Outrage struck after a debate for Denver’s District 10 City Council when city councilman Chris Hinds, who has been paralyzed from the chest down, was forced to hoist himself onto a debate stage without proper wheelchair accommodations.
Though many people with disabilities, advocates for disabled people and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 have expressed how important it is to receive accommodations, this is bizarrely still not honored all of the time, even today.
Hinds has been using his wheelchair since 2008 after he became paralyzed from the chest down from a cycling accident. This information was not relayed to the organizers at Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, who sponsored the event without wheelchair accessibility.
Instead of lifting the 400-pound wheelchair, along with the 200-pound councilman, organizers suggested that Hinds get himself onto the stage by attempting to climb onto the stage. In front of a crowd of about 100 people, and alongside his three opponents, Hinds lifted himself onto the stage, which was captured on video.
“I’m thinking, ‘I look like a circus monkey. I am a circus monkey and all these folks who are here to determine who their next City Council member is – they see me just floundering,” Hinds said.
Hinds said he felt obligated to go along with this suggestion, afraid of the repercussions if he had skipped this debate, which would have led to his forfeit of campaign donations matched through the Fair Elections Fund. Though Hinds still performed, he states that he barely even recalls his debate, completely distracted by the embarrassment of the inconsiderate treatment he had just undergone.
It is shocking and inhumane that Hinds was expected to put himself through this traumatic experience. Wheelchair accommodations should have been available, as they were necessary for this event. As if the lack of wheelchair accessibility was not already bad enough, Hinds was then humiliated even further through the organizers’ suggestions.
Malik Robinson, the executive director of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance released a statement, expressing his apologies for the incident, stating that it served as “an important and visceral reminder that accessibility, in many forms, is crucial for all members of our community.”
Even though an apology was released, this does not address how ridiculous it is that this event occurred in the first place. It has been three decades since Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, but even a city councilman with disabilities isn’t receiving respect. This is indicative of the treatment of people with disabilities as a whole, which needs to change.
The ADA is a civil rights act that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, but disabled people are still commonly forgotten about, and aren’t given the treatment they deserve. Oftentimes, damage control is then done after the fact through the release of apology statements.
In this case, apologies are not enough. Change needs to be made beneath the surface to prevent something like this from happening in the future altogether. Since it hasn’t been made a top concern, the ADA has regretfully fallen through the cracks.
