THANK YOU, Obama, for Referring to Americans with Disabilities

Andrea,

I gathered with a group of friends to watch the election results last night. I was helped up the three front stairs and remained watching from above the tv in the sunken den separated from everyone else. (“Visitability” was not in the architect’s vocabulary or cultural competence). When the President mentioned us by name all eyes turned to me with the shared glow of victory and – for a moment – the exclusion-through-design was erased at every level from the personal through the political.

You so eloquently put in words what so many of us feel. Thank YOU, Andrea.

President (elect) Obama & Vice-President (elect) Biden,

The issue of providing access to government officials and government offices for Americans who happen to be deaf, must not be allowed to fall into the category of a “special interest”. This issue is NOT a special interest, it is a fundamental issue that says, as an American, who happens to be deaf, I have a right to have full access to everything that MY elected officials do and say in the execution of their duties. This means, providing TDD/TTY phone numbers for Americans who happen to be deaf, like your campaign and the Democratic National Committee failed to do throughout the entire election.
This means making it law that anytime an elected official appears in public, be it on television or an online video, everything he/she says MUST be captioned, without exception.
This means that every government office and every elected official, be it Federal, State or Local, must provide access to their American constituents who happen to be deaf.
This means that anytime an elected official appears in public, a Sign Language Interpreter MUST be present. If you held a rally and then someone came in and picked out some people and said, “you can’t listen to this speech”, you would be outraged, and rightly so — and not providing access for Americans who happen to be deaf, is tantamount to just that.
This means that every single PUBLIC service message MUST be captioned for Americans who happen to be deaf. By way of example, there has been a huge campaign lately on behalf of the American Lung Association, to encourage people to get flu shots. The spots are never captioned. They will not answer me when I ask why. But I know why — it is a matter of not wanting to spend the money to caption these ads. If this message is important enough to spend that kind of money to get the message out to Americans, isn’t it also important enough to spend a little extra to get the message out to Americans who happen to be deaf?
Your election, to the highest office in the land, sends a new, clear message to every American child who happens to be Black, that they too can achieve anything they set their mind to. Let your election also send a new, clear message that American children, who happen to be Deaf, can also achieve anything they set their mind to.
You told Republicans, “I will be your President too.” I need to “see you say” that you will be MY President, too.
So today I am posing a question to you: “Will you be MY President too?”
I have asked my own elected officials about this issue many times, for many years now. I have received an answer from only one of them who said, “it’s not my problem”. I plan to ask you this question every single day of your administration, until you tell me that you will address this issue. There are new ads out now on television, encouraging people to ask their elected officials whatever questions they might have, and DEMAND an answer. (The ads are not captioned.) This is what I plan to do — demand an answer.
Let me reiterate by saying, this is not a special interest issue. I’m not asking you to caption my favorite movie. I am asking for total access to my government; the access we afford everyone else.
Your campaign and the DNC failed every American, who happens to be deaf, this election year by not providing even one TDD/TTY line for us to contact you. Election Protection failed us by not having even one TDD/TTY line, so Americans who happen to be deaf, could get help understanding their rights as voters.
Howard Dean and the Democratic National Committee failed us again. His first message to the American people after your election, was not captioned for Americans who happen to be deaf.
You know how disheartening it can be when you are excluded. Your lovely wife mentioned in an interview, how African-Americans have heard “no” for so long, they began to just expect that the answer would always be “no.” (I’m paraphrasing) So you can you imagine how Americans, who happen to be deaf, after standing in line for hours to vote for you – Americans like me, felt when they clicked on Howard Dean’s message and saw only his lips moving?
“There is not a liberal America and a conservative America – there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America – there’s the United States of America.”
But unfortunately, there is a “Hearing America” and a “Deaf America” Please help us end this disparity, forever, so that we too can join you in the task of moving America forward.
So I would like an answer to my question: “Will you be my President, too?”
Sincerely,
Samuel Hayes

This email was sent to my friends on 4th November 2hours after Obama’s acceptance Speech. Read it NOW. YES WE CAN make disability history!

Dear Friends (especially Americans with or without disabilities),

Today, i am tempted to write on Sen. Obama’s victory and its implication to Americans with Disabilities in particular and PWDs in general (world-wide). Many scholars and some politicians have been questioning why the international community was fondly behind Obama’s presidency. They argued that nothing different will happen outside America but when i tasked some of them to distinguish between Obama’s and McCain’s foreign policies they could not. Now, its a defining moment and the world is watching America. Early this morning at his victory celebration in Chicago, Obama was quoted as saying;

“If there is anyone out there who doubts that America is a place where anything is possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,”

“Young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled, Americans have sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of red states and blue states,” he said. “We have been and always will be the United States of America”.

Therefore, my attention has been paid to the second quotation – Its a hope for a reason and a reason for hope -Its about us – we, individuals with disabilities. When i read it, i cried tears of joy. It is not a secret, America is superpower… Its like a heart of the world. Meaning that a better America is a better world. A month ago, i was paid by Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington DC for their failure to fix TTY (phone for hearing impaired people) in my hotel room. This partly explains that a better America is a better place for everyone. Sen. Obama’s own foreign policies tells us all. You are also reminded that disability is one of the Obama’s top priorities – focusing on early intervention! You will also recall that Sen. Obama played a key role in the formulating and approval of various regulations relating to disability…

So what? Since Sen. (now President-Elect) Obama promised change which is already in America… Let AWDs tell him to change whatever disable them because they are Americans first – so that America can send a message to the World as he has stated it early today. Tell him that all his support nationally and internationally should be inclusive… Your voices counted in this historical elections so let us demand for change in our lives too. The most important thing is to watch closely to any changes and ensure that all the changes made are inclusive – No Person is to be Left Behind! The International community (beneficiaries of US government support) will also demand for change wherever its necessary and that change must not only be necessary but it must be sufficient to the needs of PWDs…

Just few points for today! Americans: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU A BILLION TIMES, THANK YOU for choosing Obama.

My best regards,

Ambrose Murangira,
International Disability Activist,
Kampala,
UGANDA