by Kathy
Martinez on August 21,
2013
Last month, I had the honor of speaking at the National Urban League’s annual conference in
Philadelphia. That city is often called the cradle of liberty, because it’s
where the most consequential words in American history were drafted: that all
people are created equal with certain unalienable rights. And although those
words didn’t truly apply to all segments of society at the time, they
nevertheless came to represent the moral imperative to which our nation should
strive.
Next week, on Aug. 28, we will celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the March on Washington, one of the most significant
demonstrations of that moral imperative in our history − when a quarter of a
million people gathered to listen to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak about his
dream of a better America and “the fierce urgency of now.”
I was a child and 3,000 miles away in California when the march occurred, but
I remember my parents talking about it. I didn’t realize it then, but they, too,
were involved in a struggle for civil rights. I was born blind. My sister Peggy
was also born blind. We were the middle of six children, and as of yet there is
no diagnosis for our blindness. From day one, our parents fought for us to be
treated equally, to be a part of, not separate from.
They didn’t think of themselves as activists. They were just parents trying to
do the best they could for their children. I suppose they, too, felt a fierce
urgency.
At the time, there was no law backing them up. The
disability rights movement was just emerging, and its leaders looked to the
civil rights movement for guidance as they too took their message to the streets
of Washington. They made disability rights the next car on the long train of
progress led by other groups, including African-Americans, women and the LGBT
community. As a result, the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990. Like other
pieces of civil rights legislation before it, the ADA strengthened our nation’s
moral imperative. Because, clearly, America’s ideal of equality holds no water
unless it truly means all.
I didn’t learn until I was older that the March on Washington’s official
title was the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” Those four additional
words are so important, because economic empowerment through work is the primary
route out of poverty to self-sufficiency. It’s the key to advancement for any
group fighting against marginalization, segregation and social exclusion.
This principle is the crux of our mission at the Office of Disability Employment Policy. Because despite
significant progress made since the passage of the ADA, much work remains to be
done. As President Obama said on the ADA’s 20th anniversary in 2010, “We’ve come
a long way. But even today, too many Americans with disabilities are still
measured by what people think they can’t do, instead of what we know they
can.”
My guess is that these words resonate with anyone — whether they have a
disability or not — who has ever felt judged on superficial grounds instead of
by what they can do, or — as Dr. King so eloquently said that historic
day — by the content of their character. That’s why, on Aug. 28, my
ODEP colleagues and I will take a moment to celebrate the March on Washington
and the wheels it set in motion. Then we’ll get back to work to ensure they keep
rolling.
Kathy Martinez is the assistant secretary of labor for disability
employment policy.
This information is intended to be
educational and should not be considered legal advice on any specific matter.
