Twenty-five years ago today, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law. The ADA was hailed by some as one of the most far-reaching civil rights laws that had ever been passed in our nation. Like most good fights, it took a long time to get the ADA passed. Advocates struggled for years to end discrimination and provide access to education, employment and public services for people with disabilities.
One dramatic protest in March of 1990 might have been the tipping point in the passage of the landmark legislation. The Capital Crawl was when hundreds of people with disabilities met at the steps to our nation's capital. Many got out of their wheelchairs and crawled to the top of the capital steps to show the obstacles they faced without comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation in place.
Today, we should honor those activists as the heroes they are and remember not to give up the pursuit of equality for all.
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