[Blindtlk] Polocies Against The Blind...

[Mike Freeman]

AARRGG! Shades of the 1957 banquet speech, "The Cross of Blindness". I have
never given blood but checked the last time there was a blood drive at my
place of employment and was told that there would be no problems even though
I am an insulin-dependent diabetic. Dr. Maurer should be informed of this
and perhaps a resolution for Dallas is in order.

Incidentally, I believe the good pastor is in error: I do not believe there
is a Federal antidiscrimination statute that applies in this instance unless
a blood drive can be classified as a place of public accommodation, program
or service. I hope I'm wrong.

Mike


-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Steve Jacobson
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 10:50 AM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Polocies Against The Blind...

I have given blood here in Minnesota through my employer to the red cross
and I am finding it 
increasingly difficult to donate.  We have had other problems in the Twin
Cities in the past that we 
tried to address, but I must say, not having an emergency exit policy is
about the most blatent and 
least defensible thing I have heard.  Certainly you have a right to feel
frustrated, but it does seem 
that there is work to be done as well.  I can't help but wonder what their
general policy is to deal 
with someone who is half through giving blood and who might be dizzy if
forced to stand in a hurry.  I 
would think that blindness would be the least of the problems that one might
have.  <smile>

You might be interested to know that it is now common practice to not permit
someone you know to fill 
out the paperwork with you.  The justification is that you might not be
honest with them in your 
answers.  This requires you to take the time of a staff person, and even if
they are willing, they are 
often required to tend to other tasks.  

Were you working with a branch of the Red Cross there in Duluth or is it
another type of blood bank?

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:22:35 -0600, James Kelm wrote:

>Dear friends,

>    Well an interesting thing happened to my wife and I last Friday, and I
>thought that I'd see what you all thought.  It seemed to be a relevant
>story, based upon the recent conversations here on this list.

>    Wanting to do something good for our fellow human beings, my wife and I
>decided that we would donate blood at one of our local blood banks.  We
>arrived, filled out the necessary paper work, and waited in the waiting
room
>to do our duty.

>    After a few minutes, a gentleman came out and requested that we follow
>him to his office.  I am assuming that this gentleman was some kind of a
>manager.  After entering his office, he politely informed us that he had
>spoken to his corporate office, and learned that they currently had no
>policy in place to assure my safety in the case of an emergency, so
>unfortunately they did not allow blind people to donate blood.  He then
>turned to my wife, who is sighted but like many middle-aged people, wears
>reading glasses.  The gentleman went on to explain that unless my wife went
>home to retrieve her reading glasses and thereby demonstrating that she was
>not blind, they also would not allow her to donate.  I politely explained
>that the corporate office should be aware that their company policy
violated
>Federal anti-discrimination laws, and they did not have the legal luxury of
>determining which laws they were, or were not prepared to follow.  The
>gentleman told me that he understood, but that he had to comply with his
>corporate office's instructions to not allow the blind to donate blood.

>    This situation came as a bit of surprise to me.  Of course most of us
>blind folks are use to vague and concealed discrimination, but I was caught
>off guard to face such an open and obvious demonstration of one's civil
>rights being disregarded.  It was rather shocking to be directly told by a
>business, that they did not want the blind!


>Your Brother in Christ,
>Pastor James Kelm
>True Hope Church of Duluth
>Web Site: www.thcduluth.org
>Office E-mail: office at thcduluth.org
>Phone: 218-727-4186

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