Separate but Equal

I know the following is a bit of a rant but I think it's true!

There is a tem in the disability movement,” Separate but equal”. “separate but equal” means what every is offered is the same as something else but the item, event or desired result is the same but offered separately to the individual or class wishing for the specific item, event or result. This term is borrowed from the time of the Civil rights movement when the American blacks was trying to rid this country of the blight of racial segregation. “Separate but equal” was the result of “Jim Crow” legislation following the Civil war and was maintained up to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. True, the fifties brought the Famous Brown versus the Board of Education, which heralded in the opportunity for a fair equal and education for all Americans but the legislation of 1964, supposedly leveled the “playing field” for all Americans.

People with disabilities watched and waited form their time to come, which eventually did with the passage Section 504 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a national law that protects qualified individuals from discrimination based on their disability. Section 504 too is basically an education act which paved the way for the passage of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities( ADA). People with disabilities became a protected class under the law. Though the ADA is loaded with loopholes the ADA is a law, and on a good day enforceable!

So why have people with disabilities allowed themselves to slide back into the days of Jim Crow and a separate but equal mentality? I have just suffered through another Olympiad, young, beautiful bodies of every color on Earth, grunting, puffing, diving and lifting in prime-time and all day on the weekends. I watched my fair share basically so my wife, who genuinely enjoys the game, did not have to be an Olympics widow. But by day 5, I could not take it any longer and descended to the bedroom television to find any other programming free of sport. I have noticed though as the Olympics wind down, NBC has started airing “teasers” for the Para-Olympics slated to begin September 6, 2008. Two weeks after the “real” Olympic flame has been doused. It’s not like NBC or other major network is going to carry coverage, if folks ARE interested in seeing the games thy are going to have to have Cable at least or a computer with a broad band hook up. But the coverage of the international pare Olympic games is another rant completely.

Why have athletes with disabilities settled for separate but equal in this time of inclusion?

I worked the 2002 Olympic AND the Para Olympic games in Salt Lake City. Both are big deals. Lots of color, lots of action, lots of pretty people from just about everywhere in the world-the Para Olympic venues are the very exact venues as the Olympic venues, right down to the memorabilia hawkers. It’s kind of eerie, a weird de je vu like, “ didn’t we just do this two weeks ago?” Are these athlete so desperate for their moment on international stage they’ll accept second best—I think this acceptance of second best is counter to the athlete’s need to be the Best in the world and not accept anything else.

Am I the only person with a disability who has not wondered why aren’t these jock and jockets with disabilities part of the “Big Show”? Why are they included with their able-bodied brothers and sister? The answer cannot be money, will actually it is, but there are millions of dollars being spent on the Para Olympic games, it could be political but I think not—I THINK IT’S FLAT OUT SEGERATION! There I have said the “S” word. Separate but equal, Jim Crow. And, we, people with disabilities, have allowed this mockery to happen. We who fought for education, access to restaurants and the movies and a seat on the bus let it slip away for a trip to Beijing and the anonymity of the Para-Olympics.