[nfbmi-talk] {Disarmed} Fw: [organizersforum] Civil Rights Summit, Plain & Simple

[joe harcz Comcast]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: joe harcz Comcast 
To: organizersforum at yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2014 10:58 AM
Subject: Re: [organizersforum] Civil Rights Summit, Plain & Simple


  

Yes, and don't forget the documented fact that we who are blind are routinely denied information in accessable formats (even by agencies funded to rehabilitate those who are blind (VR and IL); and that schools, public institutions, etc. on a grand scale increasingly use innaccessable software, etc.

Moreover, for all PWDincluding those of us who are blind both Section 504 and the ADA are expressly premised on the very 1964 Civil Rights Act as referenced herein, but the promise of reasonable accommodations (which make it meaningful), anti-discrimination prohibitions, and the integration mandate finally secured in Olmstead are routinely ignored, and not enforced.

Thanks for this work, just trying to add to it.

Joe Harcz
Michigan
Member: ADAPT
Member: National Federation of the Blind
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mark_Johnson at shepherd.org 
  To: dshipman at civilandhumanrights.org 
  Cc: dmandel at civilandhumanrights.org 
  Sent: Friday, April 04, 2014 10:32 AM
  Subject: [organizersforum] Civil Rights Summit, Plain & Simple


    
  http://www.lbjlibrary.org/events/civil-rights-summit

          The Summit, comprised of afternoon panel discussions followed by evening keynote addresses, will reflect on the seminal nature of the civil rights legislation passed by         President Johnson while examining civil rights issues in America and around the world today.

  Dear Colleagues,

  One thing is undeniable and undisputable, disability rights DID NOT receive the same level of importance as other civil and human rights issues. Although some speakers may touch on our issues, that is not the same as a specific reference or designated speaker.
   
  On Tuesday, it's important to present a united front so please support our colleagues in Austin.  For information, contact Bob Kafka, 512-431-4085, bob.adapt at sbcglobal.net.

  Refer to http://www.archives.gov/research/americans-with-disabilities, all the President's have an opportunity to include us in there comments.  Shirley Franklin, Chair of the NCCHR, http://www.civilandhumanrights.org/index.html, has an opportunity.  Maria Shriver does.  Andrew Young who participated in ADAPT's first action 30 plus years ago also.

  Note the

  -Title Sponsors: http://www.civilrightssummit.org/
  -LIVE Streaming option
  -Marsha Katz response to Mr. Updegrove

  Thanks,

  Mark

  From Marsha Katz:

  I was taken aback by the response Mr. Updegrove gave about excluding disability rights from the specter of civil rights in next week's summit. At best his words reveal a sadignorance about the continuing denial of civil rights for people with disabilities, who comprise a group of upwards of 50 million people in the United States. At worst, his words are a patronizing dismissal of and disregard for people who are categorically excluded from the fabric of American life in multiple ways. 

  People with disabilities are still incarcerated in institutions and nursing homes because our federal Medicaid policy supports that more expensive setting, and does not equally support allowing people with disabilities, including America's grandparents, to remain in their own homes and communities to receive the services they need.

  People with disabilities who use mobility devices are excluded from every public place and business that only has steps and no ramp, or has impassable barriers on the path of travel, or has narrow doorways and aisles, etc. They may be additionally excluded from community participation due to no accessible public transportation in the form of cabs, and buses, and accessible bus stops.

  People who are Deaf and hard of hearing are routinely not provided with legally required interpreters or other assistive devices in the nation's hospitals, government offices, courts, jails, and other places that say they serve the public. 

  When it comes to other groups and issues the summit will address (e.g. immigration, gay and lesbian rights, racial disparities, free and appropriate public education, access to college, access to sports and athletic opportunities), people with disabilities face more exclusion, more discrimination, and fewer opportunities than any other group of people. 


  And yet, Mr Updegrove would cavalierly suggest that including people with disabilities in a civil rights summit is beyond it's scope, and there is simply not room for every group, even though it seems the summit is including every large group EXCEPT people with disabilities. His rationalization for excluding disability from the civil rights big tent is tantamount to endorsing that people with disabilities should remain second class citizens. If disability rights can be so casually excluded from a civil rights summit, what hope is there for the disability community to be viewed as first class citizens with the right to contribute to and participate fully in this country's work force, family life, education system, government, and recreation opportunities.

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