“This is an attempt to state how Berkeley feels about its various segments of its population…”, reads the introduction to this 1973 “People of Berkeley” report by the Planning Commission’s Housing Committee.
Well, in this document, Berkeley’s “feelings” toward people with disabilities are reduced to just two sentences. First, the policy classifies people with disabilities, namely wheelchair users and people with low vision, as a powerless, misunderstood, and neglected cohort. Then, the policy shifts gears asserting an urgent, yet vague demand for the city to make its buildings and public facilities more accessible to this group. How will this get done? Who is involved? Compared to other lengthy policies in the report, the disability policy could win an award for its brevity. Using the term”physically handicapped” is an indicator that disability consciousness had not breached the Planning Commission yet.
The document provides a baseline for “official” attitudes towards people with disabilities from the planning commission. In a year, however, we see a major shift in the policy’s language and sensitivity to the wide range of needs for people with disabilities.
