< One Laid Groundwork For The ADA; The Other Grew Up Under Its Promises

SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:

Thirty years ago today, a couple thousand people gathered on the South Lawn of the White House to watch President George H.W. Bush sign the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act into law.

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PRESIDENT GEORGE H W BUSH: I now lift my pen to sign this Americans with Disability (ph) Act and say, let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down. God bless you all.

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MCCAMMON: Today, it's estimated 1 in 4 American adults has a disability. NPR's Joseph Shapiro spoke with two women about how the law changed their lives.

JOSEPH SHAPIRO, BYLINE: Imani Barbarin is a young disability activist.

IMANI BARBARIN: I was born with it. I was diagnosed at 2 years old with cerebral palsy.

SHAPIRO: She walks with crutches or uses a scooter. Barbarin was born 30 years ago, just a few months before the ADA became law. She's grown up protected by that law.

Judy Heumann is a founder of the disability civil rights movement.

JUDY HEUMANN: I had polio in 1949 in one of the epidemics.

SHAPIRO: She was an infant. She's used a wheelchair most of her life. Back in 1977, Heumann helped lead a protest that created an early disability civil rights law, a law that would set the groundwork for the ADA later. Heumann was just 29 when, at a congressional hearing, she demanded that first law, speaking to a federal official.

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HEUMANN: We will no longer allow the government to oppress disabled individuals. We want the law enforced. We will accept no more discussion of segregation. And I would appreciate it if you would stop shaking your head in agreement when I don't think you understand what we are talking about.

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BARBARIN: Judy, thank you for being just such a stalwart of the disability community...

SHAPIRO: I got Barbarin and Heumann to meet online.

BARBARIN: ...And giving so many young, disabled women especially someone to say, oh, I can be like that. If she can scream at congresspeople and senators and not be afraid to do so, then what's stopping me? - 'cause I'll be happy to scream at some congresspeople - more than happy to because of you.

SHAPIRO: Barbarin, who works for a disability legal office in Philadelphia, is a prominent organizer of disabled people online, particularly of Black disabled people and other people of color.

HEUMANN: And I want to thank you, Imani, because, you know, I'm 72 years old. And social media is something I'm learning. And one of the beauties of what's been happening over the last 30 years is really the expansion of the disability rights movement and the merging of voices and visions like yourself.

SHAPIRO: The law said people with disabilities can't be denied access to jobs, school, transportation or to public places.

HEUMANN: This law not only can help disabled individuals learn about our rights but I think also can really foster a sense of dignity and pride within disabled individuals to recognize that we are not the problem. We are not the ones that need to change. It is the society around us.

SHAPIRO: Disability used to be looked at as a person's health problem. The ADA said the thing that holds someone back isn't that they can't walk. It's that there are stairs that block them from getting into a school, a workplace, a restaurant.

HEUMANN: You and I had our disabilities when we were young. But most people don't have their disabilities when they're young and don't think about disability or discrimination.

BARBARIN: I think the ADA is really good at codifying and making written into law equal opportunity, but it didn't really do much to change perceptions about disability.

SHAPIRO: Even with the ADA, disabled people still have a hard time getting into the workplace. When Barbarin got out of graduate school, she sent out scores of job applications. She mentioned she walked on crutches. She didn't get an interview. Then she sent out scores more without mentioning her disability and got interviews.

BARBARIN: One of the things that we are witnessing as disabled people, as the disabled community during this pandemic is how everything became accessible almost overnight. People started teleworking and going to Zoom classrooms and getting their education remotely.

SHAPIRO: By the end of their conversation, a new alliance had been made.

HEUMANN: Imani, I need - hold on. Hold on. What's your phone number?

BARBARIN: Oh, I'll email it to you. I have your email.

HEUMANN: OK. Thank you.

SHAPIRO: Today, Judy Heumann and Imani Barbarin celebrate the anniversary of a civil rights law that changed the world for people with disabilities. Joseph Shapiro, NPR News.

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