[nfbmi-talk] Article: Happy Birthday ADA

[Terry D. Eagle]

Great article.  Thank you Joe for sharing it!

As the ADA and I celebrate our birthdays this weekend,  we both are
certainly living breathing works in progress, and prayerfully a beacon of
hope for the advancement of equality for all blind persons, who simply
desire to be independent and share in the equality that our federal and
state Constitution and lawsrequire of society.  

Indeed, we have a long road to travel to educate away the ignorance,
stereotypes, paternalism, and control others hold in their hearts, minds,
and political agendas, and yet, as the article points out, we have traveled
a long stretch of road to educate and achieve equality with our sighted
peers.

Just this year, I experienced discrimination under the effective
communication provisions of the ADA, in my attempt to have equal access to
the state courts.  Ironically, the discrimination was not committed by the
state courts, as they went beyond their duty to accommodate, but rather, the
discrimination was committed by the Department of the chief law enforcement
official--the Michigan Department of Attorney General, and none other than
the Director of the Bureau of Services for Blind persons (BS4BP), Mr.
Rodgers, allegedly a blind person himself, and an alleged sworn officer of
the courts, as a licensed attorney.  Is that amazingly ironic or what?  That
clearly demonstrates what we as disabled persons have to ddeal with and
contend with in our journey for equal access and basic dignity and respect
for justice.

While the legal actions go forward to obtain equality and accountability, we
as individuals need to exercise our rights to vote, and assemble
collectively, to exercise our political franchise to demonstrate our resolve
and voice for equal access and equal opportunity to compete with our sighted
peers, whether in the classroom, workforce, or the courtroom!  Each and
every person is valuable and needed to walk together on our journey to equal
access and opportunity to be productive contributing citizens. 

Happy Birthday to the ADA, and God bless America and the NFB!


Subject: Fw: Article: Happy Birthday ADA

And this ain't just the half of it. I documented that MCB itself and all
State of Michigan entities violate the effective communications requirements
of the ADA virtually daily for those of us who are blind (ADA, Title II,
Subparte e).
 
And they also daily violate in this state the requirement of the ADA,
Regulations and Americans with Disabilities Act Guidelines (ADAAG 3.40.1,
4,5,6 to thhis very day. Those require that each and every permanent room
have proper raised character and Braille representations on every permanent
room and not just rest rooms or on elevators either.
 
Are we, the organized blind children of a lessor God in enforcement when
these glaring denials of access to visually deliverred information are
ignored daily for these past 23 years alone?
 
Access to visually deliverred information is not just a nice thing, under
the ADA and Section 504 before it for federally funded entities, it is a
Constitionally derived civil right.
 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jones, Robin <mailto:guiness at uic.edu>  
To: GREATLAKES at LISTSERV.UIC.EDU 
Sent: Friday, July 26, 2013 2:39 PM
Subject: Article: Happy Birthday ADA


The following information is forwarded to you by the Great Lakes ADA Center
(www.adagreatlakes.org) for your information:


PBS News Hour


July 26, 2013


 


Happy Birthday ADA 


By: Judy Woodruff

The Americans with Disabilities Act is 23 years old today. This is the law
aimed at eliminating discrimination against people with disabilities and
ensuring equal opportunity for them "in employment ... government services,
public accommodations, commercial facilities and transportation," as
described on the website of the Department of Justice. 

Sponsored by Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer and signed
by President George H.W. Bush on July 26, 1990, the ADA was the result of
years of debate over whether it would do as much harm as it would good,
because of the new requirements it placed on governments, employers and
people who own airlines, bus companies, office buildings, stores,
restaurants and any other facility someone with a disability might want to
use. In other words, just about every place you can think of, other than
private homes. Not long before it was enacted, several hundred people with
disabilities showed up outside the U.S. Capitol building, and those who
could, let go of their wheelchairs, walkers and crutches, and crawled or
pulled themselves up the 100 steps, urging members of Congress to vote for
the ADA. Those who couldn't climb, yelled or held up signs. 

The Los Angeles Times was on the scene and described the crowd of
supporters:

"The demonstration at the West Front of the Capitol had some of the fervor
of a civil rights rally of the 1960s as the demonstrators chanted slogans
and sang songs to underscore their message to Congress.

Rep. Patricia Schroeder (D-Colo.) made the comparison, telling the crowd:
"What we did for civil rights in the 1960s we forgot to do for people with
disabilities."

Photo of Signing of the ADA on the White House Lawn on July 26, 1990.

President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act on July
26, 1990. Photo by Fotosearch/Getty Images

Despite lopsided votes for the law in the Senate and the House, it's hardly
been a settled issue since it first came into being. Over the past couple of
decades, it has been subjected to significant amendments and ongoing
arguments about whether and how it should be applied and interpreted. Just
since 2006, the federal government and individual citizens have taken legal
action against cruise lines, hotels, sheriff's and fire departments, public
school systems, colleges and local governments from one end of the country
to the other, usually over the accommodations they provide to those with
disabilities. Even the District of Columbia had to be legally coerced into
providing accessible shelter for the homeless with disabilities. One of the
prisons in the Pennsylvania State Correctional system was found in violation
of the ADA for denying adequate services to inmates with mental illness and
intellectual disabilities. In Arizona, the Phoenix International Raceway
reached a settlement with the U.S. government only last month after a racing
fan with disabilities filed a complaint that it didn't provide accessible
seating and parking.

Reading the scores of complaints filed by citizens, that were later
investigated by the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department -- many
of which resulted in settlements -- creates an image of a living, breathing
law, rather than a one-dimensional statute that rests in bound copies on a
dusty shelf. It seems to be constantly changing; it's been interpreted and
re-interpreted to prevent discrimination and provide equal opportunity. 

On one of these evenings when you get discouraged thinking about today's
gridlock in Washington, go to the Justice Department website for a list of
ADA "Enforcement activities" <http://www.ada.gov/enforce_current.htm> ,
legal settlements reached to require changes made in physical structures or
classroom teaching arrangements, for example. Even as we recognize how many
of these accommodations had to be imposed on an employer or an institution,
they are a reminder of how far we've come as a nation in the way we treat
those who are differently abled. 

Source:  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/07/happy-birthday-ada.html