Of the ADA, Justin Dart said, “How will we sleep at night if we don’t try?”
Editor’s note: Many of us cringe when we hear people with disabilities described as “heroic” or “brave.” After all, most of us are just trying to live our lives as best as we can. We’d rather not be seen as superhuman and have the facts of our lives not turned into inspirational or pity stories.
But looking back at the beginnings of our civil rights movement and the activities leading up to the approval of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), heroic acts and bravery were sometimes needed.
Many still remember the “capitol crawl” when about 60 people with disabilities crawled up the steps of the nation’s capitol to draw attention to the ADA and the need to get it passed. Others may recall, or have been involved in protests and other acts of civil disobedience.
Those were often scoffed at. When we people with disabilities protested, or even lobbied for our issues, we were all too often written off as “those people.” One person who met pushback when he championed the ADA was Justin Dart. He and his wife Yoshiko are our first heroes. Feel free to submit your heroes to us at [email protected]
Justin Dart, Jr. provided powerful advocacy for civil rights for disabled Americans, at a time when that was widely questioned.
Dart is often recognized as “the godfather of the disability rights movement” and the father of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Dart was at the podium on the White House lawn when President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA into law in July 1990.
This is excerpted from our archives:
What is considered to be the most impressive petition drive of its day, for the ADA, bore the names of more than 8,500 people with disabilities, allies and organizations. While gathering thousands of petition signatures is easy today, this important petition took shape 35 years ago. Supporters often had to mail paper copies to get names added, which was no easy task.
But the petition was needed to show support for the ADA and to keep elected officials from weakening its protections. By March 1990, the ADA passed the U.S. Senate, 76-8, and had bipartisan Congressional support. But the U.S. House was another story.
The petition appeared in the February 7, 1990 edition of the Washington Post. Yoshiko Dart recalled that it was very expensive to buy a full page ad but the Washington Post sales department was convinced to charge only half price.
Donations came in from around the country, kept up with hundreds of incoming contribution checks of $2, $5, $10 and $25; sorting and depositing them, and entering donors’ names by hand.
The ad was headlined, Message to Congress from Representatives of 43 Million Americans with Disabilities. The ad stated, “WE URGE THE PROMPT APPROVAL by the US House of Representatives of this landmark legislation to provide to people with disabilities the comprehensive civil rights protection which other minorities attained more than two decades ago.”
The ad also urged that the House reject weakening the ADA, saying claims that it would businesses were groundless.”
“They reflect the same obsolete attitudes, unfounded fears and doomsday predictions that have greeted all previous extensions of basic civil rights protections.” One week later, on February 14, 1990, Justin Dart saw Bush in the Oval Office. One of Yoshiko Dart’s daughters wrote a message, with red marker, on the ad. “Mr. President, Happy Valentine’s! We love you!” That brought a smile from the commander-in-chief. Justin Dart died in 2002 at the age of 71, from congestive heart failure related to complications of post-polio syndrome.
Yoshiko Dart remains an activist for the cause of disability justice, and has been a valued contributor to Access Press for many years. See her “message to colleagues who will celebrate the 100th Birthday of ADA on July 26, 2090,” published in Access Press in 2004: Hopes for a Happy Day.
