[Cabs] Walmart issue
BEKAHBEA at aol.com
BEKAHBEA at aol.com
Fri Oct 2 01:53:04 UTC 2009
Instead of having them pull it off the shelves, why not request for them to
make it more positive? Why not request that the picture be of a man
looking proud that he is a blind referee? Why not have a description inside the
package of how the cane is used and how it helps a blind person? Little
things like that can make the public more aware.
In a message dated 10/1/2009 7:01:28 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time,
nimerjaber1 at gmail.com writes:
Yes, and as was pointed out, referees are often blind when reffing
games, so obviously they're going to look stupid. I understand now a
little better about how the NFB can see this as offensive, but I do
believe it's being stretched.
Thanks
Nimer J
Monika Reinholz wrote:
> Chris and Nimer and others,
>
> Thank you Chris for understanding why I came out on the list about this
in the first place. I do appreciate Nimers thoughts on this as well but I
must agree with Chris.
>
> I am a high school (and also do middle school as well) volleyball
official in the Denver and Colorado Springs areas. So, I know first hand about
the comments and such that are said about us and such. I also have never seen
a blind person in an officials or referee type job, as its a very visual
based position. Not sayng it cant be done somehow, but I wouldnt know how it
would ever be done if it can.
>
> Granted, in some ways it is really nice to see blind people in a
positive light and I'm not dishing that all portrayals are bad. But in a situation
such as this, a blind referee costume with the picture on its packaging, I
must say it shows blindness in a negative view. The picture is of a guy
posed as a blind person in a referee's uniform with the shades on and cane in
hand looking up in the air. His composure and the look on his face makes
him look as if he is a moron and stupid.
>
> As for what can be done, I was thinking that the NFB can at least bring
it to Walmart's attention and they can take it off the shelves and
apologize. But thats just my idea on what I'd like done.
>
> Thanks,
> Monika Reinholz
>
>
>
>
>> From: cjfoster2000 at gmail.com
>> To: cabs at nfbnet.org
>> Date: Thu, 1 Oct 2009 16:50:24 -0600
>> Subject: Re: [Cabs] Walmart issue
>>
>> 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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus
signature
>> database 4474 (20091001) __________
>>
>> The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
>>
>> http://www.eset.com
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Cabs mailing list
>> Cabs at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/cabs_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Cabs:
>>
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/cabs_nfbnet.org/monika_r_r%40hotmail.com
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Cabs mailing list
> Cabs at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/cabs_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Cabs:
>
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/cabs_nfbnet.org/nimerjaber1%40gmail.com
>
_______________________________________________
Cabs mailing list
Cabs at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/cabs_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Cabs:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/cabs_nfbnet.org/bekahbea%40aol.com
More information about the CABS
mailing list