Two Simple Questions

 

There are two simple questions that every candidate for public office should be asked before Election Day this November:

1. Do you support the Department of Justice memorandum that opens the door to greater institutionalization of people with disabilities?

2. Do you support transferring the federal special education program under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services?

Every candidate’s answers should be collected, published, and shared widely.

How politicians respond will tell us a great deal. If they are unfamiliar with these issues, perhaps they will be motivated to learn. If they understand them, voters deserve to know where they stand. Their answers will reveal whether they believe in inclusion, equal opportunity, and civil rights—or whether they are willing to accept policies that move our country backward.

I know people are busy. Organizations have competing priorities. But few actions could have greater long-term importance than documenting candidates’ positions on these two questions. The answers will tell us how our nation, our states, and our communities intend to treat people with disabilities for years to come.

The real issue is not simply disability policy. It is the kind of America we want to be.

Do we want a country that is open, inclusive, and committed to equal opportunity? A country where people with disabilities receive services in the same communities where everyone else lives, learns, works, and participates? A country that values choice, independence, and contribution?

Or do we accept a future in which people with disabilities are increasingly separated from their neighbors, educated apart from their classmates, and encouraged to live apart from their communities?

We must make our answer unmistakably clear.

We do not want to turn back the clock on disability rights.

We do not want to return to institutionalization.

We do not want children with disabilities educated separately simply because they have disabilities.

We do not want government policies that reduce choice, independence, or participation.

We do want people with disabilities to live, learn, work, and thrive alongside everyone else.

We do want communities enriched by the talents, perspectives, and contributions of people with disabilities.

The disability community has spent decades replacing segregation with inclusion, dependency with opportunity, and isolation with participation. Those hard-won gains should not be quietly dismantled.

Many people are also concerned that current federal policies increasingly classify people by perceived differences, emphasize those differences, and encourage separation rather than belonging. Whether the issue is disability or another characteristic, history teaches us that societies are strongest when they embrace pluralism rather than fear it.

As our nation marks its 250th year, we should reaffirm the principles on which America was built: liberty, equality, fairness, opportunity, and the belief that our diversity is one of our greatest strengths—not something to be hidden, isolated, or excluded.

If you belong to a disability organization, a civic group, a professional association, or a faith community, ask these two questions. If you are active on social media, share them. If you are a journalist, educator, sociologist, anthropologist, or simply a concerned citizen, help collect and publish the answers.

An informed electorate is the foundation of democracy. These two questions will tell us not only where candidates stand on disability policy—they will tell us what kind of country they hope to build.

The future of disability rights—and, in many ways, the future character of America—depends on the answers.

Thank you.

Common Grounder


Patricia Morrissey