Photo of the signing of the ADA. Center is President George Bush, seated while signing on a stage, outside the White House. He is surrounded by three men (two seated in wheelchairs and one standing), and a woman standing behind him.
Next month we will see the 35th anniversary of President Bush’s signing of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). How many of us can recall that multiyear civil rights fight to assure the rights for people with disabilities? The story of that battle is seldom told without references to President Bush, Justin Dart Jr., and of all the soldiers in the earlier fight for Section 504 with the occupation of the administrative building on Berkley’s campus. We have seen the pictures that memorialize that legislation.
Many can identify President Bush, pen in hand, and Justin Dart Jr. in the cowboy hat, often called the father of the ADA. Dart traveled our country to talk with disabled people about social change. But who are the others at this table?
Rev. Dr. Harold Wilke opened the ceremony with a prayer saying, “bless our president as he signs the Americans with Disabilities Act and strengthen our resolve as we take up the task, knowing that our work has just begun.” Wilke, born without arms, knew what he was talking about. ADA was just the beginning of what was possible. The singular woman in the gathering was Sandra Parrino, Chair of the National Council on Disability, and mother to two disabled children, who helped to write the bill. They each found their ways to protest and advocate for disability rights. The man in the wheelchair to the right of the President found his voice and influence in another fashion. He is Evan Kemp, who was chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1990. While a passionate advocate for the disabled, how he managed to prevent injustice is a story of true serendipity.
Mr. Kemp was diagnosed with a form of spinal muscular atrophy as an adolescent. While plagued with weakness, it wasn’t what made him dependent on a wheelchair. He went to law school and because he lurched when ambulating, had trouble finding a job for “who would hire a disabled lawyer?” His eventual employer required him to park in a remote lot along with all other EEOC employees, despite his request for a spot in an adjacent garage. His dependence on a wheelchair occurred after a closing garage door traumatized his leg so significantly that the fractures robbed him of that awkward gait and moved him to a wheelchair. Kemp said that it was the wheelchair use that “made his disability visible” and a self-advocate was born. He went on to become the director of the Disability Rights Center. But there was more.
Evan Kemp was a brilliant bridge player. That skill eventually provided him with access to C. Boyden Gray. Mr. Gray, besides enjoying the game of bridge, happened to be counsel to President Bush.
President Bush had, as Reagan’s VP, failed to support earlier efforts to pass the ADA. When he ran for President, he leaned into the issue of disability rights and, recalling an uncle who had polio, promised that, if elected, he would consider a position different than that of Reagan, on the issue.
Playing bridge together gave Evan Kemp the ear of C. Boyden Gray who had the ear of the President and on July 26, 1990, the ADA was signed into law after passing in the Senate with a vote of 91 in favor* and 6 opposed. (*including Indiana Senators Coats and Lugar)
Collective Action over decades contributed to design of that bill. It was preceded with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), and followed by The Olmstead Decision, The Fair Housing Act and the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons (CRIPA). Thousands marched for each. Many were arrested. Each one has their story.
As Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel said, “there may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
Photo of an 8-year-old Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins crawling up the Capitol steps along with others.
Even an 8-year-old is not powerless. Ask Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins. She became a part of ADA History by being a part of The Capitol Crawl. She abandoned her wheelchair and climbed the 82 steps of the Capitol along with others to demand the vote on the proposed bill.
Each of us can join in the ongoing marches for disability rights. Whether to preserve Medicaid coverage, representation, access or individual rights and inclusion, our voices matter. Our presence matters. Letters to state and federal representatives matter…but calling or showing up to be counted in the crowds is harder to ignore.
As with Justin Dart Jr., Reverand Wilke, Sandra Parrino, Evan Kemp, and Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, we each have the potential to have our messages received and to make a difference.
Justice William O. Douglas who ruled on several First Amendment cases during his time on the Supreme Court (1939-1975) wrote about the importance of protest saying, “I do not know of any salvation for society except through eccentrics, misfits, dissenters, people who protest.”