Fading of Disability Civil and Human Rights in America

Author: Thomas C. Weiss
Published: 2011/01/09 - Updated: 2023/04/20
Topic: Editorials and Op-eds - Publications List

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: The rights of People with Disabilities, Americas largest minority population are fading at an unprecedented rate. The Community Relations Service (CRS) is the Department of Justice's, 'peacemaker,' for community conflicts; it is responsible for dealing with issues that arise related to race, color, and national origin.

Introduction

The rights of People with Disabilities, America's largest minority population, are fading at an unprecedented rate.

Main Item

Despite laws; despite statements and seeming efforts - we are witnessing violation after violation of not only our civil rights, but our human rights. The need for an outcry and action in relation to our civil and human rights as People with Disabilities, Family Members, Friends, and Advocates has never been greater than it is right now.

"Graphic video footage obtained by the sheriff's department shows several men sexually assaulting at least 10 profoundly disabled women, some of them in diapers, officials said Thursday. Detectives have spent the last several months trying to pull clues from the grainy videos. After the footage was enhanced, they were able to capture the images of four men who carried out assaults, though there could be as many as 10 suspects total."

Please understand that the anonymous person who turned in the videos showing the women with disabilities being sexually assaulted turned the videos in a year ago. It has taken the police and detectives a year to go through one-hundred of these taped assaults and figure out even the amount of information they currently have. The extent an horror of these assaults is so completely unacceptable as to be indescribable.

The rights; both civil and human, of the women with disabilities who were assaulted by these rapists have been so completely violated it will take some time to sort it out should the police capture these felons. There is at least one, 'care,' facility involved and potentially more. One has to wonder if this is a part of the new, 'Health Care Reform,' whereby health care is presumably a right.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is:

"An act to enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States of America to provide relief against discrimination in public accommodations, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect constitutional rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the Commission on Civil Rights, to prevent discrimination in federally assisted programs, to establish a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, and for other purposes."

Whether or not the women with disabilities were in public accommodations or not, the complete violation of their civil and human rights is so clear that I question the lack of any kind of action on the part of the government. The home these women were in without doubt received Medicare and Medicaid dollars, making it a taxpayer interest, as well as a government one. Where was Kathleen Sebelius and the Department of Medicare/Medicaid Services while these women were being completely violated

Section 602 directs each Federal agency administering a program of Federal financial assistance by way of grant, contract, or loan to take action pursuant to rule, regulation, or order of general applicability to effectuate the principle of section 601 in a manner consistent with the achievement of the objectives of the statute authorizing the assistance. In seeking the effect compliance with its requirements imposed under this section, an agency is authorized to terminate or to refuse to grant or to continue assistance under a program to any recipient as to whom there has been an express finding pursuant to a hearing of a failure to comply with the requirements under that program, and it may also employ any other means authorized by law. However, each agency is directed first to seek compliance with its requirements by voluntary means.

The city, state, and federal government failed these women so completely that I have to question the ability of the United States government on every level to protect the civil and human rights of People with Disabilities in America. The government of this nation does not seem to have the slightest interest in our rights, continuing to ignore us as a population while offenses such as this occur. People with Disabilities are forced into long-term care while the Community Choice Act that would give us the ability to receive care in our own homes goes unsigned, un-passed, and ignored.

The Community Relations Service (CRS) is the Department of Justice's, 'peacemaker,' for community conflicts; it is responsible for dealing with issues that arise related to race, color, and national origin. People with Disabilities represent every single race, class, and gender in the world today. The CRS was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and is the only federal agency dedicated to helping State and local government, as well as private and public organizations and community groups, with the prevention of racial and ethnic tensions and more. Mr. Ondray T. Harris, who will hopefully get off of his rear-end and realize that a great many of the people he is supposed to be serving are People with Disabilities, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Director of the CRS on March 13th, 2008.

Between the lack of action on the parts of every single form of government in America today, as well as Mr. Ondray T. Harris, Kareem Dale (who must be hiding somewhere), and a total lack of members of Congress, the Senate, and the President of the United States where Equal Rights Legislation aimed at placing People with Disabilities on an equal level with non-disabled persons in America - I wonder how long the supposed, 'leaders,' of this nation will continue to view us as second-class citizens. Are we not all supposed to be equal in America

Let's examine the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, something the Republican Party wants to fiddle with because of so-called, 'anchor babies.' The Amendment states:

Section 1.

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

The denial of life, liberty, due process of law, and equal protection of the laws on the parts of the women with disabilities who have been raped by violent offenders through one-hundred videos that police have taken a year to even reveal is a clear violation of their fourteenth amendment rights. For some reason, some people in society continue to view People with Disabilities as, 'less-than,' or potential victims, or unworthy of equality. For some reason, the United States Government does as well. What would Martin Luther King Jr. say?

"All I'm saying is simply this, that all life is interrelated, that somehow we're caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality."- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The TSA considers molestation of People with Disabilities, who all too often cannot use even the pornographic body scanners and are forced to endure physical molestation for the mere privilege of flying, to be acceptable. Anyone else in America who committed such a sexual violation of a Person with a Disability would find themselves in prison for Felony Molestation, Violation by a Person in a Position of Trust, and potentially even a Hate Crime. The crimes the TSA is committing continue to this very day, without repercussions, again violating the civil and human rights of People with disabilities. What would the founders of America say about this horrific abuse

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."- Thomas Jefferson

Disability and The Transportation Safety Administration

The Transportation Safety Administration has been committing acts of felony molestation against people with disabilities, children, senior citizens, and disabled veterans on a continuing basis for some time now - despite current laws in place to protect us. The gloves worn by TSA Agents are filthy; they touch everyone's crotch, buttocks, armpits, and any unknown object in the airport. The scanners, despite manufacture, are coughed on and sneezed on by countless people every single day. The TSA does not pursue even standard health precautions.

The TSA certainly has denied People with Disabilities their liberty, and I can only imagine how unhappy they are about being molested by a TSA Agent with a filthy glove that has touched everyone's buttocks, crotch, and armpits - potentially spreading diseases. The TSA gets all of these disability organizations together, states that it is working with them, and then continues the molestation of People with Disabilities and expects us to accept such felony criminal activity in the name of supposed, 'safety.'

In the meantime, the leader of the, 'free world,' President Obama, makes the following statement in regards to People with Disabilities:

"We must stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones, but to break spirits - not only to inflict harm, but to instill fear," Obama said at a ceremony commemorating the enactment of the new law. "No one in America should be forced to look over their shoulder because of who they are or because they live with a disability."- President Obama

The year 2010 found People with Disabilities experiencing utterly horrific violations of our rights, both human and civil. Health Care Reform is meaningless when attacks such as the ones against women with disabilities I have described occur in places we are supposed to receive health care. Medicare/Medicaid are denying everything from medications to prosthetics; why should I, as a Person with Disabilities, have any faith whatsoever in Health Care Reform? Why should I trust a government and its representatives, despite party affiliation, that does not even acknowledge the population I am a part of

People with Disabilities, Family Members, Friends, and Disability Advocates - The Time Is NOW.

We must speak in loud voices to every single Disability Organization in America, every single one, until we have established an understanding and legislation related to equal rights for People with Disabilities in America.

If the rapid slide towards continued abuse of People with Disabilities in this nation continues I fear we will be thrust aside as nothing more than human garbage.

Author Credentials: Thomas C. Weiss is a researcher and editor for Disabled World. Thomas attended college and university courses earning a Masters, Bachelors and two Associate degrees, as well as pursing Disability Studies. As a CNA Thomas has providing care for people with all forms of disabilities. Explore Thomas' complete biography for comprehensive insights into his background, expertise, and accomplishments.