The 50th anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was reflected upon by the U.S. Justice Department Sept. 26.
According to a blog post from the department, the act was groundbreaking for civil rights law, which requires equal opportunity for people with disabilities. The blog post continued on saying the act prohibits disability discrimination involving programs that are conducted by federal agencies, programs that get federal financial assistance, federal employment, along with federal contractors’ employment practices.
The blog post noted the department works as the lead agency that coordinates Section 504 of the act. Section 504 applies to federal agencies and programs that receive federal financial assistance, and serves as a strong base for the Americans with Disabilities Act, the blog noted.
The ADA, signed into law in 1990, that also gave people with disabilities protection from discrimination, can trace some of its roots back to Colorado. In Denver in 1978, protestors gathered in front of two city buses causing a traffic jam that lasted 24 hours.
“Their actions would make Denver the first city in the United States to have a fully wheelchair-accessible public transit system; it would culminate in the Capitol Crawl in Washington, D.C., and eventually, with the passage of one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation of all time, the Americans with Disabilities Act,” said co-host Noel Black in a March 2020 episode of Lost Highways.
According to research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27% of adults in the U.S. have some type of disability. The research also indicated about 12% of U.S. adults have a mobility disability leading to serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs while 12.8% of adults have a cognitive disability.
In Colorado, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates about 23% of adults have a disability, with that data coming from the 2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
The Justice Department was one many organizations impacted by the Rehabilitation Act.
“Fifty years ago, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehab Act) was signed into law, marking a turning point in our nation’s civil rights history. The Rehab Act authorized services that support disabled people in living the lives they want to lead, fully included in their communities. The law established accessibility standards for information technology, which are crucial in today’s high-tech world, and more,” said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement.
Becerra added there’s still work that needs to be done.
“While we have made great strides in disability rights, we still have work to do,” Becerra said in a statement. “Disabled people still face discrimination and barriers to exercising their basic civil rights. That’s why the Biden-Harris Administration specifically recognized disabled people in its executive order on advancing equity and has prioritized strengthening civil rights protections for people with disabilities. And that’s why HHS has proposed comprehensive updates to our regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehab Act, which will be a critical tool for fighting disability discrimination.”