Throughout the course of history, federal legislation and Supreme Court decisions have empowered the evolution of rights for Americans With Disabilities. Milestones made by both branches of government have efficiently modernized and safeguarded this marginalized group of people. For instance, discrimination against these individuals is prohibited, in manners such as, education, public transportation, and employment. However, in the free country of America, their freedom wasn’t granted. Restaurants were able to refuse service to people with disabilities and people confined to wheelchairs were forced to leave them behind to be able to ride a bus or a train.
A Quest for “Perfection” “If they are not fit to live, kill them in a decent human way” (Eugenics and Euthanasia Quotations) . All throughout history, people have chased after perfection. Whether it be mentally or physically, mankind has, with reckless pursuit, tried to purge itself of any flaws. Because of this impossible goal, those who were mentally and physically disabled have been persecuted and isolated, dating all the way back to the Greeks, who killed their babies if a deformity was noticed, and through the 1960’s when Eugenicists believed that those with mental retardness should be exterminated for the greater good of the human race. The mentally disabled have been called unworthy and unfit to live by many all over the world, and it
20 Oct. 2015. This website is a secondary source from the National Archives. This document explains American disabilities that people had to deal with and experience at the time. Along with programs for intellectual disabilities. "
The Nazis utilized sterilizations to genetically prevent more people from inheriting any disabilities that would hinder the development of an Aryan race. Another law called the Marital Hygiene Law was passed in 1935 (“Eugenics”). It prohibited the marriage between people with a disability and someone of the Aryan race (“Eugenics”). This was done to further cut out the disabled from society. A couple of months later, plans would be discussed to organize a killing operation of disabled people.
Throughout history the treatment of disabilities, this has been very difficult for people going through this, especially for the people that went through it in the past. In the 1930’s they were known as “unhealthy” or “defective”. Some people described them as “possessed by evil spirits”. Most people even thought of them as “bad luck”. According to Study.com, it is stated “This treatment of disabled people as outcasts continued throughout much of history.
In “The Social Construction of Disability,” Susan Wendell briefly discusses how the fast pace of American life impacts the social construction of disability through an inability for people with “disabilities” to maintain expectations of a high-performance level. Wendell also claims that the pace of life causes disability in many people’s lives, but quickly moves on to another topic, referencing chapter four of Barbara Hillyer’s Feminism and Disability in the footnotes as a place for more information on this argument. In Hillyer’s chapter “Productivity and Pace,” she writes to the feminist and disability communities, analyzing how the pace of life affects them both in similar ways. Through an analysis of how people with disabilities are forced to set their own daily pace, Hillyer hopes to encourage others to learn about the necessity of slowing down.
It created a lack of health and safety, and instead provided hazards for residents that were already struggling in a neglectful environment. Based on the informational text, The Story of Intellectual Disability: An Evolution of Meaning, Understanding, and Public Perception, “the Great Depression exacerbated the continuing conflict over the level of patients admitted to southern institutions as many families searched desperately for relief in handling children with severe disabilities.” While many families required that relief due to the lack of financial resources during the Great Depression, it created stress and conflict to try and provide more space for disabled children and overall citizens to reside in those institutes. It came to a point where the Virginia State Colony Superintendent announced in 1936, that “there is little we can do
During the disability movement many activist had different methods to get the rights for disabled people. Many members of the Disability Rights Movement have been involved in boycotts,blocking traffic, protests and marches. All of these protests reflected the tactics used in the Civil Rights Movement. Many activists from the disability movement used the Civil Rights Movement as a template as far as strategies they used. Activists in the disability movement call for fair employment opportunities, physical barriers, and to live independently.
Government officials and citizens wanted to annihilate anyone that didn’t fit their standards. This included the intellectually disabled. They didn’t fit into society correctly like people wanted. Individuals wanted a perfect society with perfect people, and the disabled messed with their ideal way of life. In the end, the eugenics movement sought out to efface anyone in society that didn’t make a better human
They had no human rights. “People with mental disabilities in 1930s America were treated very unsympathetically...were thought of as a 'burden to society'.” (“Disabilities in 1930's America” Melville-au). The worst part was that there was little cure.
Sterilization started back a while ago in america 's history. It was used during a time when the government and people wanted to control the undesirable populations, such as immigrants, people of color, poor people, unmarried mothers, the disabled, the mentally ill, and whoever else seemed unfit to reproduce. This procedure took place in thirty-two states throughout the twentieth century, particularly in California. Eugenics was commonly accepted as a form or protecting society from the offsprings of individuals listed above. More recently, between 2006 and 2010, almost 150 female inmates in california prisons were authorized to have sterilization procedures done to them.
No person who is qualified as handicapped in the United States shall be excluded from participation, be denied benefits of or be discriminated under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance by reason of his or her handicap. Nobody should be discriminated or excluded from benefiting under any program or activity funded by the federal just because they are handicapped. According to my understanding, diversity entails a state of differences in several ways and even the physical abilities and status of individuals. Diversity requires an understanding of this different ways and treating people equally regardless of these individual differences.
The disabled were experimented and tortured by the Nazis and very few survived this. The handicapped were considered to be the lowest of the low which explains why they were tested and experimented on. Painful and long deaths were the most common kinds of death among these handicapped people. The Nazi Doctors tested many different methods of killing, from gas chambers to overdosage. “Further, during World War II, German physicians conducted pseudoscientific medical experiments utilizing thousands of concentration camp prisoners without their consent” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was passed to “prohibit discrimination and ensure equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in ... transportation” (ADA). Given such, the University of Washington operates a division under Student Life which assists in providing “Disability Resources for Students,” offering far more than just compliance with federal law (UW). The university serves over two thousands students encompassing physical, health, learning, sensory and psychological disabilities, still a small sector of the campus population. As a result, the DRS division receives less funds and benefits to create and update their resources for students, staff, and faculty with disabilities. The fundamental intention behind the American
Disabled people are people who have mental or physical limitation so they depend on someone to support them in doing their daily life needs and jobs. Although disabled people are a minority and they are normally ignored, they are still a part of the society. The statistics show that the proportion of disabled people in the world rose from 10 percent in the seventies of the last century to 15 percent so far. The number of handicapped exceeds a billion people all over the world, occupied about 15 percent of the world's population, as a result of an aging population and the increase in chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, blood and psychological diseases that are related with disabilities and impairments. Every five seconds someone
