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Inequality and the ADA
After years of protesting the inequality, discrimination, and inconveniences disabled
people are subjected to, dozens of physically impaired people abandoned their wheelchairs,
crutches, and other mobility aids to crawl up the steps of the Capitol to compel Congress to pass
the legislation now known as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This legislation
attempts to amend inequality of opportunity for disabled people. Specifically, the ADAs website
states the law prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for persons with
disabilities in employment, State and local government services, public accommodations,
commercial facilities, and transportation.
The first title of the ADA tackles inequality of opportunity disabled people face in
employment. According to the ADA websites description of title I, it protects disabled people
from bias in various aspects of employment including job application procedures, hiring, firing,
advancement, compensation, and more. Advocates and activists for disabled people may be
satisfied understanding that the ADA simply aims to rectify inequality of opportunity, but certain
philosophers such as Gerald Cohen and Jean-Jacques Rousseau might delve further into the type
of inequality of opportunity the ADA seeks to correct.
In his book Why Not Socialism? Cohen conceives of different sources of inequality of
opportunity and three types of equality of opportunity that combat them. The first source or
inequality Cohen lists is inequality derived from social status. Formal and informal social
statuses segregate people based on their respective assigned labels like race, gender, or religion.
The next source of inequality stems from social circumstances or background. This refers to the
inequality that may materialize from differences in wealth or geographic location. Thirdly,
Cohen lists natural ability as a source of inequality. Cohen understands that some may have a
natural talent that brings them success, and doesnt take issue with this as long as it doesnt
interfere with equal equality of opportunity. The final source he lists is the inequality of
opportunity that emerges from individual choice.
Cohens three types of equality that correct these inequalities are bourgeois equality, left-
liberal equality, and socialist equality. Bourgeois equality removes the effects that social statuses
have on ones opportunity to live a pleasurable life. Although it removes labels that are harmful,
it doesnt provide any resolution to differences in uncontrollable social circumstances like a city
a child was born in, which may affect their quality of education.
Left-Liberal equality attempts to eliminate this issue by removing the effects of both
social status and social circumstances. An example of this type of equality is an education system
in which students are given an equally valuable education without prejudice towards their social
circumstances. This equality still does not satisfy Cohen.
Socialist equality addresses social status, social circumstances, and natural ability. This
means that profitable achievements must stem from different work ethics. For example, there is
an old fable about a hardworking ant and a foolish grasshopper. While the grasshopper plays his
fiddle, the ant works hard to collect food because he knows that winter is coming. When the
grasshopper starves, Cohen doesnt object because both the ant and grasshopper had equal
equality of opportunity to collect food.
In terms of Cohens categories, the ADA most clearly seeks to correct inequality of
opportunity that stems from natural ability. It attempts to remove the discrimination that disabled
people face when employers are selecting employees they believe have the ability to produce the
most profit. The ADA also tries to prevent employers from discriminating against disabled
people based on their reluctance to provide reasonable accommodation. This may also correct the
inequality that stems from social status. Employers are required to provide reasonable
accommodation for workers with a recognized disability. Employers may hesitate to hire a
person with the label disabled because they know they will have to use company funds to
accommodate the disabled person.
Cohen may assert that the ADA is promoting socialist equality because it is removing the
effects of natural ability, but Rousseau may argue that the type of inequality the ADA addresses
doesnt exactly fit perfectly into Cohens taxonomy. On page 18 of Why Not Socialism? Cohen
states When socialist equality prevails, differences in outcome reflect nothing but differences of
taste and choice, not differences in natural and social capacities and powers. This conflicts with
the complexity and reality of the causes of disabilities and the perception of natural abilities. In
The Discourse, Rousseau notes that among the differences that distinguish [people] several of
them pass for natural ones which are exclusively the work of habit and of the various sorts of life
that men adopt in society. One can interpret that Rousseau is commenting on the social
inequality that stems from social institutions created by men. Society appears to be natural, but
it is created and shaped through interactions with others. Humans create social institutions that
effect the distributions of power in society.
Rousseau makes the distinction of what he refers to as natural or physical inequality
and moral or political inequality. Rousseaus concept of natural inequality is relevant to the
ADA and aligns with Cohens idea of natural ability causing inequality of opportunity, but he
raises concerns about the source of the inequality that appears to be natural. He argues that some
societal injustice seems natural, but is actually the consequence of the social institutions that men
create. For example, if one compares students from Pittsburgh to students from Flint, Michigan,
it may appear that children from Pittsburgh are more likely to succeed in academia because they
choose to be more attentive in class and participate in more extracurricular activities while
children from Flint are more inclined to play with toys. While these seem purely like personal
choices that lead to differences in test scores, it is more complex on further investigation.
Pittsburgh residents have more resources available than those in Flint, and the leading men in
Flint have utilized cost saving measures that decreased the quality of water in the town which
lead to a decrease in the residents health.
Another clear example is the study in which a set of children with the same level of test
scores were split into three groups and put in three different levels of classes: advanced, average,
and below average. At the end of the school year the childrens scores raised, stayed around the
same level, or lowered respectively, despite their original test scores were of the same level. As
Rousseau mentions in his discourse, ones personality and strengths are often the result of
different types of education and socialization rather than ones natural abilities.
Appearance doesnt necessarily align with someones reality. Cohen could claim that the
ADA would help materialize socialist equality and Rousseau could disagree, but fortunately this
discourse will not hinder the effects of this iconic and essential legislation. The benefits of
discussing sources of inequality and how to amend them are palpable, but the benefits of the
protection the ADA affords people with disabilities transcends philosophical thought
experiments.