The Fight for 504
When I first learned about the 504 Sit-in protest in 1977, it enriched and deepened my pride in being a disabled person. It made me even more honored to be a part of the disability community. It educated me on the struggle for securing our civil rights and ignited a passion to continue to fight for disability justice and equality.
In case you don’t know about what the Fight for 504 is, here is a brief historical recap: In 1973, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act became law. The text of Section 504 states: “No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States shall solely on the basis of his handicap, be excluded from the participation, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” The law means no person can lawfully be excluded from any program, service, or similar which receives federal funds.
Section 504 was the first civil rights law written specifically for the disabled. It is considered a precursor to the Americans with Disabilities Act that was passed years later in 1990. But while disabled advocates were cheering 504, business and government leaders weren’t as thrilled. They delayed signing the 504 regulations for four years. Rules of law are crucial because they include policies that detail implementation and enforcement.
After years of being stone-walled, disabled activists had enough. In 1977 they organized a nation-wide protest in cities across the country. Many of the demonstrations included sit-ins, most of which disbanded within a couple of days. The sit-in in San Francisco, however, was different. One hundred fifty people with all types of disabilities occupied the Health Education and Welfare building for 25 days. After immense pressure, Secretary Joseph Califano finally signed the regulations for 504. The 504 Sit-in remains the most prolonged nonviolent occupation of a federal building in U.S. history.
If you’d like to expand your learning on the topic in a more visual way, the Comedy Central series Drunk History did a humorous but accurate episode about the 504 Sit-in. I highlight it mostly because I thought it was terrific that a major cable network included disability. This type of attention needs to be happening way more often. I feel disability history and culture is often an after-thought or a token mention in the media and history books.
Of One, For Many
Here’s the thing I want the non-disabled community to understand: we, disabled people, put our lives on the line for critical civil rights issues because, for us, it means life or death. That statement isn’t hyperbole or theoretical. There is nothing exaggerated about the risk disabled people face regarding remaining healthy and independent when there are threats to our ability to live a fully integrated life in society.
One other important thing to point out is that most often the issues directly impacting disabled peoples’ lives also benefit the larger society. For example, when the 504 protesters worked to get regulations regarding equal access, that meant the requirement of things like curb cuts in neighborhoods and improved access in public spaces and transportation services. Everyone benefits from these laws, not just disabled people.
Likewise, when Congress was on the verge of voting to repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act in the summer of 2017, it was disabled people who were facing arrest, and in some cases being dragged out of Capitol hearing rooms, offices, and hallways in protest. Disabled people fought to save the ACA because it is important legislation that provides for our health and safety. But the fact is, changes to, or the repeal of, the ACA will impact all Americans, disabled or not.
Unfortunately, when we are on the frontlines fighting alongside our non-disabled allies, we are not given the acknowledgment of our sacrifice. Rarely does the news report about our stories in a way that gives us our due credit. And when there are news stories, they are often viewed as a novelty or human-interest pity stories, which is not acceptable. The issues impacting the disabled community are of no less consequence than any other matter affecting society. We exist!
The Fight Continues Today With New Threats To Disability Civil Rights
Just because the disability community won the Fight for 504 does not mean the war is over. Efforts were made a few years later during the Regan administration to weaken the Rehabilitation Act. Activists again had to rally to defend the law, which was successful. However, the Administration altered the qualifying terms for Social Security Disability Benefits, resulting in hundreds of thousands of disabled people losing their benefits.
Even after the ADA passage in 1990, efforts are still being made in Congress to weaken disability civil rights. The most recent attempt was HR 620 in 2017, which would have shifted the burden of proving a building’s accessibility by forcing disabled patrons to file specific claims against businesses violating the law. The new law intended to be a bureaucratic and arduous process, giving time and legal leverage for companies and other public spaces to avoid being accountable for the ADA’s requirements. The proposed changes are ridiculous! Why should the harmed party (disabled people) be responsible for bringing an action against a business for not complying with a law that they should lawfully be following? Thankfully Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) (who has a disability herself) successfully blocked the law from a vote in the Senate.
Any disabled person knows that the reality of a fully-accommodating United States is still not yet our reality, despite all the laws on the books and years of social progress. But that must always be the expectation. And any attempt to back-slide, water-down, or rewrite rules that provide equal access and inclusion for people with disabilities must be firmly and vigorously resisted.
Sadly, it seems the fight for our civil rights will never end. There will always be cause for another sit-in.