It’s the 20th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act. For me personally, it’s a bit of a mind-bender to think that it wasn’t until 1990 we first recognized, in law, the civil rights of people with disabilities. On the other hand, it’s also only been in the last hundred years we’ve been addressing civil rights of any kind through law, trusted women to vote, made Jim Crow laws a thing of the past, etc. Technology and medical advancement moves fast in America–social justice a little slower.
That’s why I am not surprised to see the story of a local republican lawmaker suggesting we simply can’t spend government money on educating disabled kids in this morning’s Outstate Politics , or why I am unflapped by the fact that it’s still painfully common to find stories of some Christian churches referring to ADA protections as expensive “liberal nonsense.” That’s why my heart is blunted to the fact that the IDEA law, designed to guarantee quality and approriate education to disabled kids, wasn’t enacted until just 6 years ago–one year before the birth of my beautiful autistic boy–and to the fact that the Family Medical Leave Act, while a landmark legislative achievement, still hasn’t got a tooth of enforcement in it’s head.
So while I do indeed celebrate this anniversary and all the access it has provided to those of us differently-abled, I also mark it as a time to consider how far we still have to go in providing not just promises of rights, but social and political climate in which the promises of law are unfailingly kept.
* Note: DFL-endorsed candidate for Lieutenant Governor John Gunyou will participate in the American with Disabilities Act 20th Anniversary Celebration today at 40 Power Street, Minneapolis (11 a.m.).
Twitter
RSS
Last
Facebook
Android Phone App
Go ADA. I can’t believe anyone would be against the idea.
The ADA helps people give to society, really. And one of these days we’ll get past the word “disabled” to see that we all are abled in our own ways.
THANKS for sharing your personal story and for reminding us of the days when Republicans and Democrats could work together to get something done. I believe that the complete Minnesota delegation voted in approval and as I recall Dave Durenberger (R) was a major point man.
I have a feeling that twenty years from now that people will look at the Healthcare Reform legislation and realize that it was a good first step and wonder why so many Republicans opposed it.
Yes, I also wonder if ADA legislation could be enacted today ? First the bill would be processed through the House Labor and Education Committee which includes John Kline (R-MN-02) as the ranking member. The ADA legislation was modified as part of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 to clarify that a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice that is unlawful under the American with Disabilities Act occurs each time compensation is paid pursuant to the discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, While we don’t know how the current Congress would vote on ADA today, as I blogged concerning the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that Michele Bachmann (R-MN-06) and fifteen other Republican women voted against this legislation. BTW, in case you were wondering, Erik Paulsen (R-MN-03) also voted against this act.
MPR spent an hour talking about this issue. One caller raised concern that too many disabled parents have their children taken away from them … and just today this story broke about blind parents having their two day old baby taken away. The parents visited Mikaela before she left the hospital, but they were barred from holding her. “All we could do was touch her arm or leg,” Johnson said. Further, for almost two months the parents could visit their baby only two or three times a week, for just an hour at a time, with a foster parent monitoring.
In their 24 years, the couple said, they’ve both endured prejudice from others. They don’t want any other blind parent to suffer the same obstacle they did.
Fifty-seven days later the parents got their baby back.
Sadly, this is not the first time this type of story has been told. Another blind women went through a similar state investigation … and for the birth of her second child, she had a home birth.
We can make a better world if we work together.
MNCentral´s last blog ..MN-02 – Kline – Penny UnWise- Pounds Foolish