By Cyndi Jones, Publisher
When I wrote an editorial about the FDR Memorial over two years ago, the situation seemed hopeless. The memorial was too far along and the Washingtonians were dead set against showing Franklin Delano Roosevelt's disability.
But some things take on a life of their own. Momentum picked up, thanks to the efforts of the folks at the National Organization on Disability, Alan Reich, Mike Deland, and Jim Dickson. John Hockenberry picked up the story on MSNBC's Internight. And from there the story went everywhere.
People with disabilities started feeling proud of their heritage, and of what people with disabilities can accomplish. Proud of FDR as a member of our community and proud to acknowledge that he is the only President who will ever be elected to four terms of office.
Of all the issues that are critical to the disability community, why did the FDR Memorial ignite us? He was one of us, and yet the Memorial wasn't going to acknowledge this. We were still invisible. If we didn't win this battle of how FDR was portrayed, years from now no one would remember that one of the greatest Presidents who served this country through a tremendously difficult time, did so from his wheelchair.
He knew how to get the job done, even with the obstacles in his personal life.
At the eleventh hour, Senator Inouye introduced a bill in the Senate at the behest of President Clinton to have the FDR memorial show FDR with his disability.
I am always amazed at our accomplishments when our community pulls together with purpose and unity. Together we are one of the strongest constituencies in the United States, but individually, we are weak.
I was also reminded of this a few weeks ago when we were at The Ultimate Challenge Track and Field Invitational, an international competition for amputees. (See "News and Commentary") A woman was there trying to generate support for better funding for prosthetic devices. She didn't need to sell us, we know prosthetics are grossly underfunded by insurance carriers. But then she said a strange thing. She said, "Amputees are such a small group." Yes, I agreed. Each type of disability constitutes a small group.
It is only in coming together that we achieve power. We have seen this over and over. It was our unity that got the Section 504 regulations signed in 1977. It was our unity that got the IDEA passed. It was our unity that won us the ADA. Now it is our unity that will preserve the truth of how FDR will be remembered.
However, this victory is not yet complete. Many disability leaders worry that the newly promised representation of FDR with his disability will be inconsequential in comparison to the scope of the seven acre memorial. We cannot relax until a significant free-standing statue of FDR in his wheelchair has been commissioned and is installed.
It is wonderful when victories happen. But all too soon we forget the lesson and power of our coming together. I wonder why we can't continue to pull together for all the other issues that are important to people with disabilities?
Cyndi Jones is Publisher of MAINSTREAM.
Back to the MAINSTREAM Home Page