[il-talk] Fwd: [Nfb-legislative-directors] The Horrors of Atalissa

[Kelly Pierce]

Thanks for sharing this Patti.  Senator Tom Harkin, Curt Decker and
the National Disability rights network still support sub-minimum wages
for peple with disabilities.

Kelly



On 3/11/14, pattischang at gmail.com <pattischang at gmail.com> wrote:
> I sent this to both our senators with a note to please fix WIA. Please do
> the same.
>
>
> Patti S. Gregory-Chang
> NFBI President
> NFB Scholarship Comm. Chair
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: "Lewis, Anil" <ALewis at nfb.org>
> Date: March 11, 2014 at 7:14:13 AM CDT
> To: "Affiliate Presidents (state-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org)"
> <state-affiliate-leadership-list at nfbnet.org>,
> "nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org"
> <nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: "NABS List \(nabs-l at nfbnet.org\)" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>, "NFB Chapter
> Presidents discussion list \(chapter-presidents at nfbnet.org\)"
> <chapter-presidents at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [Nfb-legislative-directors] The Horrors of Atalissa
> Reply-To: NFB Legislative Directors List
> <nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org>
>
> The Horrors of Atalissa
> https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/horrors-atalissa
>
> Monday, March 10, 2014
>
> On Sunday, March 9, the New York Times published "The Boys in the
> Bunkhouse," which tells the story, in excruciating and horrific detail, of
> the men who worked for Henry's Turkey Service in Atalissa, Iowa. The article
> largely speaks for itself, and raises a critical question: how could this
> happen? But the article does not provide the answer, at least not directly,
> so we will make the attempt. History teaches that whenever any group of
> human beings is viewed as inferior and marked for different treatment, that
> group becomes subject to exploitation and abuse. This is true even if the
> badge of inferiority was not necessarily intended to lead to that result. In
> 1938, Congress created a separate system of employment for people with
> disabilities, a system which is not subject to the minimum wage and other
> labor protections that non-disabled American workers enjoy. This system was
> created out of a belief that disabled workers were not as productive as
> other workers and would not be given the opportunity to work at all unless
> their employers were exempted from the normal rules. The intent was
> compassionate, but workers with disabilities were clearly marked as inferior
> to others. When we believe our fellow human beings to be inferior, we lay
> the groundwork for slowly and inexorably stripping them of their very
> humanity. That is what happened to the men of Henry's Turkey Service. They
> were called boys even though they were men; their self-determination and
> free will were stripped from them; and as the eyes of the people of Atalissa
> and the world withdrew, the so-called "boys" were isolated, punished in
> ever-more-frightening ways for even minor perceived infractions, and forced
> to live in conditions unfit for animals. And this was all done to them by
> people who claimed, and still have the nerve to claim, to love them. What
> happened in Atalissa does not happen in every sheltered workshop in quite
> the same horrific way, but it is the ultimate, logical outcome of marking
> American workers with disabilities as inferior. That is why nothing less
> than the abolition of Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act can
> redeem the suffering of the men of Atalissa and correct the injustice being
> done to all American workers with disabilities who toil under special wage
> certificates. No mediocre half-measure will do. To deny workers with
> disabilities the same labor protections as everyone else is to deny their
> humanity.
>
>
>
> To read the full article, please visit
> http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/03/09/us/the-boys-in-the-bunkhouse.html?_r=1.
> To watch the corresponding video, please visit
> http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000002757071/the-men-of-atalissa.html.
>
>
>
> Mr. Anil Lewis, M.P.A.
> Deputy Executive Director
>
> National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute
> 200 East Wells Street at Jernigan Place
> Baltimore, Maryland   21230
>
> (410) 659-9314 ext. 2374 (Voice)
> (410) 659-5129 (FAX)
> Email: alewis at nfb.org
> Web: www.nfb.org
> Twitter: @AnilLife
>
> 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.
>
> To make a donation to the National Federation of the Blind Imagination Fund
> campaign, please visit www.nfb.org/ImaginingOurFuture.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nfb-legislative-directors mailing list
> Nfb-legislative-directors at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-legislative-directors_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Nfb-legislative-directors:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-legislative-directors_nfbnet.org/pattischang%40gmail.com
> _______________________________________________
> il-talk mailing list
> il-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/il-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> il-talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/il-talk_nfbnet.org/kellytalk%40gmail.com
>