Disabled deserve inclusion

Re “Too big a tent,” editorial, Oct. 29

I was surprised and dismayed to read an editorial urging Congress to narrow the hate-crimes act to not include people with disabilities.

Greater inclusion of people with disabilities in American society has not been a painless process. To say there is no problem is to relegate people with disabilities to a second-class status in which bias-motivated crimes on the basis of disability are somehow more tolerable than those committed because of a person’s race, ethnicity, national origin or religion.

Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia include people with disabilities under their hate-crimes statutes, but this is not enough. The federal government must send the message that hate crimes committed because of disability are unacceptable and give meaning and substance to this message through the act’s provision of crucial resources to local law enforcement.

Curt Decker

Executive director

National Disability

Rights Network

Washington