About Americans with Disabilities Act
The 30th anniversary of the ADA is Sunday, July 26, 2020. It was signed by President George Bush on July 26, 1990. In Oregon and the United States 25.6 percent of people have some type of disability. Each of us may experience a disability in our lifetime.
Learn more about people with disabilities in Oregon from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Timeline of civil rights laws leading to ADA
1964 — Civil Rights Act: prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, and creed — later, gender was added as a protected class.
1968 — Architectural Barriers Act: prohibits architectural barriers in all federally owned or leased buildings.
1970 — Urban Mass Transit Act: requires that all new mass transit vehicles be equipped with wheelchair lifts. As mentioned earlier, it was twenty years, primarily because of machinations of the American Public Transit Association (APTA), before the part of the law requiring wheelchair lifts was implemented.
1973 — Rehabilitation Act: particularly Title V, Sections 501, 503, and 504, prohibits discrimination in federal programs and services and all other programs or services receiving federal funding.
1975 — Developmental Disabilities Bill of Rights Act: among other things, establishes Protection and Advocacy (P & A).
1975 — Education of All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142): requires free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment possible for children with disabilities. This law is now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
1978 — Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act: provides for consumer-controlled centers for independent living.
1983 — Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act: provides for the Client Assistance Program (CAP), an advocacy program for consumers of rehabilitation and independent living services.
1985 — Mental Illness Bill of Rights Act: requires protection and advocacy services (P & A) for people with mental illness.
1988 — Civil Rights Restoration Act: counteracts bad case law by clarifying Congress’ original intention that under the Rehabilitation Act, discrimination in ANY program or service that is a part of an entity receiving federal funding — not just the part which actually and directly receives the funding — is illegal.
1988 — Air Carrier Access Act: prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in air travel and provides for equal access to air transportation services.
1988 — Fair Housing Amendments Act: prohibits discrimination in housing against people with disabilities and families with children. Also provides for architectural accessibility-of certain new housing units, renovation of existing units, and accessibility modifications at the renter’s expense.
1990 — Americans with Disabilities Act: provides comprehensive civil rights protection for people with disabilities; closely modeled after the Civil Rights Act and the Section 504 of Title V of the Rehabilitation Act and its regulations.
Learn more about ADA laws and history
Watch Lives Worth Living documentary
About the Film
Lives Worth Living is a documentary of typical conditions for people with disabilities prior to the existence of the ADA and the protests that lead up to its passage. Sharing the preview seems particularly relevant both because July 26, 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the law’s passage and because protests are still required to demand change as evidenced by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests over the last several weeks. Although not apparent in the preview or the film, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) populations with disabilities were significant voices in the protests represented in the documentary. The intersectionality of the ADA and the BLM protests is substantial. Here are a few resources to learn more:
- Find information: Black, Disabled, and Proud
- Follow advocates, such as Haben Girma (@HabenGirma on Twitter)
- Read about people's stories: Don’t shoot, I’m disabled
Watch 2-minute preview of Lives Worth Living
Thank you to Independent Lens for sharing this film.
