In a country that treats Black people as second-class citizens, Black people with disabilities are even more significantly disproportionately neglected. Black people are more likely than white people to have chronic health conditions, more likely to struggle when accessing mental health care, and less likely to receive formal diagnoses for a range of disabilities. These, and so many other systemic inequities, make Black people with disabilities key targets of white supremacy in the United States. We’ve got so much further to go when it comes to protecting our people with disabilities.
While the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was successful in improving the lives of many with disabilities throughout the country, it has failed to address the explicit violations of civil rights experienced by Black people with disabilities every day. Citing research from the American Journal of Public Health, the Center for American Progress reports, “more than half of disabled African Americans have been arrested by the time they turn 28—double the risk in comparison to their white disabled counterparts.”
We’re calling on Congress to expand the ADA to further protect the civil rights of Black people with disabilities.
SIGN THE PETITION: DEMAND CONGRESS EXPAND THE Americans with Disabilities Act
It’s on us to uplift the experiences of Black people with disabilities and demand that Congress put an end to their neglect by expanding the ADA. Signing the petition is the first step toward making it abundantly clear: Black disabled lives matter.