The work of Dr. Martin Luther King has lived on and impacted
so many-- including nurses with disabilities. The civil rights movement led the way to passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in 1977 and the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
Alice Wong penned
the following message in a blog post originally published on January 16, 2014
for BK Nation, “Disability
Justice and Social Justice: Entwined Histories and Futures”. Alice
Wong is the Project Coordinator of the Disability Visibility Project:
“Just as Dr. King and the many activists involved in the
civil rights movement were influenced by Gandhi and Thoreau’s use of civil
obedience, leaders of the disability- rights movement witnessed first-hand the
power of non-violence in the 1950s and 1960s.
Similarities exist among the Montgomery bus boycott, the
Birmingham campaign in 1963, and actions taken by disabled activists in the
1970s. Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination
against people with disabilities from participating in any program or activity
receiving federal funds based on incapacity.
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph
Califano refused to sign regulations related to Section 504. On April 5, 1977,
non-violent protests and demonstrations began nationwide. A group of disabled
activists began a sit-in at the San Francisco offices of HEW, the longest such
demonstration ever undertaken. Kitty Cone, one of the demonstrators at the 504
sit-in, recalls:
“At every moment, we felt ourselves the descendants of
the civil rights movement of the ’60s. We learned about sit-ins from the civil
rights movement, we sang freedom songs to keep up morale, and consciously show
the connection between the two movements. We always drew the parallels. About
public transportation we said we can’t even get on the back of the bus.”
On April 28, 1977, Califano signed the regulations and
the historic protest ended. Section 504 codified civil rights for people
with disabilities and the notion that people with disabilities are a distinct
minority group and protected those individuals from discrimination.”
The disability rights movement continued to seek justice in
the courts and in the halls of Congress. The Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990.
The spirit and letter of the law continues to be challenged
as more and more people with disabilities push the door open in a variety of
professions. The nursing profession is one example. Nurses with vision and
hearing loss, mental and chronic illness, spinal cord injuries and other
disabling conditions continue to face discrimination and struggle to obtain
access to educational programs and employment opportunities. Much has been accomplished...but much remains to be done.
Today, we remember and give thanks for the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
(Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Posts
