Less Than Whole Naomi
Lattanzi
(alt.
title: Section 504)
Pitch: “We will not tolerate a
society that sees us as less than whole people.” Before the disability rights
movement in the 1960s and 70s, people with disabilities were barred from fully
participating in many areas of society—jobs, universities, even public
education facilities were at best segregated. When the President broke his
promise to sign into law anti-discrimination policy for disabled people,
protestors launched one of the largest disabled rights demonstrations in
history. For 28 days, 150 people with disabilities staged a sit-in for their
right to be treated as human beings. Today, the results of their bravery can be
seen on every college campus, bus stop and city block throughout the country.
Background:
In
the early 1800s, and well into the 1900s, people with disabilities were stereotypically
viewed as pathetic, subhuman beings unable to take care of themselves or lead
“full lives.” This attitude was reflected in the government’s lack of any laws
protecting the rights of disabled people. In the 1960s and ‘70s, paralleling
other movements for civil rights, grassroots groups of people with disabilities
lobbied for laws protecting their right to accessible education, jobs, and
living situations. Section 504 was a law intended to stop discrimination based
on disability, but President Jimmy Carter initially refused to sign it with all
the original provisions. Grassroots organizations across the country protested
the watering down of Section 504. Protestors who “sat-in” San Francisco endured
squalid living conditions and sleepless nights for nearly a month in order to
ensure that everyone in America, no matter what their physical, mental,
emotional or social differences, would be able to access a better standard of
life.
Act I
Through
the eyes of the main characters, we see the early days of the disability rights
movement—and why it was so necessary.
Judith Heumann, born to a Jewish family in
Philadelphia, is diagnosed with polio at a young age. She is initially
segregated in schools from children without disabilities, but in high school she is
placed in unsegregated classes. The other students are not prepared to face
her, and although they interact in class, there is a clear divide outside the
classroom. The night of her graduation, her principal refuses to let her
participate because he doesn't want her to be carried to the stage in her
wheelchair. After discussing with her parents, he allows her to participate,
but she is shaken by the experience.
Kitty Cone, whose father served two
stints in the army, “walked funny” as a kid. She was initially diagnosed with
cerebral palsy, and through her father’s insurance was treated in army
hospitals. As a kid, she was “stripped naked in front of a classroom full of
medical personnel” while they discussed what her disability might be. She was
given walking casts to wear all the time. Since her family had an unofficial
policy to never complain of pain or painful feelings, she accepted her
disability and tried not to dwell on negative emotions. When finally diagnosed
with muscular dystrophy at age 15, she “seemed a little subdued for a day or
two, and then now she’s back to normal and trying to figure out how to get out
of doing her algebra homework”—recorded in a letter from her aunt.
Ed Roberts and his entire family
contract polio when he is 14. He is the only one who does not fully recover.
The doctor predicts that he will be a vegetable. Reflecting later, he decides
“if I’m a vegetable, I’m going to be an artichoke, prickly on the outside, with
a big heart in the middle.” Initially living on an iron lung, he used
respirators to breathe and also learned to “frog breathe” on his own to survive
long airplane flights, river rafting, places he couldn’t bring his respirator.
Although he was accepted to UC Berkeley, the college would not initially let
him attend because “his iron lung would not fit in a dorm room.” Later, he and
several other severely disabled students managed to attend. They dubbed
themselves “the rolling quads.”
Presidential
candidate Jimmy Carter criticizes
President Gerald Ford for failing to uphold the 1973 law intended to protect
people with disabilities from discrimination. He promises to uphold the law
(Section 504) before his election. It is a time of great hope for American
people with disabilities.
Plot Point 1: Newly elected President Jimmy Carter goes back on his word, and
attempts to change Section 504 and weaken its language, weakening the promised
protections for people with disabilities. Protests explode across the country,
with marches and sit-ins in different cities. People in wheelchairs chain
themselves to the front of government buildings, to each others’ bodies, are
arrested as they crawl towards the front doors.
Act II
A group of protestors begin to occupy the
Health Education and Welfare building in San Francisco in a “sit-in” protest.
75 people originally begin the sit-in, with numbers swelling to 150 as their
vigil continues.
Hygiene
is bad and accessibility to the building is worse. The protestors rely on Black Panther members outside the
building who prepare two hot meals a day. Although the members are tired,
dirty, barely able to sleep in the rough conditions, there is an atmosphere of
hope and energy within the building. They hold daily meetings to go over why
they are protesting, bolstering morale. Sometimes they sing.
Midpoint: 10 days in. The vigil is
beginning to wear on the protestors, physically and emotionally. Many have
crabs from the lack of hygiene. Although they believe in what they are doing,
it’s inevitable that some are disheartened by their circumstances. Some may
even wish to leave the sit-in, but of course they can’t leave under their own
power—the building has no elevators. Ed
Roberts gives a speech to motivate the protestors. “We, who are considered
the weakest, the most helpless people in our society, are the strongest and
will not tolerate segregation, will not tolerate a society which sees us as
less than whole people.”
Plot Point 2: Members of Congress arrive
in San Francisco to hold a press conference with the demonstrators. After their
press conference, in which 150 dirty, exhausted disabled people steam-rollered
congressmen with informed, well-thought-out opinions, the discussion moved to
New York. In April 1977, Section 504 was passed with the original stipulations.
Act III
After
the passing of Section 504, the protestors go their separate ways, but continue
to work for greater rights for their community.
Judith
Heumann is part of an organization to develop the IDEA (Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act) statute, working closely with the government. She
is occasionally frustrated with the ignorance of those she negotiates with—they
ask if she can make it to their offices across the street, and visit her in her
office to negotiate. As higher-ranking officials, she should be the one to go
to their offices. (source calisphere interview)
Kitty Cone works briefly at a center
devoted to putting the policies of Section 504 into action and making
transportation more accessible. She faces a lot of bureaucratic obstruction,
lack of resources for the project, and drama within the organization, but
manages to lobby for accessible buses.
Ed Roberts becomes the first disabled
person to win a John D. and Catherine MacArthur fellowship, and founds the
World Institute on Disability, a research and policy organization dedicated to
“looking at issues through the lens of the disability experience.” Its crowning
achievement was the inclusion of in-home service options in Medicaid, so that
people with disabilities could be supported within their own homes.
Cast of Characters: Kitty Cone, Judith Heumann, Ed
Roberts, Black Panther members, President Jimmy Carter, possible composite
characters
Major Turning Points: Jimmy Carter’s failed
promise, the squalor of the building, Ed Roberts’s speech, the passing of
Section 504
Resources:
Reflections:
One
of the strongest points about this story is that it’s one that is relatively
unknown—most people are somewhat aware of the accommodations provided by
schools and in public areas, but have no idea of the struggle required to win
these concessions from the government. Our history books detail the Civil
Rights Movement with focuses on women’s groups, racial groups, voting rights,
but rarely mention this intersectional movement for the rights of disabled
people. Also, while there are recently more disabled characters visible within
the graphic novel genre, they tend to be little more than tropes—the “evil”
disabled person, the inspirational story, own worst enemy, etc.
This
will be a visually interesting project because we can mess with panels,
structures, story-boards to try and express human limitation. It will be
interesting to think of ways to represent the ways American society segregated
and dehumanized (and in some ways continues to dehumanize) people with
disabilities.
One
challenge I foresee with this story is how to sensitively portray these
characters without trying to idealize them or make their disabilities the main
part of their personality. In my research for this pitch, I found websites with
incredibly detailed interviews of three of the main figures for this movement,
so hopefully in reading their stories, hearing their voices, we can get a
better idea of how to best represent their struggles.
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