Equality is something that I believe is extremely important, especially in today’s society. People are constantly putting others down based on bias judgments. Discrimination is found everywhere, and it does not always particularly have to do with race or ethnicity.
Some of this inequality is completely legal and that is where I think the problem starts.
At my school, I am president of a club called Best Buddies. Best Buddies is a nonprofit that is found around the world, and the main goal is to promote friendships and inclusion among children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
I can’t describe how much I have learned and how many amazing experiences I have gotten from this organization. It truly opens your eyes and makes one realize that everyone is special in their own way and just as amazing as the next person, no matter how different.
One law doesn’t agree with this viewpoint though. Section 14 (c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act diminishes people with intellectual disabilities. The law states, “Advisor helps employers of workers with disabilities, employees with disabilities, and their family members understand the circumstances under which an employer may pay wage rates that are less than the applicable Federal minimum wage.”
This statement is justifying the act of paying a citizen less than everyone else just because they were born with a disability, something completely out of their control. This is a pure form of discrimination.
Women and men were given the same paying wages with the Equal Payment Act in 1963. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 made sure that landlords could not discriminate and be equal on house payments.
Both gender and race are factors that a person comes into the world not being able to control.
Would intellectual disabilities not fall under the same category?
This topic is one that stands with outstanding importance in the United States and in the lives and homes of thousands. The National Council on Disability stated that an estimated 420,000 are affected by this sub-minimum wage. Some even claimed that select individuals were being paid pennies an hour.
This act labels people as something less than human, they are not being granted the simple rights that every other U.S citizen is entitled to.
A person wants to work, is willing to work, and working hard and they aren't even granted with minimum wage? Isn’t that what America stands for? Working hard for what you want and doing it with everything you have?
Belittling this is morally wrong.
Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act should be alternated to an act that promotes the equality of all, and not minimize those who have an intellectual disability.
Those who are mentally handicapped should be given the same minimum wage as everyone else, and anything less than that should be illegal.