[Cabs] Walmart issue

[Chris Foster]

Dear Nimer, Monica and others on the list,
What a great topic for discussion.  Monica, I am very glad you brought this
to our attention.  It is at least worth knowing that someone has decided to
produce a costume of a blind referee .  On the surface (especially for
sports fans) it could seem actually a little funny.  Looking in to it a
little deeper, it is every bit as disturbing as Monica thought it was.
Blind people don't need any more fun poked at us (however indirectly it may
be) than we are already dealing with.   
Nimer, I'd like to address several of your points in the message below and
I'll take them in the order they appeared. 
1. You said, "No doubt NFB will find a reason to file a lawsuit about this
issue, but I personally think you're making a bigger issue about this." 
NFB does not purposefully look for reasons to file law suits about anything.
NFB only takes legal action when discussion, negotiation, and all other
paths to a reasonable resolution have been exhausted.  You may well know and
certainly other members on the list can tell you that entering into any kind
of legal dispute, whether it is as miner as small claims court or as major
as a class action suit is tiring, draining, complicated, and always
expensive.  
I believe that it is good that Monica took the time to throw her concern out
here on the list for others to read.  It is good for all of us to at least
be aware of how society is choosing to portray us, whether it be negatively
or positively.  We can then choose how we want to handle these type of
instances.  
2. You said "I mean, we should be proud of two things. First that blind
people have gained enough attention to be on packages at the super market,
and second that blind people can ref basketball games. " 
Regarding blind people on packages in stores, blind people have been
portrayed in newspapers, magazines, movies, and TV very positively in the
past.  Many talented blind musicians have had their faces appear on albums
in record stores etc for years.  Regarding blind people refereeing
basketball games or any other sport, so far as I know, there are no blind
referees in professional sports.  The sole intent of this costume is to make
fun of referees.  At nearly every professional, minor, and local sports
game, people will invariably yell "come on referee !  What are you?  Blind?"
whenever they perceive that a bad call is made.  In general, many people
will perceive this as a sports fan blowing off steam and venting their
frustrations at the ref, because as always, the ref is the best target of
opportunity.  So, without looking below the surface of the seemingly comical
idea of a blind referee, I could see how the costume designer would think
this would be funny.   However, there is the possibility of a child or an
adult walking around and seeing someone dressed up as a blind referee for
Halloween and for the briefest moment they might think, "the referee is
blind and because he can't see, he can't do his job correctly.  Maybe that
means that other blind people can't work either."   maybe this might be
stretching the point just a little, but again, we as blind people don't need
any more misconceptions or stereotypes flung at us than already have been.
These are my thoughts.  Monica, thanks again for putting this out there.
Nimer, thanks very much for voicing your views.  Maybe we need to do
something about this.  What do others think.  Regards, Chris Foster 


-----Original Message-----
From: cabs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:cabs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Nimer
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 10:47 PM
To: Colorado Association of Blind Students List
Subject: Re: [Cabs] Walmart issue

Monika,

No doubt NFB will find a reason to file a lawsuit about this issue, but I
personally think you're making a bigger issue about this. I mean, we should
be proud of two things. First that blind people have gained enough attention
to be on packages at the super market, and second that blind people can ref
basketball games. the fact that it's on a halloween costume just makes it
funnier. I mean, how many blind people have you seen reffing basketball
games? I think it shows that blind people are getting out there and doing
things that were never thought of before, and also that kids get exposure to
blind people. No doubt some kids will say oh, blind people only belong in
costumes, but I bet some kids will ask questions about what the cane
actually does for a blind people. 
Maybe those kids will grow up to be smarter than their dumb parents who know
nothing about blind people.

thanks
Nimer J

Monika Reinholz wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I normally do not write on the lists but I thought I should bring
something up that I recently discovered. I was at my local Walmart the other
day and went down the Halloween aisle as I was needing to pick-up some face
makeup for this weekend. As I was heading to that section of the aisle, I
happened to notice the costumes that were out and about. And lo and behold I
saw something that really ticked me off....they have a "Blind Referee"
costume on the racks. It comes with the shades, a cane, and a basketball
referee uniform. Now, I am not blind myself...but I thought that was just
messed up and wrong, to say it nicely. So, I picked it up to look on the
back to find out the "maker"....its a Walmart brand costume. 
>
> We of the NFB have worked so hard to bring blindness to a positive light.
I see this "costume" as a way to ridicule and bring negativity to what it
means to be blind, and they pisture on the front of this costume package
doesn't help either in my view. Now, Im not sure if anything or what can be
done about it or not but I wanted to bring this to your attention. I do hope
something can be done about this though.
>
> Thanks all,
> Monika Reinholz
> NFB-CO member, CS affiliate
>
> CABS member
>
>  		 	   		  
 

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