When I look at Mr. Obama, I see a person Americans question. I see a guy who has a great amount of charisma, the ability to speak if he chooses to do so and plan for it, but who uses the, ‘crutch,’ of a teleprompter far more than he should. There is much to say about Mr. Obama, and a lot of it has already been presented to America through the media. One thing is certain; Mr. Obama desires to be a historic President more than anything.

I am a biracial person with disabilities. I am also a disabled veteran. In my opinion, if Mr. Obama truly desires to be a historic President, the one thing he could do that would make history without any doubt is to pass comprehensive Disability rights legislation that places this nation’s largest minority population - People with Disabilities - on an equal basis with our fellow American citizens.

No - the ADA has not achieved equal rights for people with disabilities in America, I am sorry to say. Buildings beyond a certain age are not required to comply with the ADA, leaving vast numbers of buildings inaccessible to people with disabilities. The amount of prejudice, bigotry, stigma, hate and hate crimes, and exclusion experienced by people with disabilities in America every single day is criminal. We are treated as less than second class citizens in so many instances that attempts to describe them all would find me attempting to write a thesis.

At this time in America there is not one single member of Congress or the Senate, that I am aware of, who has declared an ADA-defined disability with any sense of pride. Not one. In other words, this nation’s largest minority population does not have a single representative in high office in America. The person Mr. Obama appointed as the representative of every person with a disability in America, Mr. Kareem Dale, seems to have dropped off of the face of the Earth. The Disability Issues page on the White House Website went for months without an update; when it finally was updated, the content was meager at best, it has stagnated since that time.

People with disabilities in America experience the highest rate of unemployment of any population in America. The rate of unemployment we experience is so high, in fact, that such a rate among nondisabled members of society would find them rioting in the streets. The response on the part of this administration has been to hold hiring events for government jobs that may not exist in six months, and to present programs with cute little sayings. Representatives, ‘cook,’ for, ‘charity.’

Mr. Obama signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, didn’t he? Well…no; actually - he did not. Mr. Obama sent someone else to sign it, he was apparently too busy to recognize this nation’s largest minority population with any level of respect; not surprising since he cannot even seem to say the words, ‘People with Disabilities.’ Both Mr. Obama and Rahm Emanuel have appeared on National Television presenting bigoted statements against people with disabilities as well. Janet Napolitano, another member of the Obama administration, has declared every single veteran of the United States of America’s Armed Forces, to include Veterans with Disabilities, to be, “Potential Domestic Terrorist Threats.”

I have every reason to believe this administration is incapable of producing such a truly historic piece of legislation as comprehensive Disability Rights legislation would be. Such legislation would reverse the history of this nation’s practice of the medical and charity models of disability, instead replacing it with a social model. Mr. Obama and the Democrats in office are incapable of being truly historic, in my opinion. So are the Republicans in office - they don’t have it within them to be that realistic, historic, kind, compassionate or caring towards People with Disabilities in America.

As I consider the utter farce *any* administration in this nation comprises until it presents comprehensive Disability Rights Legislation to America’s largest minority population, I also ponder the fact that all of the people with disabilities who *are* working also pay taxes. They are doing so without any representation in high office in America. The Republicans have done nothing to rectify this situation; neither have the Democrats. Instead, people with disabilities are presented with mollifying, token programs and charity cookoffs.

Americans with Disabilities DEMAND Comprehensive Equal Rights Legislation. Americans with Disabilities DEMAND the establishment of a Social Model of Disability. Americans with Disabilities DEMAND Equality.

As a person with a disability and a disabled veteran, I don’t care whether it is a Democrat or a Republican that pursues Comprehensive Equal Rights Legislation for People with Disabilities - as long as it gets done. If Mr. Obama wants to be a historic President, he has a prime opportunity to do so. Let’s see if he is worth anything.