The American Disabilities Act
The American Disabilities Act was first enacted as a Law by George H.W. Bush on 26 July, 1990. Abbreviated as ADA, this act provides certain civil rights law to disable citizens of United States who were being previously discriminated because of their disability. The law was a great success with regards to an issue that was creating high debates as people with disabilities were falling behind. The law provided more or less similar rights to the people like that were given in Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibited racial discrimination among the minorities including African American who were denied their basic rights of living. ADA however, is not focused on any minority or a certain group but focuses on the disable persons regardless of sex, race and religion. ADA was later amended in September 2008 by George W. Bush as it then provided somewhat broader protection for the disabled workers and was against a court ruling which minimized the rights that would have been given to the disables.
According to the statistics it is evident that 1 in 5 US residents has either one or more disabilities it accounts for more than 50 million people (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). According to Field and Jette (2007) number of disables is increasing by a specific ratio among all the people from different age groups. The fact have also shown that the persons with disabilities are the most vulnerable part of the society who will be severely disadvantaged in nearly all aspect of the social society whether it is socially, economically, vocationally or educationally (ADA, 1990). Roessler and Sumner (1997) stated that because of the imparities many disables are denied services even by the governmental departments. They are restrained from getting the required higher education which can play an important role in defining their future aspects. Psychological research has also shown that persons who have been denied of their rights have created some mental problems. And if the person is a part of the minority, the racism, ethnicity factors are considered to be the most destructive for them as well. American Psychological Association in regards to its work for the disables has put forward different ethical models and approaches that should be employed when confronted with someone with imparity. This can greatly help in providing dignity, respect and worth to those who are part of our society but are not considered like this (APA, 2002). The studies have shown that persons with disabilities are clearly discriminated in provision of nearly all the services. They are not allowed to use accommodation at certain places; they are not allowed to use governmental services appropriately, they are not provided with all the resources they require according to their disabilities and this all accounts for their lagging behind in the society as they also are considered for better jobs or other economically opportunities just because they are seen as non working part of the whole society. In fact they were even denied the representation in politics with no political organization opting them to be their representative.
The events that were taking place in the employment sector of USA were far from encouraging. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was intact but the problems were still seen in the cultural and social aspects. The disables were also visualized as those who were not able to perform tasks efficiently and were not even preferred for the call ups even though if they seemed qualified and their disabilities by no way harmed the performance of the jobs they applied. After the speech of George H.W. Bush, the rallies started to take place in the streets where people without regards to any race or religion came together. Deaf people were the most active during the protests and rallies. Later on the debates started to take place and every disable person was amused to find the enactment of the ADA in 1990.
The paper analyzes the American Disability Act in detail by researching through its various aspects including its impact on the persons with disabilities culturally, socially and economically. The paper will also shed light on the criticism that has been done against it and the reaction of normal people towards this law.
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