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the government should do for women to make it easier for them to carry out their everyday tasks (Doc 3). It is clear to me that Eastman fought for what modern women today continue to focus on while Roosevelt, even though she talked of feminine political powers, intended for women to continue in a submissive role. Women today continue the fight to break the chains of a patriarchal society in order to achieve autonomy and fairness under the law. Today, women’s peaceful protests and marches continue, much like the early twentieth century civil rights movement, fighting for such things as equal pay for equal work and reproductive rights.

Ethnic and sexual differences were not the only sources of inequality in this country. Another group of people that was historically treated unfairly was physically and mentally handicapped people. This group encompasses all classes and groups of people and effects men and women, alike, of all colors and ages. The condition of disability, either physical or mental, has been the recipient of much unfair treatment. As we saw in Patricia Wright’s Lessons Learned from Enacting the Americans with Disabilities Act, hundreds of people with disabilities from all over the country came together to fight for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. These people fought for inclusion and economic independence, rights most of us take for granted. Even with the improvements made by this Act, there is still more work needed done in order to better level the playing for the disabled (Doc 12).

The fight for equality for disabled people was inspired by the early civil rights movement successes and employed much of the same language and tactics (Doc 12). The civil right movement has helped move society closer to the declared ideal of equality by inspiring groups unequally treated to take a stand, including the disabled. As seen in class, the disabled people that marched in the streets used the same rhetoric used the civil rights movement, e.g., “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” as spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King. They participated in demonstrations like chaining themselves to buildings, arranged sit-ins, and organized marches on Washington similar to the civil rights acti