disabled people aren’t the bad guys
happy birthday ADA…you have got some growing to do!
I love birthdays and I adore the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and this week two of my favorite things combined when my favorite legislation turned 32 years old! Vice-President Kamala Harris celebrated by giving a visual description of her outfit while Lindsay Graham used the opportunity to be annoying.
The ADA is a big deal because there aren’t a lot of laws that are designed with people with disabilities in mind. But just like the choco taco, just because it’s good it doesn’t mean it isn’t controversial.
While the ADA was a major landmark legislation that lead to almost the entirety of buses becoming fully accessible, only a quarter of amtrak and new york city subway stations are currently accessible. Even though it became a global model and that 181 other countries used it as inspiration to pass their own laws expanding the rights of people with disabilities, it hasn’t lead to the kind of sustained revolutionary change that many activists with disabilities imagined.
But Airplane Mode is all about solutions so that’s why I’m happy to introduce you to my fearless friend Emily Ladau, who has a bunch to share. She is a disability rights activist, consultant, podcaster and the author of a book I love and was honored to blurb called Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to be an Ally. A few years ago I got to interview her for my show at Vox Media about how the law could be improved and how we can all be better champions of disability rights. She also happens to be the holder of a—nerd alert— ADA Coordinator Training Certification.
Her birthday just so happens to be the same week as the ADA so that’s how you know they are soulmates. Here is a loosely edited version of a conversation we had this week.
LP: When I interviewed you for Vox you told me that the “ADA has no teeth.” I feel like most non- disabled people assume it works well for people with disabilities. Does it?
Emily Ladau: Honestly, the ADA isn’t nearly as effective as it should be, and I’d say there are a few main reasons for this. First, I think there’s lots of confusion, especially among nondisabled people, as to what the ADA actually is. I’ve encountered far too many people who say things like “call the ADA” or “report it to the ADA” as though it’s some kind of 24/7 hotline for disabled people to register complaints rather than a major civil rights law. There is, however, the ADA National Network, which is made up of 10 regional ADA Centers that people can contact for information, guidance, and training, but these centers don’t enforce the law. And that leads to the second issue that I think makes the ADA less effective than it could be. There’s no single enforcer of the law. Instead, different federal agencies are responsible for different parts of the law. So, for example, if you encounter employment discrimination on the basis of disability, you can file a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But if you encounter discrimination on the basis of disability at a restaurant, you’d file a charge with the U.S. Department of Justice. And finally, the third issue: filing a discrimination charge doesn’t guarantee action will be taken. Believe me, I’ve tried and gotten nowhere. I once filed a discrimination charge against a major hotel chain for repeated instances of inaccessibility that made it impossible for me to fully use their facilities, but received a letter a few months later saying nothing could or would be done. Because federal agencies receive so many complaints, they simply can’t keep up. It’s a massive systemic issue. So, disabled people are often left with only one option if asking nicely for access or making a formal complaint doesn’t work: filing a lawsuit to force compliance. This makes disabled people seem like bad guys, but really, we just want the access the law promises. And when people make the arguments that it’s too much effort or too costly, this is generally a myth! In most cases, providing required access is quite simple and not particularly expensive, and it makes things better for everyone—not just disabled people!
LP: When the ADA was passed it feels like it was the floor, meaning that it was only the beginning, but now it's become the ceiling. What was supposed to happen after the ADA passed and what happened instead?
Emily Ladau: The passage of the ADA was a landmark moment for the Disability Rights Movement, and it should absolutely be celebrated. But there’s a misconception that disability rights both start and end with the ADA, which just isn’t true. And though it has, along with many other hard-won disability rights laws, granted disabled people rights that generations before us could only dream of, we have so much work left to do. I often say this is because we can create policies, but we can’t legislate attitude shifts. So there are people and entities that still seem to think, 32 years later, that the ADA is just a bunch of suggestions and that disabled people aren’t worthy of being fully integrated into our society. This means we’re still waiting for inclusion and we’re still fighting for access. A perfect example of this: the MTA in New York City has been sued into the ground for their utter lack of compliance with the law, and just recently settled with a supposed promise that the system will finally be made 95% accessible for disabled riders...by 2055. And on top of all this, the ADA hangs in a precarious balance, because there are plenty of legislators and entities at the ready to dismantle it. There was an attempt to do so back in 2017, but luckily the legislation didn’t come to pass.
LP: Isn’t it ironic that you need money to get your rights protected by the ADA but the fact that the ADA doesn’t really work mean that people with disabilities can’t earn the money to sue?
Emily Ladau: A disclaimer: I’m not a lawyer, so please don’t take what I’m saying as legal expertise or guidance. That said, generally, the main things you need if you go the route of filing a lawsuit are time, energy, and patience. There’s a provision in the ADA that states that the “prevailing party” can be awarded attorney’s fees, which means if a plaintiff’s case is successful, the defendant that was in violation of the ADA has to both bring themselves to compliance and cover the plaintiff’s costs for taking legal action. So really, if you don’t want to be at risk for legal action and incurring those costs, the best thing to do is to prioritize accessibility rather than ignoring the ADA.
LP: If there’s a dearth of protections for people with disabilities how does this make women with disabilities disproportionately vulnerable?
Emily Ladau: People tend to assume the ADA is a catch-all for disability issues, but this question goes way beyond the law. Disabled women—particularly those who are BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ (noting that these identities can overlap)— are significantly more vulnerable to harm on an individual level and due to systemic inequities because our lives are devalued. Consider this: according to a report from the Vera Institute of Justice, disabled people are “three times more likely to experience rape, sexual assault, aggravated assault, and robbery than those without disabilities.” And according to the CDC , “An estimated 2 in 5 (39%) female victims of rape had a disability at the time of the rape.” These statistics are staggering.
LP: Disabled women have been some of the most effective and creative activists in American history, and yet they rarely get representation in history books and contemporary culture. Why do you think that is? And who did we not learn about, that we should know about?
Emily Ladau: Society tends to ignore that disabled people have always existed. We’re not in history textbooks and we’re just starting to edge our way into mainstream media beyond stigmatizing tropes. I think this has a lot to do with fear and discomfort surrounding disability. It’s treated as too niche or taboo to talk about, when in fact there are more than a billion disabled people around the globe. Disabled women are often silenced or erased because of the interplay between misogyny and ableism (something I’m all too familiar with). But I know so many badass disabled women that I could write a dissertation on them. Here are a few you should know, past and present:
Fannie Lou Hamer: https://www.centerforlearnerequity.org/news/fannie-lou-hamer-paving-the-way-for-the-civil-rights-womens-rights-and-disability-rights-movements/
Johnnie Lacy: https://www.centerforlearnerequity.org/news/johnnie-lacy-an-advocate-for-independent-living/
Lois Curtis: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/lois-curtis
Anita Cameron: https://twitter.com/adaptanita
Alice Wong: https://twitter.com/disvisibility
Wendy Lu: https://twitter.com/wendyluwrites
Sara Luterman: https://twitter.com/slooterman
Haben Girma: https://twitter.com/HabenGirma
Sandy Ho: https://twitter.com/NotYourAvgHo101
LP: How have women with disabilities been fundamental to the feminist movement and how can the feminism movement practice intersectionality more fully when it comes to disability rights?
Emily Ladau: I often say that I identify with feminism, but as a disabled woman and activist, feminism doesn’t identify with me. Feminist ideology is inherent to what I do, but disability is so often excluded from intersectional feminist work. In many ways, disability is still on the margins of marginalization. And yet, I recognize the many ways in which I do possess privilege as a cisgender white woman. So, our goals need to be to balance the gatekeeping of feminist work with our own privilege, and to break down the barriers that keep people from inclusion within the feminist movement. A crucial starting point for this is to learn about and actively practice Disability Justice.
LP: What’s the best thing a non-disabled person ever said to you?
“How can I ensure that our plans are accessible to you?” (This shouldn’t actually be such a big deal. Really, it should be standard practice for all humans. But it fills my heart to the brim when people care about access.)
Emily Ladau: What is the last thing that gave you hope?
Witnessing disabled people celebrating Disability Pride Month across social media, being vulnerable and open and sharing our truths. Moving toward an unquestioned understanding that disabled lives are worth living takes time. And it shouldn’t be the disability community’s load to bear to push for these shifts, I know. But for now, it’s the tireless work of this community that keeps us moving forward.
Well that’s a wrap on disability pride month! Please join me in thanking Emily for spending some time with our community and if you need way more of her in your life (I don’t blame you!) sign up for her newsletter words I wheel by and follow her on instagram, facebook, twitter or connect with her on linkedin!
Thanks for spending some time together.
-Liz
Thank you for the list of female disability civil rights advocates. I love Johnnie Lacy and Anita Cameron for their courage and unwillingness to back down. I believe Haben Girma is cut of the same cloth. I am a Canadian who was hired to write the history of the American Disability Civil Rights Movement. I did my darndest to balance the genders, but it was hard. Having a Canadian VPN helped me access a lot of Black Panther material so Brad Lomax was recognized and the BPP were recognized properly. Admittedly, as a Canadian, I find Alice Wong confusing because her writing is about politics most of which I do not understand.