For Immediate Release: December 30, 2024
Contact: Jess Davidson, jdavidson@aapd.com; 202-465-5528
WASHINGTON – Yesterday, the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, died at 100 years old. The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) released the following statement:
AAPD is deeply saddened by President Jimmy Carter’s passing. President Carter was a true champion of civil and human rights, and the programs and regulations he enacted as President helped establish that disability rights are civil rights in the United States.
“President Carter established himself early on as a supporter of disability rights as a candidate in his 1976 presidential campaign. Once elected, President Carter created the Department of Education, which opened up educational opportunities for disabled people who need accommodations or supports and services to attend school. He also met the demands of disability rights activists by signing Section 504 into law, advocated for racial equity and fair and free elections, advanced major progress in global public health, and much more. His commitment to the disability community extended well beyond his time in office – in 2023, AAPD and the Carter Center collaborated on an elections accessibility training and earlier this year, AAPD collaborated with The Carter Center on our 2024 Polling Place Accessibility Audits. President Carter was a true humanitarian, and our country and world are better for his commitment to human and civil rights,” said Maria Town, AAPD President and CEO.
In 1977, disabled activists pressured Carter’s Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) to finalize regulations that would implement Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act was the first major disability rights legislation written into American law. The disability community had waited years for this legislation to be implemented. The Rehabilitation Act was passed in 1974 under Richard Nixon, but both the Nixon and the subsequent Ford administrations stalled the finalization of the disability rights regulations of the law, Section 504, due to concerns about costs of implementation and enforcement. Despite his support for the finalization of the Section 504 regulations during his campaign, once in office, President Carter charged newly appointed Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph Califano to study the proposed regulation. To conduct this study of the regulation, Secretary Califano created a task force that included no representation from the disability community. As disabled Americans waited for the finalization of the regulation, they were denied equal access to federally funded programs and services.
Activists responded to the delays from the Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations with what is known today as the “504 Sit-Ins.” Disabled activists occupied Health, Education, and Welfare offices across the country and occupied the San Fransico HEW building for 26 days, the longest-ever occupation of a federal building. The direct action was successful and ended once HEW Secretary Califano signed the 504 regulations into law.
“It is certainly unusual to start as the subject of a community’s historic protest and then go on to collaborate with and advocate for that community,” said Maria Town, AAPD President and CEO. “But that is how President Carter’s legacy on disability began. Until Jimmy Carter became President, the disability community struggled to get the White House to take our concerns seriously, but President Carter engaged the disability community in meaningful, historic ways throughout his term. President Carter’s interest in and commitment to disability rights helped lay the groundwork for the ADA to eventually be signed into law in 1990. I am grateful for his leadership and spirit of service to his fellow humans.”
Less than one month after the 504 Sit-Ins ended, President Carter hosted the first-ever White House Conference on Handicapped Individuals in May 1977. In his speech at the conference, President Carter declared, as he had in 1971 about racial discrimination, “The time for discrimination against the handicapped in the United States is over.” President Carter’s speech also criticized segregation and the structural ableism faced by the disability community.
The following year, in 1978, President Carter signed a new Title IV of the Rehabilitation Act into law, which established an advisory council within HEW called the National Council on the Handicapped, which was the original name of what is now known as the National Council on Disability (NCD). NCD’s report Toward Independence directly influenced the drafting and content of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and NCD continues to play a significant role in shaping disability policy today.
Before Jimmy Carter was elected governor of Georgia, his beloved wife, First Lady Roslyn Carter, became deeply committed to disability rights after President Carter’s cousin was institutionalized for a mental health disability. Together, President Carter and Mrs. Carter founded the Carter Center in 1982. Through their work at the Carter Center, together they led remarkable lives of service focused on improving global health, preventing and resolving conflicts, promoting democracy and peace, and alleviating suffering around the world.
AAPD sends our heartfelt condolences to the Carter family and to Carter Center staff past and present. In lieu of flowers, President Carter requested that those wishing to honor his memory do so through acts of service to humanity and contributions to The Carter Center. You can visit www.jimmycartertribute.org to sign a condolence book and learn more about President Carter’s life and opportunities for the public to participate in funeral services.