Liberty and justice for all requires protecting disability rights

This summer, America turned 250.

Parades, fireworks, flags. A celebration of the ideals this country was founded on. Liberty. Justice. The belief that every person has the right to live a full life on their own terms.

It is a good moment to ask whether we are living up to those ideals. For Oklahomans with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the answer is: we are getting there. But we are not there yet.

Civil rights did not stop at disability

The Americans with Disabilities Act was not a gift. It was a demand. Disability advocates spent decades fighting for the legal recognition that people with IDD have the same rights to education, employment, community living, and participation in public life as everyone else.

That fight produced real change. Schools that once turned away students with disabilities are now required to serve them. Workplaces are required to provide reasonable accommodations. People who spent years in institutional settings now have the legal right to live in their communities.

Those rights exist because people organized, testified, protested, and refused to accept a version of American liberty that left them out. The Arc of Oklahoma has been part of that fight since 1952. We were here before the ADA. We will be here for whatever comes next.

Liberty requires more than a law

A right on paper is only as strong as someone's ability to exercise it.

Knowing that your child is entitled to a free and appropriate public education does not mean the school district will provide one without an advocate. Knowing that community-based care is the law does not mean the funding to support it will always be there. Knowing your rights and being able to act on them are two different things, and the gap between them is exactly where The Arc of Oklahoma does its work.

We attend IEP meetings alongside families who need someone in the room who knows what the law requires. We monitor residential settings to make sure the people living in them are treated with dignity. We sit at the table with state and federal legislators when the policies that protect disability rights are being written, revised, or threatened.

Liberty and justice for all is not a passive promise. It is an active commitment. And right now, it requires active defense.

What is at stake right now

The supports that make community living possible for Oklahomans with IDD are under pressure. Medicaid is facing cuts at the federal level. Changes already underway are creating new barriers for families who have spent years building a life around the supports they rely on.

The Arc is at the table fighting to protect those supports. We are tracking every proposed change, communicating directly with elected officials, and making sure the real-world impact on Oklahoma families is part of every conversation.

That work is what liberty and justice for all looks like in practice, for people with IDD in 2026.

You are part of this

If you believe in the ideals America is celebrating this summer, disability advocacy is not a niche cause. It is an extension of the same principles that have always driven this country forward at its best.

Every Oklahoman with IDD who lives independently, holds a job, attends school, participates in their community, and directs their own future is proof of what those ideals look like when they are actually realized.

Protecting that takes resources. The Arc of Oklahoma is funded by Oklahomans who believe this work matters. Every dollar stays in Oklahoma. Every dollar goes directly into the advocacy, education, and support that make full inclusion possible.

If you still believe in liberty and justice for all, this is a meaningful place to put that belief into action.

Give today to support The Arc of Oklahoma.