Today, I attended a conference to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. John Hockenberry delivered the closing address and he made some interesting points. He implied that any hopes of advancing disability rights at the federal level, whether in Congress or the Supreme Court, are mostly dead for the moment. Instead, attitudes about disability and disability rights will be shaped at the local level. All of those kids coming home from Iraq with serious injuries will do more to shape their communities’ views on disability than any court decision. He makes a good point. Most people seem to understand, at least in the abstract, that racism in wrong. But when it comes to issues of inclusion and accessibility, people don’t quite “get it” unless they have some personal exposure to people with disabilities. In the context of civil rights, people with disabilities continue to be viewed as a group that must be “given” rights, rather than a group with inherent rights. People with disabilities still have to beg and plea for things that other people would deem mundane; the right to enter a restaurant, the right to live at home, the right to work. The federal legal and legislative structures don’t have much interest in recognizing these inherent rights, but I have hope that it will be the towns and cities in every region of the country that will step into the gap and join us on the path to a more just and equitable future for everyone.
Remind me to refer back to this blog entry if I ever need ideas for a campaign speech.
