[Blindtlk] Polocies Against The Blind...

Sat Dec 17 02:05:29 UTC 2011

That is certainly encouraging, although I think we still need to 
deal with the discrimination at this one company.  Until all 
discrimination is dealt with and removed from our society can our 
problems really be solved, in my opinion.

Chris

"The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight.  The 
real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that 
exists.  If a blind person has the proper training and 
opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a mere physical 
nuisance."
-- Kenneth Jernigan (President, National Federation of the Blind, 
1968-1986

 The I C.A.N.  Foundation helps blind and visually impaired youth 
in Maryland say "I can," by empowering them through providing 
assistive technology and scholarships to camps and conventions 
which help them be equal with their sighted peers.  For more 
information about the Foundation and to support our work, visit 
us online at www.icanfoundation.info!

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "James Kelm" <jameskelm at earthlink.net
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:12:08 -0600
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Polocies Against The Blind...

I did want to offer a positive detail to this story.  My wife and 
I went
this week to another, competitor, blood donating facility.  They 
not only
accepted me, but were extremely nice and welcoming, and told me 
that they
had several blind donators.  For curiosity, I also telephoned a 
number of
other places around town.  I did not give them any background, 
but simply
asked if they accepted visually impaired individuals.  Every one 
of them
said that they would be happy to accept a blind donor, and 
actually sounded
a little surprised that I would ask such a question.  So I can 
only conclude
that the discriminative policy is, at least locally, simply an 
issue with
the one business.

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: "James Kelm" <jameskelm at earthlink.net
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 2:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Polocies Against The Blind...

 I also have a brother who has some of the same attitudes as 
yours do.  He
 tells me that I am too sensitive, and may see discrimination 
where there
 isn't any.  His favorite expression is that "you have to 
understand where
 they are coming from".  Of course he lives on the other side of 
the
country,
 so does not experience life with a blind person on a day-to-day 
basis.  He
 often tells me that people do not discriminate against the 
disabled, but
 rather usually go out of their way to accommodate them.

 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: "Jessica Kostiw" <jessicac.kostiw at gmail.com
 To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org
 Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 1:03 PM
 Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Polocies Against The Blind...

 I find this very interesting and forwarded it to both my brother 
and
 sister,
 who are sighted lawyers.  Sometimes I think my family thinks I 
just make
 this stuff up.

 I wonder how new this policy is.  LCB staff and students donate 
blood
 regularly.  This is just awful.

 Jessica
 -----Original Message-----
 From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org 
[mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On
 Behalf Of Steve Jacobson
 Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 1:50 PM
 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

_______________________________________________
blindtlk mailing list
blindtlk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
for
 blindtlk:

http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/steve.jacob
son%40visi
 .com

 _______________________________________________
 blindtlk mailing list
 blindtlk at nfbnet.org
 http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
 To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account 
info for
 blindtlk:

http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/jessicac.ko
stiw%40gmai
 l.com

 _______________________________________________
 blindtlk mailing list
 blindtlk at nfbnet.org
 http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
 To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account 
info for
 blindtlk:

http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/jameskelm%4
0earthlink.net

 _______________________________________________
 blindtlk mailing list
 blindtlk at nfbnet.org
 http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
 To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account 
info for
blindtlk:

http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/jameskelm%4
0earthlink.net

_______________________________________________
blindtlk mailing list
blindtlk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
for blindtlk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/dotkid.nusb
aum%40gmail.com