Let Freedom Ring!
It's Sunday night and fourth of July weekend here in DC is coming to a close. It was awesome! I have never been more in awe of this nation than I was sitting in front of the Lincoln Memorial and watching fireworks go off over the Washington Monument. I thought about this nation's founding, and what people risked to create it. I thought about how the founders would have been hanged if they had failed. I thought about the bloody history of this nation, and the battles fought and won to realize the promise of a nation where all people are created equal. I thought about how far we've come, and how far we still have to go. Most of all though, I thought about freedom, and how lucky I am to have it.
I sat in front of the Lincoln Memorial and thought about how lucky I am to live in a nation where I have rights. I have the right to an education. I have the right to express my opinion, whether or not it's a popular one. I have the right to vote. I have the right to live my life. I am so lucky to live in a country where I have those things, even if it isn't always realized as fully as it should be. I am so lucky to live in a country where I have recourse when my rights are denied. I am so lucky to live in a country where I can use my voice to defend myself without real fear of retaliation. I am so lucky to live in a country where laws exist that guarantee me the same rights as other people. These things may not always be put into practice as well as they should be, but they exist, and in this nation, I have every right to keep on fighting for their full realization, I am so grateful for that.
I started thinking about how there are parts of the world where my disability would mean I couldn't go to school. There are parts of the world where my disability would mean that I was socially and politically nonexistent in my nation. There are parts of the world where my disability would mean that my family were outcasts with no hope for social advancement. There are parts of the world where my disability would mean that I would be sent away. This is the reality for so many people in other parts of the world, and this is why it's so important to ratify the CRPD.
The CRPD, or the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is a UN treaty largely based around the ADA that protects the rights of people with disabilities throughout the world. It is a treaty that would help further realize equality for disabled people across the world. It is a treaty that would help bring the protections afforded by the ADA to countries where these protections do not exist. It is a treaty that the United States has not yet ratified.
Ratification of the CRPD would not change any laws in the United States. If the United States ratified the CRPD disabled people would still have the same rights that they do now, no more no less. So why then is ratification so important? Until the United States ratifies the CRPD, we do not have a seat at the table for conversations about implementation. We pride ourselves in the ADA, we like to think of it as the gold standard, and yet until we ratify the CRPD, we have no standing to share the lessons we've learned with the rest of the world. If we really know best, wouldn't we want to share that knowledge with everybody else?
Furthermore, ratification says that we think this issue is important. Ratification of the treaty says to the rest of the world that we think all disabled people deserve the same rights and privileges as disabled people living in the United States of America. If we don't ratify the treaty we are telling the world that we are okay with the fact that disabled people are treated as second-class citizens, or even nonpersons in some parts of the world. If we don't ratify the treaty, we are telling our disabled citizens that we don't care about their rights outside of our country's borders. If we don't ratify the treaty, we are telling the rest of the world that disability rights aren't really a big deal. The treaty is based around our laws, if we are unwilling to ratify it, we're telling the rest of the world that we don't really believe in those laws.
Ratification is so important because it signifies that we are committed to justice and freedom the world over. I am so lucky to live in a country where I have the same basic rights as everybody else, but I don't think that should end at our borders. If our nation really believes that all people are created equal, we should be willing to stand by that on an international stage. We should be willing to stand by the words of our founders for the whole world to see. Ratify the CRPD!
