Editor’s note: In commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the ADA being signed into law, we share an excerpt from the book “Disability and Empire: Class, U.S. Imperialism and the struggle for disability justice.”
Today, the billionaire agenda has put disability justice under attack. While there has not been a frontal attack on the ADA, cuts to Medicaid, education and other programs endanger people with disabilities. The struggle for disability justice grew out of the civil rights and Black Liberation movements. The victories of these movements are seen as obstacles to the unfettered accumulation of profit by the billionaire class. It’s important to learn how working people won these victories in the first place. And it’s important to understand that in a capitalist society where the government exists to protect the interests of the bosses, reforms can be won, but then later rolled back. We need a new society where working people have political power to put people’s needs first.
Direct action for the ADA
Organizers who push for societal improvements through legislative action are well aware of many obstacles. Politicians serve the interests of the wealthy and powerful donors who fund their campaigns. They can speak in support of widely popular legislation while working to undermine chances for actual passage. We still don’t have universal health care, a liveable minimum wage, or affordable housing, despite all the politicians’ claims that they serve the people.
Many people and organizations struggled to enact the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, landmark legislation that would help counteract the widespread oppression of people with disabilities. In the winter of 1990, it became obvious that the legislation had become stalled in the House of Representatives Committee on Public Works and Transportation.
The Capitol crawl
Realizing that the act was threatened, hundreds of activists converged on Washington, DC, protesting at the White House and the Capitol building. On March 12, 1990, several dozen activists abandoned their canes, crutches, and other mobility aids and slowly crawled up the steps of the US Capitol building. What became known as the Capitol Crawl protest starkly illustrated the obstacles to access they constantly faced. It shamed the politicians who were blocking the passage of the act.
Ultimately the protests were successful, and President George H. W. Bush signed the ADA into law on July 26, 1990. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public.
Passage of the ADA was a landmark achievement, but of course, it did not end all discrimination against people with disabilities. It prohibits discrimination based on physical or mental disability, and it increases access to employment opportunities for organizations with fifteen or more employees. It mandates that new buildings be made accessible, but does not call for access for older buildings. It forbids discrimination in housing. Different provisions of the ADA are regulated by parts of the federal government, such as the Department of Justice, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and Federal Communications Commission.
Feature image: President George H. W. Bush Signs the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. Credit: public domain
