA and integrated life in the community outside of institutions prior to the act being passed modeled our struggle for freedom after the civil rights movement of the African-American community. We watched Dr. King and other African-American leaders organize nonviolent protests and civil disobedience to fight for equality and, eventually, civil rights protection.
Many of us watched from the confines of the institutions we were incarcerated in and slowly grew hopeful that maybe we could organize and fight for the same freedoms and protections. Imagine, civil rights protection under the law; unheard of at the time. People with disabilities had no rights and, as a result, were systematically excluded from community life; most of us were unable to live in the community, there was no right to a public education, hardly anyone had a job of any type, public and private businesses were largely inaccessible, neglect and abuse in state-funded facilities was common and there was nothing we could do about it – it was just that simple.
People with disabilities were hungry for freedom and the African-American civil rights movement gave us that spark of hope that we too could fight and eventually get civil rights protections. Little by little, we did just that. In my opinion, when the disability rights movement and the independent living movement joined hands in the struggle for freedom, that was the nexus that helped develop the "field operation" that was the engine that organized and fueled protests and actions that pushed the Congress to pass the ADA and president George H.W. Bush to sign it.
I could go on and glowingly talk about the gains we’ve made as a community, and we have made many, but like our African-American brothers and sisters, we are still under attack and still, by and large, poor and discriminated against daily. In fact, the majority of African-Americans that have been murdered by police in recent years are people with disabilities. The Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act were monumental achievements in modern history but the struggle for equality and our rightful place society feel more like wishes than reality.
As we celebrate the 26th anniversary of the ADA around the country this month let us not forget that so many of our brothers and sisters are still rotting away in nursing homes. Let us not forget that we are the largest and poorest minority group not only in the country, but in the world. The overwhelming majority of our people are unemployed and on public assistance; we're in an intergenerational cycle of poverty and dependence. We must collectively raise the bar of expectation for ourselves and fight against systemic oppression simultaneously. The so-called ADA generation who have grown up not knowing what it's like to live without civil rights must carry on the fight and push for a better tomorrow with vigilance and urgency.
The torch has been passed and the future is in your hands.