In this article:
As a nation, the two current national crises have created a unique point in time to reflect on the intersectionality of race, injustice, poverty and disability. Widespread recognition of historic and systemic racism has created a moment for deep reflection, in which we have a responsibility to increase our awareness of how BIPOC Americans with disabilities are even more impacted by systemic inequalities.
The current health and financial challenges of COVID-19 have further widened the economic disparities for this population. The overlay of disability and chronic health conditions brings to light a group of people that are the most vulnerable and adversely impacted by the complexities of being low-income, experiencing housing cost burdens and needing access to services – each of which can push individuals into more densely populated, low-income neighborhoods in large cities where they experience the compounding challenge of lack of adequate healthcare resources in lowand moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods.
The 30th anniversary of the signing into law of the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, 2020, created a unique point in time to reflect on the advances made and the challenges still ahead for people with disabilities. Despite meaningful gains in the removal of physical and communication barriers to full community participation for over 50 million Americans with disabilities, there are strikingly persistent disparities in employment, income production and net worth between people with and without disabilities.
Those disparities remain even larger for BIPOC Americans with disabilities. As we take responsibility for increasing awareness of the problems faced by BIPOC Americans with disabilities, we also offer select opportunities to positively impact the financial inclusion and stability of this most vulnerable population.
As we have identified, the most financially vulnerable population in America is the group of individuals that live at the intersection of disability, race and ethnicity. The simultaneous experiences of discrimination and lack of access to economic opportunity, due to racism and ableism, 13 deserves urgent attention by the financial community, government, faith-based communities, community development organizations and media as leaders begin to design and implement the post-COVID-19 path to economic recovery. As President George H. W. Bush stated in his remarks 30 years ago at the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, “Together, we must remove the physical barriers we have created and the social barriers that we have accepted. For ours will never be a truly prosperous nation until all within it prosper.”
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