by Paul Edwards
On February 9th, Congress held a hearing to examine the degree to which the Americans with Disabilities Act should apply to the Internet. At this point I have very little information about that hearing itself, though it is my understanding that we were well represented there by individuals quite capable of refuting many of the more egregious arguments being introduced on this subject. My real point in writing this article is to suggest that we must be very careful in this election year to be certain that our needs are well articulated and clear. The fear-mongers are out in force. They are interested in doing precisely what their kind did before the passage of the ADA. At that point, they portrayed the ADA as so expensive that it would force every small business in the country to shut its doors.
Now they are portraying the Internet in the same terms. The difference is that this time they are wrapping their lies in the Constitution. They dare to suggest that creating access to the Internet is a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution in that the accessibility changes will, in effect, control the content of web sites.
What is being said about the Internet is no different from what state governments and the media have attempted to convey about the ADA. States are using the fairly specious claim that Congress exceeded its authority to make laws within states when it imposed obligations on state governments. As a result, with infinite regret and crocodile tears and with no disrespect to people with disabilities, they are reluctantly obliged to use the ADA as a means to assure that the big, bad federal government is not allowed to exceed the narrow range of influence the original framers of the Constitution intended.
Is there any real difference in these tactics from those employed by Nazi Germany against the Jews, the gypsies, and people with disabilities? They were protecting the country from vagrants, assuring the Aryan race equal access to free enterprise, and making certain that the race was not polluted by bad genes. The people of Germany knew better then. Americans know better now. The question is, will we stand quietly by as minorities did then and allow the gains we have made to be taken back for reasons that are as specious as they are inaccurate? Franklin Roosevelt extended federal responsibility far further than the ADA does and clearly placed obligations on state governments that are far more onerous than those imposed by the ADA. Will states next claim that Medicaid is unconstitutional? When will their virtue lose its virulence? Will it happen when all who are poor or unemployed have been so isolated and disadvantaged that they, like us, will be unable to expect their rights to be recognized?
In a society where unemployment is soon likely to be less than 4 percent, we cannot allow people to forget that seven out of every 10 employable people with disabilities have never worked. The median income of people with disabilities is less than half of that of the general population; and it was not until a mere decade ago that there was a clear and unequivocal recognition that we people with disabilities have the right to fully participate in our own society. And now, there is a real danger that all the gains we have made will evaporate under the guise of fairness and constitutional rectitude. Programs like vocational rehabilitation are under attack because they segregate people with disabilities. Independent living centers will certainly be next. After all, the argument may go, disabled people asked to be mainstreamed. So let them use one-stops whether they are accessible or not.
How have we as people with disabilities responded to the real threats to our civil rights that are emerging? Essentially, we have done the same thing that other oppressed groups have done in the past. We have been silent, fearing that our voices raised in protest will cause those with the power to take even more away. There is not a single disability group that does not recognize that the Americans with Disabilities Act is just a first step. It does not at one stroke repeal discrimination! In spite of this, the majority of the disability community is content to seek very minimal changes in the ADA. Phrases like, “don’t rock the boat;” “don’t risk Congress’ taking away what we have already earned;” and “we must make do with the little we have accomplished and be proud of that,” are the norm.
This must stop! Perhaps it is time that newspapers get sued for not carrying stories that indicate that the inappropriate ADA cases are thrown out of court. Perhaps it is time that we say to states and Congress that the few gains the ADA has won us are not enough! Perhaps it is time that we demand that society be accountable for the discrimination that is still rife in every town and city in this great country. We must not be afraid to tell our truth! Right is on our side and we must not be unwilling to fight every abrogation of our rights as it occurs. If the ADA is deemed unconstitutional, we must pass state ADAs. We must push the envelope further rather than retreating. Every step that we take backwards from our rights will be ground that those who oppose civil rights will be quick to take from us.
As president of the American Council of the Blind, I want to assure anyone who reads this that, until 96 percent of blind people are working, until our income is the same as that of the average American, until we can read everything others can, I will not retreat and neither will the ACB. As a citizen and a rational human being, I will also oppose anyone who uses morality and fear to blunt the truth because our society is too ashamed to face that truth!