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2/12/00, 3:44 pmc

By Tim Wheat

Friday, February 11, 2000 one hundred and fifty people rallied in support of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in front of the Arkansas Capitol building. A similar rally took place in St. Louis on the steps of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court. Two ADA cases will be heard by the Supreme Court this term questioning the Constitutionality of the federal law and Congress' authority to enact the statute to apply to U.S. state and local governments.

People gathered in Little Rock from nine states to show support for the ADA and to obtain support from state governors and state attorneys general for the civil rights protections of 54 million Americans. "Renew the pledge," shouted the crowd, referring to a promise to support the goals of equality, participation, independent living, and self-sufficiency encouraged by the ADA.

"Our civil rights are caught in the vice of state rights versus federalism," said Mike Oxford of ADAPT and National Council on Independent Living, "it is up to us to secure and defend our rights." He explained that 27 U.S. states were opposing the non-discriminatory protections of the ADA to maintain a "states rights" agenda at the expense of the civil rights of people with disabilities.

Andrew Imparato, the President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities compared the effort to restrict the ADA to resurrecting the wall of exclusion that segregates people with disabilities from American life. Quoting Justice Holmes from the Supreme Court decision Buck v. Bell, Mr. Imparato demonstrated that ignorance and fear about people with disabilities were obvious in the beliefs of many Americans, even the well educated.

Reinforcing the mission of the ADA to end discrimination, Judge Huey Walker of the National Council on Disability said, "Congress knew what they were doing - Leave the ADA alone."

Selected individuals told how the civil rights protections of the ADA were important to them. Dennis Coming, fought for a reasonable accommodation that allowed him to participate in the Arkansas State Chess Tournament. Shane O'Brien described how access and employment options have expanded because of the ADA. Lee Lechtner invigorated the crowd giving examples of discrimination he faced since his youth. "They want to fix us instead of providing the needed supports," said Mr. Lechtner, "and it pisses me off!"

Mark Smith also fired up the crowd with a quote from his idol Dr. M.L. King and concluded his comments by saying "together we will win." Mr. Smith brought a statement from Justin Dart who said about the attacks on the ADA: "We must all be outraged. We must declare war; we must fight!"

Bob Kafka of ADAPT told the gathering that it was not just the state governments that were organizing the assaults on the ADA, but also the media and Congress. He listed members of the House and Senate leadership with how many times they voted against the ADA, and repeated that many our elected officials have called the ADA the worst written law they have seen.

"Some want to cure us," said Mr. Kafka referring to the way society deals with people with disabilities, "and some want to kill us."

Billy Altom, the Executive Director of the Pine Bluff Arkansas Center for Independent Living performed a song titled "Don't Tread on the ADA." Billy Altom and Phil Stinebuck worked to coordinate the event that took place on the steps of the Arkansas Capitol. Phil Stinebuck ended the rally and told the people that "this is just the beginning."

Tim Wheat

The Memphis Center for Independent Living
1633 Madison Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104
(901) 726-6404 v/tty (901) 726-6521 fax
mcil@mcil.org 

MCIL is a United Way of the Mid-South member Agency

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