The road to disability rights has been a long one. One that started way before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 was passed.
In celebration of 40 years of the National Organization on Disability, disability leaders, supporters and activists gathered in Washington, D.C last week to discuss the journey of the disability rights movement at NOD’s annual forum.
History of the Disability Rights Movement
As mentioned in our NOD forum recap, Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, said the disability rights movement was part of the civil rights movement. While the ADA wasn’t passed until 1990, it was modeled after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
So when did people really start advocating for the rights of people with disabilities? According to disability rights leader Judy Heumann, who has been referred to as the “mother of disability rights,” the disability rights movement was really born between 1973 and 1977.
One group in particular that enabled more representation for people with disabilities on Capitol Hill was the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (ACCD), which was an organization led by “people who were deaf or blind or who had various disabilities,” she said. ACCD really rose to recognition in the disability rights community when it organized a 10-city sit-in across the U.S. that forced the Federal Government to sign regulations having to do with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
The Section 504 sit-ins stemmed from the Federal Government’s failure to enforce legislation in that section of the Rehabilitation act. Heumann led one of these demonstrations in 1972 on Madison Avenue in New York City, which had 80 activists and stopped traffic.
In her remarks, Heumann added that the Bay Area in San Francisco played a large role in the disability rights movement because it was a well-organized area with disability organizations that were able to sustain demonstrations.
Disability Rights Today
While there’s still much work to be done to create equity and equality for people with disabilities, the Federal Government is taking steps to achieve this.
Day Al-Mohamed, Disability Policy Director, White House Domestic Policy Council, said during the forum that “disability has been a priority for this administration (the Biden Administration) since Day One,” and gave an example of this.
While President Biden could not formally celebrate the 32nd anniversary since the passing of the ADA on July 26 because he had COVID, Mohamed said there was no way he was going to “miss out on recognizing the depths, the breadth and the contribution of people with disabilities.”
The Administration postponed the event and held a celebration at the White House on Sept. 28 where Biden also shared what is being done to help people with disabilities. Biden was a co-sponsor of the ADA when it passed in 1990.
“For our country, the ADA is a testament to the character of our people, to the country. It’s proof we can work together and keep moving closer to realizing the promise of America for all Americans,” Biden said during the ceremony. “And it’s proof of the power of our example — an American law that is a global model, inspiring 180 other nations to pass similar disability laws.”
He pointed out that Americans with disabilities are three times less likely to be employed than other Americans and are often paid less for the same work, which is why his “Labor Department is protecting the rights of workers with disabilities and fighting to end unjust sub-minimum wages.”
Biden said his administration is also helping create new jobs for people with disabilities by giving state and local governments, employers and non-profits access to federal funds to “hire more disabled Americans.”
The administration is also working to update subways, planes, buses, etc., to make transportation more accessible and plans to expand access to high-speed Internet, “a lifeline for people with disabilities to work, to study, to stay connected,” he said.
Download this month’s Meeting in a Box: Disability Employment Awareness Month to learn about the opportunities and challenges facing people with disabilities in the workplace.
Ensuring Equity for People With Disabilities
During the forum, Fair360, formerly DiversityInc also met up with leaders from Capital One Financial (No. 22 on Fair360, formerly DiversityInc’s Top 50 Companies for Diversity list), General Motors (No. 36) and The Kellogg Company (No. 35) to discuss what they are doing to ensure equity for people with disabilities.
Watch the video to hear more about each company’s mission!
