It has been nearly 50 years since disability activists in San Francisco took over a federal building for 28 days to force the signing of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. This legislation established the rights of people with disabilities against discrimination in programs receiving federal funds. By 1990, disability activists were literally crawling up the steps of the U.S. Capitol to demand civil rights legislation for disabled people. This resulted in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which celebrated its 31st anniversary in July 2021. Yet even with these laws’ protections, the lack of access and equity for people with disabilities—particularly those who are multiply marginalized—was put in sharp focus by their treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the coronavirus being indiscriminate, it has laid bare the inequities of the United States for all to witness. COVID-19 killed hundreds of thousands of Americans in part due to the vulnerability created through continued inequities in the distribution of resources and services, particularly in marginalized populations. Little has been done to make permanent changes to decrease these fatalities and better and more equitably protect against future pandemics and other crises for communities of color, disabled and older people, and low-income neighborhoods.
Despite the passage of several temporary measures to better support people in the United States—including increased economic…
