As a wheelchair-using gimp girl, I sometimes hear folks
say the reason a place is not accessible is because it’s historic. Statements
like “It’s one of those older buildings constructed under standards in force
years ago.”
What they mean is it was built back when gimps were
safely tucked away in institutions or kept hidden in the back bedrooms of
family homes. You know, like the simpler, gentler era depicted in Norman
Rockwell’s art: a time when families sat down together every night at the
dinner table and the worst trouble little boys got into was dipping girls’
pigtails in inkwells. Page through Rockwell’s illustrations in a book or online
and you’ll be hard-pressed to find gimps included in his rosy vision of an
America that never was and never will be.
Perhaps you’ve heard someone say that a building doesn’t
have to be accessible because it’s been “grandfathered.” When I hear that word,
at first I picture a kind, gentle older man who loves to go fishing and hands
out candy to his grandkids.
But then I remember it doesn’t mean that at all. It’s
really an excuse to avoid letting gimps in the door. And a pitiful excuse, at
that. The ADA is a civil rights law, not a building code. You can’t deny folks
their civil rights simply because you’ve been denying their rights for so long,
it’s magically okay to keep denying them. To follow that twisted logic would
mean allowing racially segregated lunch counters to remain segregated because
that’s how it’s always been.
Creating access in older buildings is often a matter of a
couple factors. Are the decision makers in charge truly committed to creating
an inclusive community and are the architects and engineers up to the task?
Take for example, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.
It’s one of the most celebrated art collections in the world. It includes masterpieces
by da Vinci, Michelangelo and Botticelli that will make you drunk with joy. And
it’s really, really old. It was completed in 1581 for Cosimo
I de' Medici, who was not exactly known for being a proponent of
disability rights. And yet, the Uffizi is exquisitely accessible to wheelchair
users, and proud of its touch tours for people with visual impairments. The
elevators and ramps are not big, ugly and awkward. They fit seamlessly into the
structure, never taking away from the beauty all around.
How
can this be? Shouldn’t they have told gimps, “Sorry, you’ll never see
Botticelli’s Primavera because, like,
the Uffizi is just too old. And, oh yeah, it’s grandfathered.”
Am I ever glad they didn’t. I’ll take Botticelli over Normal Rockwell
any day.
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