NDY’s Anita Cameron was arrested twice this week along with others, fighting to preserve the civil rights of people with disabilities (including, btw, the 36% of seniors who have disabilities). She was interviewed for an extensive article in Truthout, Disability Activists Crash Congress to Stop a Bill That Would Undermine Their Civil Rights:
Anita Cameron remembers the Capitol Crawl like it was yesterday. It was the spring of 1990, and Congress was dragging its feet toward a vote on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a landmark piece of legislation protecting the civil rights of people with disabilities. To call attention to the bill and the accessibility challenges that people with disabilities face on a daily basis, Cameron and dozens of other activists left their wheelchairs and walkers at the steps of the Capitol building and crawled their way to the top before filling the rotunda with their chanting voices.
Cameron and more than 100 others were arrested that day. [Editor’s note: In 1990, I was proud to be among them. – DC] The protest had an impact: President George H. W. Bush signed the ADA into law a couple of months later.
However, the ADA has not been a magic bullet and is now under threat. Cameron, a Black feminist and LGBTQ activist, was back on Capitol Hill this week protesting a bill in the House that advocates say would gut the ADA in favor of businesses that have failed to accommodate people with disabilities.
As the House members voted 225-192 to pass the bill on Thursday, dozens of activists made their way into the chambers and could be heard chanting as surprised lawmakers turned to look over their shoulders. Cameron was arrested again along with 16 other people, marking her 134th arrest as a disability activist, according to organizers on the ground. The bill, known as HR 620, would make it more difficult to file lawsuits under the ADA against public accommodations like restaurants and stores that are not accessible to people with disabilities.
To read the full article, go here.
The ADA doesn’t provide for monetary damages against violators, and few if any local code departments include ADA compliance in their business permit requirements, so the only incentive for businesses to comply is fear of lawsuits. The bill that passed the House of Representatives, while disabled protesters were dragged out and arrested, would remove that incentive by providing businesses a series of extensions to comply, beyond the 28 years they’ve already had, so long as they can show they’re “making progress”, which is not defined.
MSNBC Rachel Maddow’s coverage of the protest can be seen here, along with a photo of some of the protesters from the Center for Disability Rights.
Earlier this week, Vice News reported on protests at the House Rules Committee hearing that sent the bill to the floor for Thursday’s vote: Protestors with disabilities were handcuffed and dragged out of a House committee meeting.
So far, the bill has not been introduced in the Senate, and disability advocates will be working to keep it that way.