[Arizona-students] National Federation of the Blind Comments on Saturday Night Live Segment

[Allison (NFB of Arizona)]

And yet... doesn't Saturday Night Live make fun of everyone?  It's comedy,
so that's kind of the point.  I understand that with the high unemployment
among the blind that this sort of humor could maybe negatively impact us
more than most groups, yet if we complain about shows that are clearly comic
in nature, we run the risk of not being taken seriously when there are much
worse, and more serious,  depictions of blindness.  Meaning that, if this 
show had actually been
meant to be taken seriously, then I would be a lot more concerned.  Believe
me, I don't like blindness portrayals of this nature and would prefer them 
not to exist, but
since they do, I feel that I have to carefully pick and choose which
instances I react to.  I choose my battles and, while something like the 
Blindness movie may have been worth my opposition, SNL is just not.

We can go back to the old argument that if this had been another minority
group depicted in this sketch that no one would stand for it, but I don't
think that argument has proved very effective for us in the past.  And I
think it would be less effective in this case because there are many groups
that SNL makes fun of in their shows.  I imagine that some group or other 
feels offended by this show every week.

Allison



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Freeh,Jessica (by way of David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com>)"
<JFreeh at nfb.org>
To: <david.andrews at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2008 11:45 AM
Subject: [Arizona-students] National Federation of the Blind Comments on
Saturday Night Live Segment


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



CONTACT:

Chris Danielsen

Public Relations Specialist

National Federation of the Blind

(410) 659-9314, extension 2330

(410) 262-1281 (Cell)

<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org



National Federation of the Blind
Comments on Saturday Night Live Segment





Largest Organization of the Blind Criticizes Attack on Blind Americans



Baltimore, Maryland (December 15, 2008): Chris
Danielsen, spokesman for the National Federation
of the Blind, said: "The biggest problem faced by
blind people is not blindness itself, but the
stereotypes held by the general public about
blindness and blind people.  The idea that blind
people are incapable of the simplest tasks and
are perpetually disoriented and befuddled is
absolutely wrong.  This misconception contributes
to an unemployment rate among blind people that
stubbornly remains at 70 percent.  That is why
the National Federation of the Blind is
disappointed that Saturday Night Live chose to
portray Governor Paterson in a comedy routine
that focused almost exclusively on his
blindness.  Attacking the Governor because he is
blind is an attack on all blind Americans­blind
children, blind adults, blind seniors, and newly
blinded veterans returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan.  The National Federation of the
Blind urges the producers of Saturday Night Live
to consider the serious negative impact that
misinformation and stereotypes have on blind
people before continuing in this unfortunate vein of humor."




###




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