In this paper the writer, Michelle Powers, will be critiquing American Disabilities Act (ADA) and Affirmative Action. The ADA’s role in society is to prohibit discrimination against a person with a mental or physical disability in regard to public services, telecommunications, employment, and transportation. (American Disability Act, 2009)
Affirmative Action is a set of policies and initiatives created to eliminate discrimination based on color, religion, race, sex, and national origin. (National Organization for Women, 2009) Ms. Powers will discuss how Affirmative Action and the ADA are helpful in promoting a nonbiased society but will demonstrate the large gaps in both initiatives.
The ADA was designed to foster an environment that allows people with a disability to function, participate, and contribute to society, but the ADA contains several gaps. (American Disability Act, 2009) For example, older buildings may be grandfathered in, allowing society to ignore ADA compliance policies. Offering accessibility for clients is a large obstacle in New Hampshire for several nonprofit organizations. The older buildings limit clients, staff, and the effectiveness of RCA’s services in the community. The ADA has had positive effects in communities but across the Nation states like NH, the ADA has failed miserably. When nonprofits can’t provide services to one of the most vulnerable populations in society, it seems that the ADA works against people with disabilities not for them.
The ADA was designed to allow people with disabilities to contribute to society and one way of contributing is through employment. Employees are required to make reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities but the term reasonable is a vague term. An employer with less than 100 employees has even a less of an obligation to adhere to the ADA and is not required to adhere to the Family Medical Leave Act. If a person with a disability needs a significant amount of time-off and works for an employer with less than 100 employees, that person with the disability may lose his or her job! (National Organization for Women, 2009)
Affirmative Action was designed to foster an environment where people would be treated equally and discrimination would be eliminated. Affirmative Action is the bridge between changing the laws and changing the culture” (National Organization for Women, 2009). Women are allowed in the workplace, carry positions of high power, and the most amazing example of all is the citizens of the United States elected the first black President in history, but Affirmative Action still has a lot to be desired. Seventy percent of schools are not in compliance with Title IX, the federal equal education opportunity law. Women on average make 26 cents less than a Caucasian male, African women make 37 cents less, and Latina women earn 43 cents less. With Affirmative Action in place Caucasian males still hold 95-97% of all corporate jobs. Those figures clearly demonstrate the need for further action and awareness of such disparities. (National Organization for Women, 2009)
“When Affirmative Action opens up education, employment, and business, families and communities have greater economic security” (National Organization for Women, 2009). The ADA is important because one out of every five Americans is disabled in the United States, about 54 million people! (American Disability Act, 2009) Both Affirmative Action and the ADA serve a large population in the United States and without these initiatives millions of Americans would fall between the cracks. The ADA and Affirmative Action have large gaps in policies, laws, and procedures. The ADA and Affirmative Action need to continue to work on closing those caps so that every American in the United States is treated equally and given the same opportunities. Ms. Powers has discussed only a few of the gaps in the ADA and Affirmative Action, there are several more.
The supporters of the ADA and Affirmative Action have a great deal of work ahead of them but Americans need to understand that society cannot erase hundreds of years of prejudices with laws, there has to be a shift in America’s culture. “Culture change is difficult and time consuming because “culture” is rooted in the collective history of an organization, and because so much of it is below the surface of awareness” (National Organization for Women, 2009). The first part of change is openly discussing issues and Ms. Powers intends starting that conversation with this paper.
References
American Disability Act. (2009). Information and Technical Assistance on the
American Disabilities Act. Retrieved May 23, 2009, from www.ada.gov
National Organization for Women. (2009). NOW and Affirmative Action.
Retrieved May 23, 2009, from www.now.org
