From Youtube, Newsday, the New York Times and elsewhere:

Framing his remarks within his own personal saga as a person with near-blindness, New York Governor David Paterson told the Democratic National Convention that Barack Obama could bring new economic opportunities to all Americans, including those with disabilities.

In a speech that was described as militant and partisan, Paterson told of graduating from Columbia University and Hofstra University School of Law, and then being turned down for a job because of his disability. He said his recovery from that defeat embodied the promise of America.

The governor hammered hard at the need for government intervention to provide supports for people with disabilities. Only 37 percent of people with disabilities are working, Paterson said, and only 29 percent of blind people; the unemployment rate of deaf people is nearly 90 percent. He said Obama would work with Congress to overturn Supreme Court decisions that wrongly narrowed the Americans with Disabilities Act

From the New York Times report:

… like many supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, [Paterson] was shunted to a marginal time slot — 5:50 p.m. Eastern time — and given just four minutes to fill.

The advance text of Paterson’s speech is here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 at 4:42 am and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, blindness/visual impairments, civil rights, deaf/hard of hearing, discrimination, employment/jobs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post