More than 25 years ago America's leading Republican talked about disability like this.
Let the shameful wall of exclusion
finally come tumbling down.
And now America's leading Republican is talking about disability like this.
You gotta see this guy.
Uh, I don't know what I said.
I don't remember.
How did that make
It made me feel invisible.
Anyone can make fun of me and get away with it.
When Donald Trump insulted other identity groups like women, Mexicans, and African Americans
TV news rightfully sought to hear from those voices.
And when Donald Trump mocked a reporter with a disability
I don't remember!
Twice.
By a guy that can't buy a pair of pants, I get called names?
The news put on lots of able-bodied people with no apparent disability to
talk about how people with a disability should feel.
it wouldn't be fair to just single out TV news.
In fact it would be totally inaccurate to do so
because generally speaking there is a dearth
of people living with a disability
whether it's in television or film
Scholar and disability activist Victor Pineda
believes the issue runs much deeper than this
We are visible if you're willing to look.
And I think that we represent every constituency group.
We are old, we are young.
We are black, white, Hispanic, Asian.
We are men, women, transgender.
We are part of every community.
And all we want is an equal opportunity to express ourselves and contribute our talents.
The fundamental point about visibility is that
we're here, we matter,
and we do have a stake in this election.
But despite this lack of representation
there's a certain kind of invisibility that goes with disability.
For instance, when Hillary Clinton's Super PAC
tried to take advantage of Donald Trump's
disrespect for people living with a disability
their ad didn't even feature the voice of a person with a disability at all.
So since we don't often hear or see people with disabilities
their issues never get addressed in the media
and then we don't press candidates on it
and then they don't include it in their political platforms
and then it leads to more invisibility and then they're even less accountable...
-Whoa, whoa, whoa Liz.
-So, what are we going to do about it?
What are we gonna do about it?
You know what we're gonna do about it, Dean?
We're gonna go to f****** Pasadena.
What would be your message to the candidates?
There's so much power in being disabled.
The little hurdles that we go over, they're humongous.
We are part of the future
and if that's the world that they create, you know, then we should be first in line.
Another topic would be employment, and you know, ending sub-minimum wages
and making sure that everybody is paid equally and
that employment opportunities are not segregated.
The average American makes about $40,000 a year so we don't have a lot of income.
So we have to watch every cent we have.
I do think that some candidates do more for disability than other candidates.
But, I mean, they can say all they want what we really want is action.
I want to say to all the presidential candidates: good luck.
I wish you the very best.
Whoever wins I know you're going to make the country much better.
We're differently abled but very capable.
So why should we all care about this?
Because the first President Bush was right
when he signed the Americans with Disabilities Act and said
that America will never be a prosperous nation
until all within it prosper.
Community organizer, Ted Jackson, made the point that
Americans living with a disability make up a huge voting block
that no candidate has tapped into yet.
It's open to either party.
Who's going to be taking those sharp moves and
making their campaigns accessible for people.
Who's talking about pro-disability policy and engaging people with disabilities
in the creation of that policy.
Because that's the candidate, that's the party that's going to lock in this voting block.
So although it would be easy to point the finger
to politicians or the media
for countless people living in this country this isn't a Republican or a Democratic issue,
it's an American issue.