Successes And Shortcomings: 30 Years Of The Americans With Disabilities Act

Thirty years ago, East and West Germany reunited after the fall of the Soviet Union. It was 1990, the same year The World Wide Web debuted, plus singer Mariah Carey’s blockbuster hit, "Vision of Love," kicked off her career. And President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) banning discrimination against millions of Americans in education, transportation, and public accommodations. Three decades later, the 1 in 4 adult Americans with disabilities have benefitted from the ADA’s protections. But the benefits are being threatened by the wide-ranging impact of COVID-19, and by the ever-widening inequities in health care and employment. In this 30th anniversary year of the passage of the ADA, the disability rights movement looks back to the bill’s legacy and ahead to new challenges.

Guests:

Kristen McCosh, commissioner of the Disabilities Commission for the City of Boston.

Michael Stein, executive director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability and visiting professor at Harvard Law School.

Jeffrey Yasuo Mansfield, design director at MASS Design Group and a Disability Futures Fellow.

Plus, American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, Aaron Wegehaupt, joined to facilitate communication between everyone.