The ADA and Rand Paul

Mr. Rand Paul, a candidate for office in America and a believer in extreme views of Constitutional perceptions, has first stated that the Americans with Disabilities Act should be repealed and then backpedaled in regards to the statement. Mr. Rand Paul also holds some rather interesting perceptions concerning the Civil Rights Act.

The premise Mr. Rand Paul is working with is one of minimalist government intervention in the lives of citizens in America, one the Libertarian Party holds dear. Smaller government is something that many Americans can relate to and appreciate, which is how Rand Paul has gotten so far in the political realm. As a citizen of this nation, I can certainly understand why a candidate who presents themselves as someone who supports the Constitution, smaller government, and decreased governmental interference in my life is appealing.

Bear in mind that like so very many of my fellow Americans, I am not ignorant of the history of this nation. Mr. Rand Paul is apparently not either, yet has chosen his desire to present Libertarian values over Humanitarian ones, something I find to be unacceptable. Rand Paul seems to actually believe that today's America, with greater than 300+ million people, is capable of handling its interactions on a location by location basis. I find this to be truly ignorant.

People with disabilities in America, despite the signing of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the administration in office, still do not have equal rights with our fellow citizens in America. The Americans with Disabilities Act, even twenty years after it was enacted, has yet to find the people with disabilities in this nation with access to even some public buildings, let alone the equal rights I have mentioned. The Democrat Party has promised to pursue the, “True Intention of the ADA,” and I am in great anticipation of this event.

The desires of Rand Paul; however, would leave every single American with a Disability struggling to deal with the very same levels of prejudice, stigma, hate, bias, and bigotry that were present in this nation prior to the signing and enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act that Mr. Rand Paul has spoken out against and would repeal, given the opportunity to do so. I do not find it so far-fetched to suggest that Rand Paul has alienated one out of every five people in America, as well as our family members and friends, with such a suggestion.

Rand Paul has also stated that in his reality, people with disabilities in America would find themselves isolated from their peers in the workplace, delegated to positions located only on the first floor or otherwise already accessible areas in favor of business owners. Mr. Rand Paul is of the belief that this makes good business sense. In other words, Rand Paul believes that isolation of people with disabilities is acceptable if it saves business owners money.

One of the more interesting perceptions held by many nondisabled persons in America is the notion that they are somehow immune to disability. Mr. Rand Paul seemingly does not understand that this nation's largest minority population, people with disabilities, is this nation's largest minority population for a reason. People with Disabilities comprise the only minority population in America that anyone can join at any time; Rand Paul would be wise to remember this fact. Unlike Rand Paul, disability does not discriminate on the basis of race, class, gender, or seeming popularity for example.

The Tea Party movement in this nation would be very wise to choose another representative than Rand Paul, in my opinion. He simply is not representative of greater than one-fifth of the citizens in this nation based upon a disability perspective alone. Mr. Rand Paul's perspectives in relation to the Civil Rights Act find him disparaged by yet other major minority populations in America, to say the very least.

Mr. Rand Paul – there is one extremely important thing you have forgotten. We are all People First, which means that you must approach the citizens of America from a Humanitarian perspective before you ever apply any other form of ideologies, philosophies, or other values to us. You have lost your sense of humanity, Mr. Rand Paul, and for this reason I find that I cannot support anything you are attempting to do.