Milwaukee Advocates For The Disabled And For Racial Justice Say They Share Common Goal

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WUWM News

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It's been 30 years since the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) became law. Some community activists say there are similarities between the battle for disabled rights and the current effort for racial equality. The ADA helped lead to things like more curb cuts, those little ramps built into concrete curbs at places like intersections. The 1990 law also did much more, of course, including banning discrimination against the disabled in public places. But Harvey Ross not being nice to the disabled community remembers at the time: "I can admit when I was walking around, I discriminated against people with disabilities. Made fun of them and everything else. And I think the universe was like, 'You think that is funny? Well, how about this? —Bye,' " Ross said. What went "bye" in 1992 was Ross' ability to use his legs after being hit by gunfire. He now gets around in a wheelchair and has become an advocate for people with disabilities. He's also part of the Black Lives Matter movement. Ross