The writer is an author of the recently released book Disability and Empire: Class, U.S. Imperialism and the Struggle for Disability Justice.
The Trump administration’s blitzkrieg assault against public health and safety has featured particularly cruel attacks against people with disabilities, targeting those with cognitive challenges, the Deaf community, autistic people and others. As broad sectors of the working class organize to fight the onslaught, we can learn from a powerful, ultimately successful battle in the long ongoing struggle for justice.
This month marks the 48th anniversary of the longest occupation of a federal government building in U.S. history. From April 5-28,1977, more than 100 people with disabilities sat-in at the Department of Health Education and Welfare in San Francisco demanding that the government enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and significantly improve access to basic services for people with disabilities.
President Richard Nixon had vetoed earlier versions of the proposed legislation in 1971 and 1972, citing the all-too-familiar complaint that it was too costly. The war on Vietnam and the enormous military budget were always first in line to receive our tax dollars.
Nixon finally relented to mounting public pressure after minor revisions were made in 1973. As written, the Rehabilitation Act was a landmark victory. Signed into law on Sept. 26, 1973, nearly 17 years before passage of the better-known Americans with Disabilities Act, it was the first major federal disability rights legislation. While passage of the Act was a significant achievement, its impact was limited because the government refused to enforce Section 504 providing the guidelines for implementing and enforcing the law.
Because corporate donors control government policies, passage of the Rehabilitation Act was no guarantee that people with disabilities would finally gain access to fundamental services such as libraries, public transportation, schools, and government buildings. Businesses and other organizations had successfully lobbied against implementation of Section 504 for years, claiming they could not afford the expense of making buildings and programs accessible to people with disabilities.
When the policy remained unchanged even after Jimmy Carter took office in 1977, it became clear that an organized militant response was needed to pressure the government to implement Section 504 and enforce the law. Activists gave Joseph Califano, Carter’s Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, an April 4 deadline to implement Section 504. When he refused, demonstrations were held around the country. On April 5 demonstrators began their occupation of the Federal Building that housed the HEW office in San Francisco.
The protesters had broad support across the Bay area and beyond. Participants credit the Black Panther Party for offering crucial assistance through the course of the 26-day occupation. The Panthers, based in Oakland, ran a free breakfast program for local children at the time. Responding to a request from Brad Lomax, a party member with multiple sclerosis, who was part of the occupation, they delivered hot meals, other food and supplies.
The Panthers also published articles supporting the protest and explaining its significance. An April 8, 1977 media release reads: “Along with all fair and good-thinking people, The Black Panther Party gives its full support to Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and calls for President Carter and HEW Secretary Califano to sign guidelines for its implementation as negotiated and agreed to on January 21 of this year. The issue here is human rights – rights of meaningful employment, of education, of basic human survival – of an oppressed minority, the disabled and handicapped.”
The Black Panthers were not the only group to play a role in the 504 Sit-In. Additional support came from labor, LGBTQ, church and other groups. Some of the organizations included Glide Memorial Church, the United Farmworkers, Gay Men’s Butterfly Brigade, Delancey Street, the Gray Panthers and the International Association of Machinists.
The government, unprepared for such a well-organized and broadly popular militant action, attempted to end the protest by blocking off food, water and medicine, but supportive groups were able to deliver necessities.
When the government shut off the phone lines – this in an era decades before the advent of cell phones – Deaf and CODA (Children of Deaf Adults) went to the windows and used sign language to communicate with supporters and media outside the building.
A summer camp and the fight for justice
Leaders of the Section 504 protest included people who were featured in Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution, a 2020 documentary about Camp Jened, a Catskills Mountains summer camp for severely disabled children. Although people often focus exclusively on “the ‘60s” as the era of societal transformation, the movement grew and evolved well into the 1970s, a time of militant liberation struggles, growing opposition to the Vietnam war, and widespread questioning of the status quo.
Camp Jened, bringing together young camp counselors and dozens of children who had grown up rarely seeing many people with disabilities, reflected the changes sweeping society. Footage from Crip Camp shows it as a tremendously liberating experience in which the children and their counselors learned from each other and began to realize their collective power.
Just a few years later, as the struggle for justice intensified, those same campers were at the forefront of the fight to enforce Section 504, and found their way to San Francisco to join the sit-in. Footage from inside the occupation shows unbreakable determination and an emerging revolutionary optimism. One key ingredient that sustained the protest was a contagious, joyful collective spirit that calls to mind the exuberant energy and the bonds they had formed years earlier at summer camp.
In an effort to intensify the pressure, a group of the protesters traveled to Washington, D.C., where they held demonstrations at the White House and at Califano’s house. Although their attempts to meet with Carter and Califano were rebuffed, their steadfast refusal to surrender ultimately led to victory. Facing growing public support for the protest, Califano and the Carter administration relented and signed the Section 504 regulations on April 28.
Trump represents a new level of threat
Previous presidents deserve condemnation for neglecting fundamental issues of justice for people with disabilities. Republican and Democrat politicians alike have opposed popular, widely supported efforts to make society more inclusive. They refuse to fund programs and treatments for people with disabilities that would ultimately benefit us all. Technologically advanced tools that could significantly improve mobility and other aspects of daily life are only available to the wealthiest few who can afford them. We all can become disabled at any moment, and we all still suffer under a profit-driven health care system. While gains have been made, the old cry of accommodations being “too expensive” has arisen under every administration to date.
Past administrations have at least pretended to be supportive while their actual policies reveal indifference or passive contempt to the tens of millions of people with disabilities. In sharp contrast, Trump and his administration have attacked the disabled community with unprecedented, unapologetic cruelty. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, has described people with autism as if they are less than human: “These are kids who will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date — many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.”
Elon Musk has apparently made it his mission to resurrect the “R” word – “retarded” – as an insult against his perceived enemies. Most of society had rejected this slur long ago, recognizing that it cruelly dehumanizes people with intellectual disabilities. Its use is rooted in movements from the 1930s in Nazi Germany and elsewhere advocating euthanasia for people deemed to be “defective.”
Trump’s administration has also gone out of its way to block online access to information. They have removed the accessibility page, all ASL (sign language) content and real-life ASL interpreters from the White House website. Pages related to accessibility and diversity have also been removed from several federal agency websites.
The administration has even weaponized The National Science Foundation as part of its rampage against efforts to create a more inclusive society. Successful grant writers must navigate around absurd barriers that now flag words such as “accessible,” “diversity,” “disability,” and “women” as grounds for rejection.(Forbes)
The Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education puts disabled and other marginalized students at risk. Staff at the DOE has been reduced by 50% since January. As a result of the massive layoffs, justified by false claims that accessibility policies are responsible for cost of living increases, seven of the 12 branches of the Office of Civil Rights have been completely closed. (NEA Today)
The National Education Association has filed suit against the funding cuts. They warn that “7.5 million students with disabilities and their families will lose the support they need at school and at home. Changes to the enforcement of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act would endanger accountability and could eliminate IEPs [Individualized Education Program] that students and families depend on.”
Why we study and celebrate past struggles
The Section 504 sit-in was a major event in the modern disability justice movement. The participants and their supporters did much more than force the government to enact policy to increase public access for people with disabilities. They completely redefined the fight for justice: What had once been seen in terms of charity, rehabilitation or cause for pity, was now recognized as a major civil rights issue. The success of the Section 504 protest paved the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The very broad working class support played an enormous role in pressuring the government and achieving victory. This support didn’t happen instantaneously at the start of the occupation, but rather through organizing and building connections of working class solidarity well before newspaper headlines and television cameras made it a major news story. We honor the participants and take inspiration from their steadfastness as we continue to defend and build on their victory so many years ago.
Feature image: Liberation screenshot from the documentary Crip Camp showing 504 sit-in activists.
