Vice-President Joe Biden’s experience with a disability may make him an ally for rights groups in the administration.
By John M. Williams
I have met Vice President Joseph Biden (D-DE) half a dozen times over 30 years. Four times I have met him on train rides either going to or coming from Delaware. Twice I have sat down with him and discussed politics on these rides for about 20 minutes. Each time, I found him to be approachable, a listener and someone who is aware of issues related to disability. I have always found him to be contemplative on domestic and international issues and empathetic to issues related to disability. Very few Americans know the depth of his knowledge on U.S. and international affairs.
The future vice-president told me once that he proudly supported the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal laws related to disabilities. He believes these laws are necessary to help people with disabilities achieve the American goal of being employed and achieving independence. He saw the employment of people with disabilities as strengthening the Country locally and nationally economically, socially, politically, and artistically. He believes education of children with disabilities is vital to their success and has advocated for more federal spending in the area of special education.
When Joe Biden was a young man, he stuttered. You would never know it now. I have watched him speak, and he does not show any symptoms of someone who stuttered. For example, he does not prolong his words when speaking. He does not show signs of feared words. He does not hesitate when speaking, as many people who have learned to control their stuttering do. He looks people straight in the eye when speaking.
The first time I met Senator Biden on a train, I stuttered. Before I met him, I knew he stuttered. I had read about his stuttering in a newspaper article about him. My stuttering did not bother Senator Biden. He told me, “I stuttered when I was a child.” He never went beyond that statement to discuss his stuttering, and I never pursued the topic. I admit that I have always wondered how he controlled it.
I can’t help but think that stuttering has made the vice president more attuned to the challenges of people with disabilities. He can identify with being looked at sometimes weirdly when he stuttered. He knows what it is to be laughed at when he stuttered. He was humiliated by a teacher for stuttering. He has written about his experiences when he stuttered, and the fact that stuttering toughened him.
My stuttering toughened me.
I remember there was excitement and passion in his voice as he talked about being aware of the needs of people with disabilities. He showed a genuine interest in learning about assistive technology products and their benefits to people with disabilities. In one of my conversations with the Senator, he mentioned some of his constituents with disabilities.
Vice-president Biden is a foreign policy expert and a constitutional scholar. With the international challenges facing the United States, President Barack Obama will certainly seek his advice. And he should. Improving the lives or people with disabilities should be a hallmark of our foreign policy.
In selecting the next Supreme Court Justice or Justices, the president should also seek his advice. How the Justices have ruled people on disability issues and civil rights issues should be considered. People with disabilities should view the Vice President as an advocate. They should ask for a meeting with him immediately to present their issues and ask him to champion their causes from a civil rights perspective. As a champion of civil rights causes, I believe he would.
John M. Williams has been writing about disability issues for 30 years. He is a frequent contributor to Action Magazine. He can be reached at jmmaw@verizon.net.
