[Blindtlk] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's

Thu May 14 19:54:58 UTC 2015

Carly,

	What was as frustrating as the direct discrimination in the store
was the attitude of the vice President of marketing who, when he viewed the
video, said merry and I were the ones who discriminated against his empoyees
by comparing the discrimination we faced because of our disability to the
discrimination we know the employees had faced because of their ethnicity.
We did not make an ethnic slur, as he alleged; rather, we shared an example
they have likely experienced in order to help them develop some empathy for
the issue. Thanks for your work raising the expectations of the blind
because low expectation are the barriers to our highest potential!

Fraternally yours,
Marion Gwizdala


-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carly
Mihalakis via blindtlk
Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2015 3:01 PM
To: cheryl echevarria; Blind Talk Mailing List; Sherry Gomes; 'Julie J.';
Blind Talk Mailing List
Cc: Carly Mihalakis
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's

Good morning,
There seems to be a notion that prevails amungst many Americans, in which
somehow, all people whom should chance to immegrate are somehow," lucky?
07:29 AM 7/13/2014, cheryl echevarria via blindtlk wrote:
>Many will never have to worry about this, but with the issues like what 
>Marion and Merry went through which is becoming more and more of an 
>issue with the ever changing patchwork quilt of America.
> From many more Americans who are not born here like from the South  
>American and Caribbean Countries to those that live in Asia areas,  
>where many people are lucky to come here for a better life. May not  
>understand our laws, and we have to educate them.
>I am married to a Puerto Rican, and live in a very Hispanic and Haitian 
>area of Long Island, NY; and we are lucky that we belong to our Chamber 
>of Commerce and other local community organizations whether for 
>business or other community issues here. That I have been able to speak 
>not only to the community, but will be having a presentation in the 
>fall with the business owners that belong to our Chamber of Commerce 
>about Service Animals and people with disabilities as a whole.
>Many of the people coming from other countries still put there disabled 
>families in homes, or worse. so when we come into stores they do 
>discriminate because they think we don't have money to spend and/or 
>other issues.
>Also the people who start businesses from other countries do not even 
>speak English, if you are going to have a business or be in a 
>managerial position, you should speak English as well, that is the 
>fault of McDonald's with this situation.  They also do not know about 
>the ADA period.
>So if you do not have these issues yet, and you may never have them. 
>As was stated in video they knew how to handle the situation it was 
>more of frustration that they are customers of this establishment and 
>work with McDonald on a regular basis that this could happen, but it did.
>
>
>
>
>Cheryl Echevarria, President
>National Federation of the Blind's Travel and Tourism Division
>A proud division of the NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND - "Live the 
>life you want"www.nfbtravel.org
>631-236-5138
>cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com
>
>
>The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the 
>characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise 
>the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create 
>obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can have the life 
>you want; blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>
>Cheryl Echevarria is also the owner of Echevarria Travel 
>www.echevarriatravel.com; 631-456-5394 or 
>reservations at echevarriatravel.com and  has partnered with Braille 
>Smith. www.braillesmith.com for all her braille needs.  Gail Smith 
>is the Secretary of the NFB of Alabama
>
> > To: julielj at neb.rr.com; blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> > Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 06:34:37 -0600
> > Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's
> > From: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> >
> > I'm like you Julie, and I've been working with guide dogs since 1975.
I've
> > rarely had an access issue and never been absolutely refused. I've had
to
> > explain the dog is a service dog, and long ago before I knew better, I
had
> > to show my GDB ID card one time. I don't know why I haven't had issues
> > whereas others I know seem to have issues somewhat 
> frequently.  Well, except
> > for taxis. I had a lot of issues with cabs when I lived in Washington
state
> > by a particular cab company and had one cab leave me in san Rafael of
all
> > places. But for the most part in nearly 40 years, it hasn't been a
problem.
> >
> > Sherry
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie
J.
> > via blindtlk
> > Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2014 6:28 AM
> > To: Lauren Merryfield; Blind Talk Mailing List
> > Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Confronting Discrimination at McDonald's
> >
> > Lauren,
> >
> > I've had guide dogs for over ten years and I have never had an 
> access issue
> > related to them.  I'm not sure if they have been more adorable than the
> > average guide, (that's a joke!), I come off as scary to people, 
> people like
> > dogs where ever I go, or people are just that up to date on the 
> law where I
> > live.  I've had people ask if he's a service dog, which is 
> entirely allowed
> > by law.  Once I was asked for ID, but a brief conversation got that
> > straightened out.  I've had employees go consult the manager about the
dog
> > in the store, but the manager reassured them it was okay and all was
well.
> >
> > If it helps I live in the rural Midwest.  Generally when I 
> travel, which is
> > fairly frequently, it is to other smallish Midwest towns.    Some people
> > seem to have a lot more access issues though.  I wish I could 
> tell you what
> > the common denominator is, but I haven't figured it out yet.  But 
> if you are
> >
> > considering a guide and the only thing stopping you is the possible
access
> > issues, that may not necessarily be a problem for you.
> >
> > Just something to think about,
> > Julie
> >
> >
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> >
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