[Blindtlk] Polocies Against The Blind...

[Steve Jacobson]

That is good news, but I am also very impressed that you grasp the multiple levels of this situation.  I 
believe you have it evaluated perfectly.  Mike Freeman is right that there may well not be a law that 
governs this directly, but that does not make what they did to you and your wife less wrong.  

It is very difficult for others to understand that protecting someone without asking whether they want 
protection can be wrong, that it is really how we treat children.  Certainly there have been occasional 
times when I went against someone's advice and discovered that perhaps I should have listened to them, 
but even then, it is my right, and it happens rarely.  While there is certainly a difference between 
being treated differently out of a sense of protection or pity than racial prejudice, for example, the 
results can be just as harmful and much harder for those not involved to understand.  Sometimes our 
approach has to take that into account, but it is behavior that still must change.

While I understood that you were not participating in a blood drive as such, many of the issues 
surrounding giving blood are similar.  Problems we tried to deal with here in Minneapolis back in the 
1990's involved the exact situation that you were in but the specifics were different.  Blind persons 
were not allowed to give blood because one step in the process involved visually identifying their blood 
by the label, and adding a tactile label was not considered adequate.  I remember that an agreement was 
reached in that case but it took some discussion.  Good luck to you.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:58:18 -0600, James Kelm wrote:

>Hello...

>    The company that turned me down for a blood donation was not Red Cross,
>but rather a private for profit company.  But there is an interesting update
>to my story.

>    After this situation on Friday, I telephoned the Justice Department
>about the discrimination.  They asked me to E-mail them the details of the
>situation, along with the contact information for the offending company.  I
>did this, as well as sending a copy of the E-mail to the company itself.
>After I had sent my E-mail to you guys on this list, I received a telephone
>call.  It was the local director of the offending company, informing me that
>she had a meeting with her corporate superiors about the E-mail that they
>had received.  She apologized for their offensive treatment of my wife and
>I, and informed me that they would make a special allowance for me, if I
>chose in the future to donate with them.

>    Of course the phone call was something, but I can only assume that it
>was there way of minimizing their legal vulnerability within this situation.
>They did not say that they would change their polocy of discrimination, but
>only that they would make a special allowance for me.  I was polite and
>respectful, but inside I can only think that they still do not truly
>understand their offensive policies!


>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

>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Steve Jacobson" <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
>To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 12:50 PM
>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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>>
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