The Government Should Not Increase Taxes To Enforce Access Laws For People With Disabilities - Those That Violate The Access Laws Should Pay For The Cost Of Enforcement.

Mr. Bruce Maiman wants to pay more taxes for a government body to enforce the access laws.  He believes allowing people with disabilities to sue to enforce the access laws tend to promote financial greed.  

Access laws require government and businesses to provide full and equal access to people with disabilities.  Access means access to programs, services and facilities. As to access to facilities, there are accessibility codes, which must be followed.  A government body or private lawsuit does enforcement of the access laws.  

Let's examine the United States and Philippine Access enforcement systems.

In the USA the attorney general or a private person may sue for access compliance.  In the USA the federal access law is called the Americans With Disabilities Act.  In 1992 the Philippine passed its access law called the Magna Carta.  The Magna Carta is almost the same as ADA but there is only government enforcement.  Most places where the wealthy or foreigners like me go are accessible in the Philippines.   However, most places for common folks are not accessible.  A person may complain to a government body but no action will be taken.  

In contrast, in the USA a person may file a complaint with the federal or state attorney general. The attorney general reviews the complaint for substantial public importance and to determine if its budget allows for it to take the case. Most of the time the attorney general sends a letter to the person stating it cannot take the case and recommends the person hire a lawyer.

The sole reason private lawyers take cases is to earn fees. The ADA says if a lawyer wins a case the business must pay the lawyer.   Good or bad motives have very little to do with a law practice. For the lawyer there are two questions: 1. Is the case strong? 2. How to get paid.  The US Department of Justice has stated that the only practical way to enforce ADA is through private lawsuits.  Why? Most businesses violate the access laws.  The Government would need more than the defense budget to enforce ADA.

So do we want increased taxes to enforce the access laws?  Do we want the Philippine do nothing model?   Or do want the greedy lawyer model?  Of course, we want to live in a perfect society where businesses follow the access laws.

I don't think a taxpayer should pay anything just because a business violates the access laws. The business should pay for the civil wrong. The access laws are not a public health and safety concern. The access laws are not a criminal concern. The access laws are a civil rights concern. Some civil rights are a public concern such as access to an airport.  However, most civil rights are an individual concern such as a person in a wheelchair cannot access his local drug store. Why should the taxpayer pay for access enforcement in this case?  In a free society it is up to the individual to enforce their rights through the courts.   This is not the burden of taxpayers.  

Department of Justice says private lawsuits are only real way to enforce ADA so Bruce most taxes argument is wrong

On this point, the US DOJ submitted an amicus brief in one of the ADA lawsuits holding that private enforcement is the only practical method of enforcement.  So, even if the DOJ had the money, they would enforce it more than they already do.

Bruce's Reply To Second Opinion - Bruce wants to raise taxes for ADA Enforcement and Stop lawyers from suing

Look, now you're being a nuisance by trying to win an argument. This is not a cross, so stop lawyering.

"First you asked why do businesses fail to fix the problem after being sued."

   No, I never asked that question.

"You should research the law of remedies for civil wrongs."

   You should learn not to lecture people. It's rude.

"Going back 200 years the main remedies for a civil wrong is money."

   Abuse of the recourse is unacceptable. The legal profession does little to address it. Until they do, they can't complain about a public that holds it in contempt.

"The truth is the businesses violate the agreement and they get sued again."

   Maybe it's because they resent lawyers who are perceived to be motivated only by the easy money of a lawsuit.

"Kindly, give me a case where a lawyer failed to get a businesS to agree to access compliance."

   Yuba City, to begin with. That's why they paid the blackmail fee of $15,000, to make the threat of litigation go away. Until perhaps, the next attorney shows up.

   Extortion is not a public business. Someone waves a threat in the face of an individual because the handicapped sticker is an inch too low. The business owner pays him off, he goes away, the stick is unchanged. You're going to tell me this doesn't happen? Try beating the bushes and talking to extorted businesses before you make such a statement.

"You failed to analyze my second email."

   Not really. I just wasn't interested in continuing the conversation. You seem only to be motivated by a conclusion that says, "You're right and everyone else is wrong." I don't care to converse with people lacking the humility required to say, yes, there are lots of examples of where my profession can really suck and something should be done to remedy that.

"you willing to pay more taxes for access enforcement or do you want businesses to pay legal fees for failing to comply."

   Consider how bad it is for the legal profession when, in this Hobson's Choice, one is impelled to choose the government over lawyers. Yes, I would gladly allocate tax dollars to a regulatory agency to keep lawyers out of the process given that the legal profession is pathetic, embarrassing and unconscionable when it comes to regulating itself. If even ONE attorney is carrying out extortionist behavior, that's one too many.

My position on a very specific matter is firm and, I'm convinced, completely justified. Predatory practitioners have no business filing lawsuits and must be exorcised from the legal profession. Until the profession does this, you're going to find yourself on the losing end of a public relations battle on a permanent basis. You are not liked. Only you can fix that.

Second Opinion in response to Bruce Anti-ADA Argument

Let me address your responses to my emails. First you asked why do businesses fail to fix the problem after being sued. You should research the law of remedies for civil wrongs. Going back 200 years the main remedies for a civil wrong is money. The other remedy is called specific performance - ordering a person or business to do an act or not to an act. The courts disfavor specific performance because it is hard to enforce. Access compliance is a specifiC performance remedy. Therefore, lawyers are not require to obtain access compliance. However, I know most of the lawyers and I know that they have access compliance in all settlement agreements. The truth is the businesses violate the agreement and they get sued again. Kindly, give me a case where a lawyer failed to get a businesS to agree to access compliance. 

Second, you state "I don't agree with you.". You failed to analyze my second email. You state there should be a government body to enforce the laws. Actually there two - the U.S. Department of Justice and the state attorney general. These bodies need more tax funds to increase access enforcement. So are you willing to pay more taxes for access enforcement or do you want businesses to pay legal fees for failing to comply. The politicians decided not to increase taxes for government enforcement. Your arguments are emotional and don't addRess how to get businesses to comply without lawyers or how the government body can enforce access lAws wiThout a tax hike. Please respond with sound reasoning based on facts in light of the reluctance of the public to pay more taxes.

Bruce's Reply as to Opinion 1

I don't agree with you.

Reply to Bruce's Response

In the United States and in many nations there are civil rights laws for people with disabilities.  But these laws are not followed unless a fine is imposed.  For example, in the United States the “fine” is a private lawsuit by a person with a disability to enforce the laws.  Businesses say lawyers are profiting off of the disabled. So why is it acceptable for a business to profit off of the public but it is bad for a lawyer to profit from disability civil rights lawsuits.

Lesson 3 of the Law of Success on Self-Confidence answers the question.  When you assert a civil right you are exercising self-confidence.  A civil right means equal opportunity and treatment, not special treatment.  However, many believe people with disabilities need special treatment.  Special treatment kills self-confidence.

In general, where does the lack of self-confidence come from in people with disabilities and their families?

Nature

In the jungle or on the farm people had to use their bodies to work.  The stronger person was more important.  The weaker person was a burden. People who were disabled were weaker and were left to die.

Social

When a child is born her mind is plastic, open, clean and free. Those that control the child teach him their superstitions, beliefs, legends and ideas. The beliefs about disability come from ancient teachings to throw away disabled animals. So disabled people were thrown away. After a while the disabled were allowed to live but in ancient text they are they beggars, and require pity and healing. Pity is the main reason for the idea of donations. So disabled people are taught to seek pity. The non-disabled are taught to give pity. When a person becomes disabled they already have the pity belief.  The pity belief says to you "you can't".  This "you can't" belief is why people fear disability from early childhood.  This is why most disabled do not start a business because they fear they cannot do it. This fear is from the pity belief.  

So lawyers who care for the “disabled” should represent them for free. The government should enforce disability civil rights laws for free.  Businesses should be given multiple chances to follow the laws without a fine.  All these ideas come from the pity belief.   Some people with disabilities buy into the pity belief because they lack self-confidence - they want free government enforcement, they frown upon lawsuits, they want a free handout. All other people enforce their civil rights by protests, voting, lobbying and lawsuits.  People with disabilities need the self-confidence to do the same.

Bruce's response to opinion 1

Rapacious lawyers out to make a buck rather than insuring compliance by businesses is no way to enforce the law. Lawyers like this don't care about the law or the disabled. Be honest and admit that some in the profession are a shame to the profession. The profession should clean up its act.If you really want to do something for the handicapped, explain to me why lawyers make threats, get paid off, and the problem at the place of business remains.

Response To Anti-ADA Opinion 1

It very disheartening to realize that folks do not know the history behind why ADA lawsuits are allowed. In 1971, the Urban Mass Transit Act  was passed to  make buses accessible without any private enforcement. The Act was ignored. Also, in 1970's we had the tax revolt.  The voters wanted lower taxes and less government.  The government does not have the money to enforce all of the laws.  Therefore, the private lawsuits was created which allowed the party that won to receive the attorney's fees from the other party. Greed, money and self-interests  of lawyers was found as a way of reducing big government enforcement.  Self-interest and incentives runs the private sector not altruistic deeds. The underlining problem is businesses fail to comply with ADA and not the greedy  lawyers that feast on disputes and fees. Further, the government does not have the tax funding to  enforce ADA.   Stopping blaming lawyers from making money from legal disputes. Stop blaming people with disabilities from asserting their rights. Be  real - the government cannot afford to enforce ADA because we, the people, do not want more taxes.

Anti-ADA Opinion By Bruce: Bruce Maiman is a former radio show host who lives in Rocklin. Reach him at brucemaiman@gmail.com.

Since its passage in 1990, the federal Americans with Disabilities Act has gone from a well-intended idea to an abused one to a tool for wholesale extortion.

Last week, Yuba City agreed to pay $15,000 to George Louie, a West Sacramento man who "has sued hundreds of Northern California cities and businesses for failing to comply with the ADA," The Bee reported.

Recently passed bipartisan legislation was supposed to constrain lawyers like Louie. Signed into law in September, Senate Bill 1186 barred so-called "demand letters," missives sent to businesses by plaintiffs demanding money in exchange for not filing suit over potential ADA violations.

Until last month, California was one of only three states allowing demand letters. I doubt the ban will impede the ambulance-chasing.

Forty percent of all ADA lawsuits are filed in California. The San Diego-based Lawyers Against Lawsuit Abuse calculates that roughly 1,000 ADA suits are filed annually in the state's federal courts. Hundreds more are filed in state courts, and even some in small-claims divisions.

The lawyers group conservatively estimates that such suits cost California businesses $20 million each year.

With lawyers using disabled people like sock puppets – Louie works with the Cable Gallagher law firm in Folsom – Yuba City's decision demonstrates that you don't need simple demand letters to cash in. A little more time and money spent drafting and filing a lawsuit assures an easy payday.

What's to stop a different law firm and their disabled confederates from filing suit? Attorneys are only too willing to enable a cottage industry casting about for violations and then suing. Los Angeles-based Morse Mehrban asks potential clients on his website, "Confined to a wheelchair in California? You may be entitled to $4,000 each time you can't use something at a business because of your disability."

For unsuspecting businesses, "each time" is like legal Whack-a-Mole. ADA regulations contain a hellish thicket of requirements governing nearly every aspect of designing, building, stocking and running anything that can be construed as a public accommodation: a parking lot with blue-striped access lanes narrower than 8 feet, a threshold too high for a wheelchair, a condiments counter a half-inch over compliance, a public restroom with a coat hook beyond reach.

Don't laugh. One man, Thomas Mundy, filed all those complaints, as chronicled in a 2009 Los Angeles Times profile. Divorced and jobless, Mundy became a serial litigant and made an estimated $300,000 in little over a year, not by sending demand letters but by filing lawsuits – over 150 of them – through his attorney, Morse Mehrban.

Often, ADA violations are the unintended work of third-party architects and contractors rather than property owners. There's no guaranteed protection even when local government declares you in compliance.

Sacramento County inspectors had certified the Basketball Town community center in Rancho Cordova as ADA compliant because the same amenities were available both upstairs and down. Yet, a wheelchair-confined man sued in 2006 because there was no access to the upper level. He wanted an elevator installed. Unable to afford the installation costs, the facility closed.

The man's attorney said this was never his client's intention, but here's what he told The Bee: "All they have to do is agree to put in a lift so that disabled people can use (the facility) just the same as everyone else, and we'll be happy to talk about settlement."

Why should he get a settlement? If all they have to do is put in an elevator, they can put in an elevator and his work is done. He shouldn't get a dime.

If these morally bankrupt legal contortionists really cared about the disabled, their goal would be securing equal access for the physically or mentally disabled, not cash-inducing shakedown lawsuits.

This is what happens when good intentions get in the hands of bad people. This not only gives the legal profession a bad name, it gives the disabled a bad name.

Solutions? Perhaps. How about no contingency fees based on ADA awards? That way, attorneys won't have incentive to abuse the law for money because they'll always be getting a set fee from clients. Or use some of that $20 million made annually in ADA lawsuits to fund construction projects that get businesses compliant. You'd do that if you really cared about the handicapped, no?

Limit the damage awards only to victims who suffer actual physical harm, and limit the damages themselves to paying medical bills.

Enforce compliance through a government agency, not the courts. Granted, there's little love for another government bureaucracy, but leaving enforcement to profit-seekers in a hopelessly flawed legal system is arbitrary, capricious and unconscionable.

Sorry, the joke about the lawyer at the bottom of the ocean isn't an option.

WE CAN

A.            Imagination: People with disabilities can imagine how to create businesses.

B.             Cooperation: People with disabilities can work together.

C.             Harmony: People with disabilities can work together without conflict.

D.            Personality: People with disabilities can convince others we can be good in business the others will invest in disability businesses.

E.             Organized Effort: People with disabilities can organize.

F.             Education: People with disabilities can learn to own and operate businesses.

These 3-minute biographies of Ed Roberts, Wade Blank, and Justin Dart are book-ended with a one-minute intro and one minute conclusion of the disability rights movement. Running Time: 11 min http://vimeo.com/9221290

These 3-minute biographies of Ed Roberts, Wade Blank, and Justin Dart are book-ended with a one-minute intro and one minute conclusion of the disability rights movement.
Running Time: 11 min
http://vimeo.com/9221290

Lesson 1 of The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill As Applied To People With Disabilities

(I'm teaching the Lesson 1 to Sharon Rosete.)
There are 650 million people with disabilities in the world. Most live in misery, want and poverty. Most with thinking power and over 18 years of age have a narrow view of how to have money.

For example, in the Western Nations people with disabilities think about how to obtain money from government programs. A smaller subset think about obtaining jobs from employers who do not want to hire people with disabilities.  In third world countries people with disabilities think about begging or obtaining jobs. Worldwide, much thought is given to obtaining money, goods and services by charity for people with disabilities.

There is so much thought and imagination focused on charity, government funds and seeking jobs from unwilling employers, people with disabilities cannot imagine other ways of obtaining money - there imagination is disabled.

As Napoleon Hill aptly stated, imagination is a faculty of mind broaden and developed by use. Also, all human inventions and achievements were once conceived in the imagination. People with disabilities are only using 5% of their imagination by seeking jobs from unwilling employers or seeking help from charity or government sources. Due to poverty of imagination people with disabilities suffer from misery, want and failure.

Without imagination we, people with disabilities, are tempted by intolerance, cupidity, greed, jealousy, suspicion, revenge, egotism, conceit, receiving without working and spending more than what is earned. We fail to use the most powerful tool created by God and Nature - our ability to gather, organize and classify knowledge by thought to create our own economic power.

Due to disagreement and friction among disabled groups, we fail to have harmonious negotiations. We have no allegiance in perfect harmony to create businesses owned and operated by us - a disability economic private power mastermind.

We use the law of attraction to attract like people seeking jobs from unwilling employers, charity and government help. We need to attract like people that have a burning desire to create businesses we own and operate.

We need to blend our minds to create disability economic power.

We need great leaders that skillfully and artfully get us to create disability economic power without the use of fear or persuasion.

Fear controls us and chokes thinking and imagination. Fear is regulated by the limbic system which is called the mid brain. The mid brain warns us of fearful situations and we react to them by habit and not by thinking.

Our people are disabled by six basic fears:

1. Poverty.  People with disabilities fear poverty. This fear forces them to seek jobs from unwilling employers. This fear forces them to accept charity or to beg.  This fear keeps them seeking government aid and chokes imagination and risk taking.
2. Death. We fear death from our disability.  This fear chokes our imagination.
3. Ill Health.  "I'm ill or disabled so I can't" attitude. This fear encourages charity and helplessness.  This fear focuses on what we can't do and chokes the imagination of what we can do.
4. Loss of love. We want to be loved or belong but society rejects us. We fear rejection.
5. Old Age. This fear is the same as 2 and 3.
6. Criticism.  The fear of being criticized stops us from failing or succeeding. A person that does not fail can never succeed. We listen to others that criticize our imagination and we kill different ways of achieving economic powers.

If our fears do not destroy us lack of education will. I do not mean college education. Education means gaining knowledge to do your definite chief aim without violating the rights of others.  Getting a job is not a definite chief aim unless you have a burning desire to get the job even without money for a time. Also, money is a need not a desire.  So you cannot have a burning desire to only make money. For example, Steve Jobs gain the knowledge to make computers without a college degree because he had the burning desire to do it. He was educated.

The above is the application of the knowledge I acquired in Lesson 1 of The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill.    

Filipino Persons with Autism (PWA).

Carmona, Cavite, (PIA) -- The local government of Carmona impressed the audience with its programs for the Persons with Disability (PWD) during the recent Autism Society Philippines’ 12th National Conference on Autism and 2nd Southeast Asian Conference on Autism held at Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, Ortigas Avenue in Quezon City on April 28 and 29. 

With the theme “Living with Autism: Hope@Home,” the conference aimed to promote, first and foremost, acceptance of autism within the family and empower the latter to make informed decisions and to take bolder steps to ensure quality of life for their member with autism. 

The conference also provided a fresh perspective to professionals and participants as collaborative and supportive partners of families in the management of autism. It highlighted the vital role of the family in developing self-advocates Filipino Persons with Autism (PWA). 

Carmona City mayor Dahlia Loyola’s presentation focused on the “Local Government’s Response to Autism: The Carmona Experience,” aimed to encourage other local government units and civil society groups in replicating the program and that with a meager means, as long as there is a political will to achieve the programs and projects for the disabled as the local government is proud advocates for PWD empowerment. 

Loyola was invited to speak before the audience of ASPs conference where she was given a standing ovation after the conclusion of her presentation on the program and services for PWDs in her municipality.http://www.cavite.info/article/carmona-city-impresses-confab-audience-on-pwd-programs.html

Carmona,Cavite

Disabled and Special Group Welfare Program

This refers to the provision of services on disability prevention, rehabilitation and equalization of opportunities for physically, mentally and socially disabled persons in order to enhance their capability to attain meaningful, productive and satisfying way of life as contributing members of society. Services under this program include prevention, social and self-enhancement of special children, practical skills development, family care, substitute family care, after care and follow-up.

http://carmonagov.net/home/for-residents/social-welfare.html

Asians with Disabilities Outreach Think Tank (ADOPT)

Funded by the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Center for Capacity Building on Minorities with Disabilities Research (CCBMDR), in collaboration with the Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) of the Illinois Human Services Department and Asian-serving agencies, proposes to launch a 18-month capacity-building outreach project. This new initiative attempts to develop and test a strategy for increasing vocational rehabilitation agencies’ capacity to reach out to Asian American with disabilities, to ensure they will receive services from DRS in the city of Chicago.http://disabilityempowerment.org/Asianproject.html

The prejudice towards Asians with disabilities

I read with interest Andrew Buncombe's article regarding the difficulties faced by people with disabilities in Bangladesh (6 January). I am a British-born Asian and have been insulin-dependent for most of my life. It never ceases to amaze me how prejudiced Asian people are towards any condition which they feel should be swept under the carpet, and not discussed lest it may impinge on the prospect, in the case of women, of child-bearing.http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/letters/letters-the-prejudice-towards-asians-with-disabilities-1301584.html

Increasing Access for Southeast Asians with Disabilities

http://www.ifes.org/Content/Publications/News-in-Brief/2011/May/Increasing-Access-for-Southeast-Asians-with-Disabilities.aspx

AAPCHO is dedicated to promoting advocacy, collaboration, and leadership that improves the health status and access of AA&NHOPIs within the United States, its territories, and freely associated states, primarily through our member CHCs.

AAPCHO is a national association of community health organizations serving Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders

AAPCHO is a national association of 29 community health organizations dedicated to promoting advocacy, collaboration, and leadership that improves the health status and access of Asian Americans, Native Americans, and other Pacific Islanders in the United States.

Join us as we celebrate our 25th Anniversary with the Cultivating Traditions of Wellness 2012: Advancing Community Leadership Conference and Gala on March 19-20, 2012 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, in Washington D.C. For more information, go to our event website at: www.ctow.aapcho.org.http://www.aapcho.org/

Asian American Disability Resources

http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/multicultural/Asian.htm

The Asian People's Disability Alliance (APDA)

APDA's aim is to provide a full range of the highest level of services to disabled people, their families and their carers, based on their specific personal, cultural and community needs.It works in the UK and Internationally. Set up in 1988, it is led and managed by Asian People with disabilities. APDA also has Special Consultative Status with the UN's Economic and Social Council.

APDA's aim is to provide a full range of the highest level of services to disabled people, their families and their carers, based on their specific personal, cultural and community needs.It works in the UK and Internationally. Set up in 1988, it is led and managed by Asian People with disabilities. APDA also has Special Consultative Status with the UN's Economic and Social Council.http://www.apda.org.uk/

How is work limitation associated with race and ethnicity?

The NHIS collects information on race and ethnicity. In the working-age population 18 to 69, Native Americans report the highest percentage of limitation in work due to chronic conditions -- 17.3% or 262,000 people. Blacks (non-Hispanics) also have a high rate of limitation -- 14.4% or 2.7 million people. Asian Americans reported the lowest levels of limitation -- 5.7% or 311,000 persons. While white non-Hispanics reported work limitations of 11.6% or 14,261,000 people, white Hispanics reported 9.6% or 996,000 people and black Hispanics reported 15.7% or 60,000. These varying rates may be related to cultural and geographical as well as demographic distinctions.http://www.infouse.com/disabilitydata/workdisability/3_5.php

Addressing Disparities for Asians and Pacific Islanders with Disabi

Asian Pacific Islander (APIs) Americans generally enjoy a higher employment rate, household
and family income levels than other ethnic minorities. But when disabilities is considered, APIs
with disabilities have a much lower employment rate (27.4%) than African Americans with
disabilities (31.7%) or Hispanics with disabilities (38.2%). Overcoming this disparity is difficult.
APIs with disabilities constitute a hard-to-reach population because of cultural stigma and
language barriers. Such barriers lead to sequestering of disabled API family members at home,
and reluctance to seek rehabilitation serviceshttp://www.apidisabilities.org/docs/NIHabstract-HTA.pdf

Asians and Pacific Islanders with Disabilities of California

http://www.apidisabilities.org/

Growing up Asian American with a Disability

Disability is still a taboo topic within many parts of Asian cultures. People with disabilities are often seen as outcasts of society and worthless citizens. In many modern-day Asian countries, the disabled are still regarded as incapable of becoming educated, functioning members of society. Therefore, they are often forgotten and fall beneath the cracks. This old school of superstitious thought teaches that disability is some sort of punishment, and promotes the idea that being different is always a horrible thing.http://www.colorado.edu/journals/standards/V7N1/FIRSTPERSON/tsao.html

Racial identity and African Americans with disabilities:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0825/is_n2_v62/ai_18534471/

Benefits Are Refused More Often To Disabled Blacks, Study Finds

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/11/us/benefits-are-refused-more-often-to-disabled-blacks-study-finds.html

Black—White Disparities in Disability Among Older Americans

http://jah.sagepub.com/content/21/5/677.short

Differences in Disability Among Black and White Stroke Survivors --- United States, 2000--2001

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5401a2.htm

Black Enterprise Disability Article

http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=M14EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=blacks+with+disabilities&source=bl&ots=SdHXdqbw_k&sig=3PwHyX9fmURiwJuFRNNSjD264Zk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LXhHT_PME9DrmAW9t5WBDg&ved=0CGEQ6AEwBzgK#v=onepage&q=blacks%20with%20disabilities&f=false

13 Multiple Oppression and the Disabled People's Movement

http://elmo.shore.ctc.edu/ejohnson/Chapter%2013.pdf

Percent of Americans with a disability/severe disability

http://www.ncddr.org/products/researchexchange/v04n01/scope.html

Rolling Manhood: How Black and White Men Experience Disability

http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&context=sociology_theses&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com.ph%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dblacks%2Bwith%2Bdisabilities%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D10%26ved%3D0CF8QFjAJ%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fdigitalarchive.gsu.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1013%2526context%253Dsociology_theses%26ei%3DOPVGT_afDOSWiQeHvMXTBg%26usg%3DAFQjCNHhqEy8ZyedTHkEwXCadQtMqyB7iQ#search=%22blacks%20disabilities%22

The Beam in Thine Own Eye: Disability and the Black Church

http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5001392063

Rehabilitation inequity

Abstract:

Data comparing disabled black and white Americans from one state revealed that a disproportionate number of blacks received inadequate services or were not accepted for service after applying. Among applicants accepted, more black cases were closed without rehabilitation, and among those with successful placements, blacks were more likely to receive lower income. (JPS)http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ525637&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ525637

NYCLU: Blacks & Disabled Students Get Harshest Discipline

NYCLU: Blacks & Disabled Students Get Harshest Discipline

'Invisible blacks' speak out

'Invisible blacks' speak out

Views of young Blacks with disabilities

This study is based on interviews with 44 young people of Asian, African and Caribbean origin, with a range of disabilities. It looks at how they manage the ‘change’ to adulthood and what independence and independent living mean to them. Between ambition and achievement outlines the young people’s views of different issues that influenced their understanding and experiences of independence and independent living.

The areas addressed include:

• definitions of independence; how race, culture and religion affect the understanding of disability and independence;
• how experiences of education and work influence independence;
• dealings with social care agencies; and an insight into the ambitions and expectations the young people have for the future.

By including the actual voices of young black disabled people themselves, this report provides first-hand information for those wishing to understand more fully the complexities that this group faces. It also looks at making community support more effective and provides suggestions for better practice. SUMMARY

Independence is generally seen as a positive step for young people, leading to them becoming self-reliant and less dependent on others. Yet this may not be the same for young disabled people. This study is based on interviews with 44 young disabled people of Asian, African and Caribbean origin. It looks at their experience of independence and the influences on them leading active independent lives.

• The young black disabled people interviewed defined independence as having choice and control in their lives. However, family and cultural expectations sometimes determined how this choice was expressed.
• By being independent the young people felt they influenced what other people thought of them and what they could achieve as black disabled people.
• Whilst there was an association between independent living and living on your own, the young people felt how you lived your life and making decisions was as important as where you lived.
• The majority had negative experiences of primary and secondary education and how it had prepared them for adult life. Many young people felt that this was due to professionals' expectations of them being low because of their race, culture and disability.
• Many felt their education concentrated on physical rather than academic needs, so they did not achieve much. Those who did go on to further education had more positive experiences.
• The majority of these young black disabled people had specific goals they wanted to achieve and were actively working towards them. Some felt their growing sense of independence was a determining factor in achieving these goals.
• Few young people had contact with social care agencies, most relied on their family for care and support.
• Loneliness was an issue for most of these young people, particularly for those who were living alone.

Race Matters: Disparities in African-American Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD, has become one of the most

commonly diagnosed childhood behavioral disorders. African American children,

specifically, have been found to be less likely to be treated for ADHD even after

receiving a diagnosis when compared to their Caucasian counterparts.

In contrast to the plethora of research on ADHD in Caucasian children, there is

limited information about ADHD among African American children. To further explore

this inadequacy, Samuel et al. (1998) interviewed 19 African American children with

DSM-III-R ADHD and 24 African American children without ADHD. Interviewers

conducted a psychiatric assessment of the participants using the Schedule for Affective

Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children—Epidemiologic Version (5), as

well as material based on the DSM-III-R. Compared with children who did not have

ADHD, African American children with ADHD had higher levels of psychiatric

disorders other than ADHD (e.g. disruptive disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders,

substance disorders). The findings of this study were compared with an earlier study of

Caucasian children with ADHD. The comorbidity of ADHD with other disruptive

behavior disorders has been associated with poor prognosis, delinquency, and substance

abuse in Caucasian children. These preliminary findings suggest that the currently

accepted definition of ADHD identifies a disorder with similar—but not identical—

psychiatric correlates to those previously identified in Caucasians (Samuel et al., 1998).

The results of this study should be interpreted with caution, as the number of participants

was relatively small and it was difficult to detect group differences. We can infer that as

compared to Caucasian children, the comorbidity of ADHD in African American children

may have an association with poor prognosis and insufficient treatment. Several other

epidemiological studies have shown that African American children with ADHD and/or

psychiatric disorders remain untreated.

Black disabled people remain an isolated and oppressed

As a consequence of so many negative factors Black disabled people remain an isolated and oppressed minority, under-represented in all areas of society - even those where one would assume that they would find natural allies, such as in the disability movement. However, as the wider disability movement becomes more progressive, black disabled people have not yet become an integral and important part of that movement. 

So where do black disabled people fit in? Issues around race and racism quickly engender support and understanding of within black communities but there is no understanding of disability issues. Within the disabled community, there is solidarity and common ground on the disability front, but little comprehension of the impact on one's life of the effects of racial discrimination. 

Finding little or no support from any quarter, the realisation is slowly dawning for black disabled people that they must create positive images for themselves and write their own agendas. They cannot rely on black people to do it for them. They cannot rely on disabled people to do it for them. Until such time as others stop 'crippling' the lives of black disabled people with judgements and characteristics which are well beyond the control of the individual, society will continue to squander and waste a valuable and unique resource. 

Images, Myths, Stereotypes

Images, Myths, Stereotypes 

There are very few positive and public images of white disabled people and even less of black disabled people. Everywhere, the image is given and the myth perpetuated that disabled people are poor, pathetic, helpless victims of charity handouts; of subnormal intellect and substandard education who need to be treated in 'special' ways. Add to this the often feared and complex issue of race and racism then what we have in the black disabled person is a virtual non-entity. An individual stripped of any real identity; an individual unable to find total acceptance within the black community because of their disability; isolated from the white disabled community because of their race; and rejected and oppressed by a wider community because of a combination of the two. 

Eurocentric Service Provision

Eurocentric Service Provision 

Yet another reason often cited by black disabled people for their oppression is that of the eurocentricity of service provision. However, managed and defused, race and racism is still at the core of British society. Consequently, service provision for disabled people, is usually carried out by eurocentric criteria with an anti-racist perspective as opposed to a multi-cultural perspective. 

Multiple Discrimination

Multiple Discrimination 

Of the numerous reasons why black disabled people are so very oppressed, the one which is most frequently emphasised and highlighted is precisely this factor of double or multiple discrimination. Most disabled people experience some form of discrimination almost every day of their lives usually as a result of attitudinal, architectural and communication barriers. However, the problems common to all disabled people, are for black disabled people, compounded by the general problem of direct racial discrimination in crucial areas such as employment, housing and education. 

Oppression

Such grinding oppression of black people has given rise to the situation wherein they have collectively internalised all of the negative images and stereotypes of race and disability that others hold. In turn, they have come to blame themselves for the bad experiences they suffer because of their race and their disabilities. There is little appreciation of the fact that the problems faced by black disabled people do not stem from any intrinsic or inherent physical or mental limitations on their part. The fact of the matter is that, to a very great extent, it is the attitudes of able-bodied people from within their own ethnic communities, from the wider community and even from within the predominantly white disabled community, which restricts and dis-enables them. 

The history of this multi-faceted segregation and exclusion of black disabled people makes it all the more difficult for them to even begin the process of integration.

Minority within a minority

Historically, disabled people in general, and black disabled people¹ in particular, have been subjected to systematic and purposeful unequal treatment, victimisation and discrimination, and been relegated to a position of political powerlessness and disenfranchisement within society². Thus, despite the fact that there are approximately 6.2 million disabled people in Britain, they have not, by and large, been a very vociferous or homogeneous group (though there are signs that this has begun to change). Society's oppression of disabled people has consequently created an insular and discreet minority, seemingly powerless to bring about the changes which will empower them. Black disabled people are a minority within that minority, to the point where they are virtually invisible and occupy an inferior status to that of even their white disabled counterparts, who are themselves second-class citizens. 

Disability, Culture, and Health Disparities

By Jean Johnson, Martha Guinan, Steven E. Brown, and Valerie Shearer

The federal Healthy People 2010 initiative calls for the elimination of long-standing disparities in health status that exist among segments of the population, including disparities that occur by race or ethnicity (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000). Health disparities in relation to persons with disabilities have been amply documented, as have disparities by gender, race or ethnicity, education or income, geographic location, or sexual orientation. However, only limited research has examined the cumulative effect of multiple risk factors for disparities. What happens, for example, when disability intersects with culture? Some studies, while providing qualitative research on quality of life concerns for persons with disabilities, fail to address the effect of cultural differences within the research design. Even a landmark forum by three large federal agencies, seeking to bring visibility to the issues of health and well-being for people with disabilities, failed to address the importance of culture in contributing to health and well-being (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003).http://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/181/over4.html

The National Black Disability Coalition

“The National Black Disability Coalition (NBDC) is a response to the need for Blacks with Disabilities in America to organize around issues of mutual concern and use our collective strength to address disability issues with an emphasis on people who live in poverty.”

 Their goals are to:

To promote UNITY among Black people with disabilities, their families and communities

To advance EQUITY within the disability movement and communities

To foster OPPORTUNITY for Black people with disabilities

The NBDC believes that Black people with disabilities must unite to obtain and secure the rights and privileges of full participation in their communities.  Using strategies from the civil rights movement, NBDC seeks to achieve collective power and inclusion for Black people with disabilities within their families, faith organizations and the greater disability community.

Reverend Calvin Peterson is the Chair for the National Black Disability Coalition.  He has been a spiritual and a social activist for people with disabilities living in poverty throughout his professional career.  Rev. Peterson is a licensed and ordained minister in the AME church and a lectual at the Interdenominational Theological Seminary in Atlanta Georgia. 

In 1970 Rev. Peterson founded Disabled in Action, a nonprofit organization that addresses issues of disparities of people with disabilities living in poverty.  Rev. Peterson was the first Black person with a disability appointed to the Atlanta Disabled Task Force and the first Black person with a disability to run for the Public Service Commission in Georgia.  He was also appointed to the Georgia Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities.

List of Famous African-Americans with a Mental Health Disorder

Rapper DMX is Bipolar and suffers greatly as a result.
Mike Tyson has severe depression and a severe sense of worthlessness with other major insecurities. He was also a victim of bullying as a child.
Eunice Kathleen Waymon (Nina Simone) was an exceptional vocalist who had Bipolar Disorder.
Ricky Williams has graced the cover of Sports Illustrated but he also lives with Social Anxiety Disorder.
Lionel Aldridge played tight end for the Green Bay Packers while living with Schizophrenia.
Macy Gray is a pop and soul singer living with Bipolar Disorder.
Beyoncé Knowles is a hip hop singer who suffers with Major Depression.
Bobby Brown has Bipolar Disorder disorder.
Paula Abdul struggled with Bulimia for many, many years.
Naomi Campbell is a world famous model who lives with an Anxiety Disorder.
Terrie Williams is a high profile publicist to the stars who suffered a mental break down and lives with Major Depression.
Thelonious Monk was one of the most brilliant pianists and composers who lived with Schizophrenia.
Joe Budden is a hip hop singer who suffers with Major Depression.
Rapper BizzyBone – Schizoaffective Disorder

List of Famous African-American’s with Dyslexia List of Famous African-American’s with DyslexiaList of Famous African-American’s with Dyslexia

Danny Glover (also epilepsy)

Magic Johnson
Harry Belafonte
Whoopi Goldberg

Black disabled activist Johnnie Lacy

Black disabled activist Johnnie Lacy, in a 1998 interview for UC Berkeley's oral history archive, recounted several decades of experience trying to negotiate her minority identities. As early as 1960, Lacy was exquisitely conscious of the freedom that even those who might oppose race and sex discrimination felt they could exert in oppressing people with disabilities. She recalls the San Francisco State University professor who successfully organized a movement to stop her from studying in his department because he saw no place in his profession for wheelchair-users: ". . . my final and departing shot to him was that if I were just a woman, he could not do this to me; if I were only a person of color, he would not be able to do this to me; and . . . the only reason that—the only way that you [are] able to take this unfair advantage is because I have a disability."

Although the analogy between racist and ableist discrimination is evident in Lacy's protest, she did not see that analogy being widely understood. At the time, and well into the early Seventies, her interaction with her fellow Black activists led her to believe that the Black community shared the larger society's prejudices against the disabled: "I believe that African Americans see disability in the same way that everybody else sees it—[perceiving people with disabilities as] worthless, mindless—without realizing that this is the same attitude held by others toward African Americans. This belief in effect cancels out the black identity they share with a disabled black person, both socially and culturally, because the disability experience is not viewed in the same context as if one were only black, and not disabled. Because of this myopic view, I as a black disabled person could not share in the intellectual dialogue viewed as exclusive to black folk. In other words, I could be one or the other but not both." Although the Black community acknowledged the existence of disability, Lacy felt that it did not recognize the possibility of people with disabilities having a group identity. "I also discovered . . . that many African-Americans consider being black as having a disability, and so they didn't really identify with disability as a disability but just as one other kind of inequity that black people had to deal with.

As an activist in the new movement, working at Berkeley's Center for Independent Living and similar institutions, Lacy found herself on the other side of the divide: instead of feeling frustrated with the Black community's limited understanding of disability culture, she became a kind of ethnographic guide to the largely white disability community, trying to educate its members who had no clue as to how to approach the Black community. Although she quickly taught her white colleagues to avoid openly condescending behavior, she had more difficulty with their ignorance of cultural difference: "It's just that they came from backgrounds where . . . they just didn't have that much exposure to people of color, and they truly did not know how to outreach with these folks. They just felt that if you're disabled, that's the only thing, you know, that's important." She struggled to explain how many minority cultures had different attitudes toward community and family than did the independence-minded white professional class, and how those differences were relevant to the Independent Living Movement. Ultimately the movement's minority outreach resources improved with the recruitment of more activists of color who had received and given training in the "504 group."http://disabilities.temple.edu/programs/ds/facultyherald2.shtml

80% in third world

Ø Eighty per cent of persons with disabilities live in developing countries, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

Largest Minority

Ø Around 10 per cent of the world’s population, or 650 million people, live with a disability. They are the world’s largest minority.

The Ugly Truth

Blacks and Asians with disabilities are the largest segment of the world disabled population without any political, economic or social power.     We are the ignored class.