The civil rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from 1955 to 1968 reshaped the nation's understanding of discrimination and equality, making it possible to reconceptualize disability as a civil rights issue and paving the way for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Section 504 adopted the same nondiscrimination language as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, extending protections to disabled people, while the ADA used the same structure to prohibit discrimination in employment, public accommodations, transportation, education, and government services. The disability justice movement builds on King's insight that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," recognizing that ableism is interconnected with racism, sexism, classism, and other systems of oppression, requiring collective action to dismantle all barriers to achieve full equity and liberation.

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