[nabs-l] Ignorance vs. Prejudice

[Teal Blooworth]

Hi All

Actually I have found myself and others discussing this particular topic. 
Stacey, Tim and I a couple weeks ago in Louisville ventured out on many 
occasions to highland coffee and then later 4th st live and actually 
everybody wanted to just take us there opposed to simply telling us left or 
right or just directions when needed. People would "help" us off the bus or 
to the bus stop rather than let us try it ourselves but after some of them 
talked to us they realized we were people too and werent afraid to talk to 
us any longer.

In owensboro where i go to school though it is a different situation. 
Teachers treat you differently in class and with me being the only blind 
person on campus i was alienated. On one occasion the social psychology 
class was doing a project "braking the social norms" and i actually had a 
student ask me to borrow my cane for this project. In shock, I let the girl 
borrow my spare cane just to find out that they went into target and knocked 
stuff off of the shelves. This is a stereotype and us as blind people cannot 
do that and really may be treated differently and stereotipically but still 
have to follow the same set of rules. Yes we have some accomodations, and 
yes we do have to work alittle harder to follow our dreams but still we are 
people.

One thing i have found is that some people really are curious and do ask 
questions and personally i feel this is a good thing because they are 
curious and if they know hoew to help you then there is a chance they will. 
My boyfriend is also fine with the blindness and has really been a big help 
but he still worries about me doing things alone which is understandable. As 
for discrimination last week me and him were looking at apartments and the 
people gave us the run around and i think this was because i am blind. Also 
these apartments were not pet friendly and friday i found out i was accepted 
to guiding eyes in new york for the june 29th slot and they completely 
turned us down when i told them. discrimination is out there but is it 
really worht all the fuss?

-Teal
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Arielle Silverman" <arielle71 at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 12:48 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Ignorance vs. Prejudice


> Hi all,
>
> According to social psychologists, prejudice is defined as an
> emotional reaction (usually negative, but can be positive) to members
> of a particular group. In common usage prejudice is often confused
> with stereotyping and discrimination. The three are related, but
> prejudice is the emotional component, while stereotyping is the
> attitude/cognition component and discrimination  is the behavioral
> component. In the case of blindness, prejudice might be someone's
> reluctance to talk to us (fear or disgust), fear of  becoming blind or
> anxiety about our safety. Stereotypes might include "blind people are
> slow/incompetent/dirty/can't do X job" or "blind people are all good
> at music". Discrimination would be actions like not teaching us to
> read, not letting us sit where we  want on an airplane or giving us
> preferential treatment like less homework or discounted bus fare. What
> the three all have  in common  is  that, even though technically they
> can all be either positive or negative, they arise from our group
> membership and lead to us all being treated or thought of as the same
> because of what group we belong to (i.e. blind  people) rather than
> our individual strengths and weaknesses.
>
> My argument before was that the emotional component (prejudice) is
> what underlies a lot of the persistent and hostile discrimination we
> get (no matter how many times you show someone how you do a job, they
> still don't think you can do it safely/won't let you try)  as well  as
> a lot of deficiencies in the services and education we  get (people
> feel an emotional aversion twoard blindness, and so are less willing
> to give us Braille/canes/let us have independent life experiences).
>
> Arielle
>
> On 6/17/09, sarah.jevnikar at utoronto.ca <sarah.jevnikar at utoronto.ca> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Can we define prejudice? I know the meaning of the word but perhaps a
>> clearer definition or an example as it relates to blindness would
>> help. I'm just afraid this will turn into a sighted people bashing
>> event; I've seen it before (not on this list) but it's a slippery slope.
>> Sarah
>>
>> Quoting Antonio Guimaraes <aguimaraes at nbp.org>:
>>
>>> Hi all,,
>>>
>>> We sometimes seam to do things to prove a point. I would rather take
>>> part in some activity because I enjoy it, and want to get something out
>>> of it than I have to prove to sighted people that I can dance, walk,
>>> swim, speak, read, sing, breathe.
>>>
>>> Some days we tolerate ignorance better than others, but we should not
>>> tolerate discrimination at any time.
>>>
>>> When have you been discriminated against, and what steps did you take
>>> to resolve the situation? What steps should you have taken instead, or
>>> do you think your actions were appropriate?
>>>
>>> Antonio M. Guimaraes Jr.
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sarah Alawami" <marrie12 at gmail.com>
>>> To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
>>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 3:21 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Ignorance vs. Prejudice
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hmm this sounds like a seminar topic we once might have had at the LCB.
>>>> I've
>>>> ben lucky so far. My dance teacher is making me, for the first fiew 
>>>> times
>>>> so
>>>> I can get my barengs use my cane while doing the steps, and mainly so I
>>>> can
>>>> get my ballence issues sorted out, but there will come a time, and 
>>>> there
>>>> already has where I am out there on my own with theother students and 
>>>> we
>>>> have to perform this stuff in less then a month. Will I have my cane to
>>>> dance with, no, but I feel confident enough  to know the ruteen and bee
>>>> in
>>>> the exact pisition I'm supposed to be in. Now the person who is helping
>>>> me
>>>> just needs to tell me the steps and when to move and whair but like I
>>>> said
>>>> bnefore there will come a time when even that will probably not happen 
>>>> in
>>>> performance day. Am I afraid, Yes. However, I know that if I know the
>>>> steps
>>>> and get my barengs, I will be able ot show the sighted audience that I
>>>> can
>>>> dance even though I have no site. There is a lot of truth in what you 
>>>> say
>>>> and I believe that by showing the sighted people, in my case that I can
>>>> dance, maybe not well, but I can dance, sing, and act, this will open
>>>> there
>>>> eyes, and many doors for me, and other blind people in the future. I 
>>>> hope
>>>> what I said makes sence. Sorry I rambled it is way too early in the
>>>> morning.
>>>> Hehaha!
>>>>
>>>> Oh just in case anyone is interested in the dance class and what we do
>>>> google "life long dreams" in Nevada.
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>>>> Behalf
>>>> Of Arielle Silverman
>>>> Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 10:01 PM
>>>> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>> Subject: [nabs-l] Ignorance vs. Prejudice
>>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> Recently we've been talking about airline discrimination, which has
>>>> historically served as a good representation of the kind of 
>>>> second-class
>>>> treatment that we often get in everyday interactions with members of 
>>>> the
>>>> public. I think Jedi made some good points in describing the tendency 
>>>> of
>>>> some sighted people to judge us as incompetent based on the role of 
>>>> sight
>>>> in
>>>> their own lives and their assumption that losing their sight would 
>>>> leave
>>>> them incapacitated. It is true that we are a tiny minority (even within
>>>> the
>>>> disabled
>>>> community) and that a lot of sighted people simply don't know how we
>>>> perform
>>>> everyday tasks. In some cases this ignorance leads to discriminatory
>>>> treatment ("The blind person can't sit in the exit
>>>> row") or stereotypes ("Blind people are slow").
>>>>
>>>> What I've always found fascinating, though, is that lack of
>>>> knowledge-ignorance-doesn't always translate into discrimination. In 
>>>> fact
>>>> many sighted people are simply curious, and if we tell or show them how
>>>> we
>>>> use the computer, read or travel, they quickly accept our alternative
>>>> techniques and treat us just the same as everyone else.
>>>> But this doesn't happen all  the time. And then, on the flip side, 
>>>> there
>>>> are
>>>> those who know all the facts about blindness and still "don't get it".
>>>> This
>>>> includes, for  instance, the mobility instructor who's taught O&M for
>>>> thirty
>>>> years but who still insists that you should walk three blocks out of 
>>>> your
>>>> way rather than cross a busy intersection. Many of us find that our own
>>>> parents make more of a big deal out of our blindness than do people 
>>>> we've
>>>> just met, even if our parents have met competent blind people or been 
>>>> to
>>>> blindness workshops, know Braille, etc. So there definitely is a
>>>> difference
>>>> between ignorance and prejudice. The combination of both is bad, but 
>>>> you
>>>> can
>>>> easily have one without the other. And it's prejudice, not ignorance,
>>>> that
>>>> actually causes us trouble.
>>>>
>>>> Unfortunately, while we can easily remedy ignorance with simple
>>>> education,
>>>> alleviating prejudice isn't that simple. It seems like much of the
>>>> persistence of people's prejudices comes from their emotional or "gut"
>>>> reactions to blindness. The experienced teacher of blind students may
>>>> know
>>>> all the facts about Braille, including the fact that children who learn
>>>> Braille while young can read just as fast as sighted children. And yet,
>>>> on
>>>> some gut level the teacher feels an aversion to Braille, seeing it as a
>>>> stigma or a symbol of weakness. So no matter how well this teacher is
>>>> trained, if she gets a kid in her caseload who has partial sight, it's
>>>> going
>>>> to be  a struggle for the teacher to actively teach the child Braille.
>>>> The
>>>> parent who finds his child's blindness frightening, likewise, is going 
>>>> to
>>>> have a hard time letting the child play outside or do chores, no matter
>>>> how
>>>> much he reads about what is best for blind children, unless he figures
>>>> out
>>>> how to let go of  his fear. I think so much of the success of our
>>>> training
>>>> centers comes from their ability to not only teach us practical skills,
>>>> but
>>>> also help us  overcome our own fears and negative feelings about
>>>> blindness.
>>>>
>>>> And yet, as Monica has demonstrated, there  are those sighted people 
>>>> who
>>>> display a lack of prejudice and who automatically include us and treat 
>>>> us
>>>> normally without any prior knowledge about blindness or education on 
>>>> our
>>>> parts. We all know sighted people like this, even though we often tend 
>>>> to
>>>> spend most of our mental energy grumbling about the sighted people who
>>>> treat
>>>> us strangely. My boyfriend never met a single blind person before me, 
>>>> and
>>>> yet in some ways seems to instinctively "get it" more than my mother, 
>>>> for
>>>> example, who besides raising me for twenty-four years, also read many 
>>>> of
>>>> the
>>>> leading  books about raising a blind child. (Never mind that many of 
>>>> the
>>>> messages espoused in those books are rooted in prejudices of their 
>>>> own).
>>>>
>>>> So  what do you guys think makes the difference between those
>>>> members of the sighted public who show prejudice and those who don't? 
>>>> Is
>>>> it
>>>> something about their personalities or experiences? And if simple
>>>> educating
>>>> isn't enough to address people's deep-seated emotional reactions, what
>>>> can
>>>> we do about it? Do we have any control over whether the sighted guy on
>>>> the
>>>> street grabs us or treats us with respect? It's easy enough for us to
>>>> tell
>>>> who will be responsive to education about blindness and who won't. But
>>>> for
>>>> those who aren't responsive, how do we deal with them civilly while 
>>>> still
>>>> protecting our rights and our freedom? And how do we deal with 
>>>> educators
>>>> like O&M instructors, who have power over what we learn or what
>>>> accommodations we get but whose judgments are affected by their
>>>> misconceptions about blindness?
>>>>
>>>> I look forward to a lively discussion on this topic, as it's central to
>>>> how
>>>> we act as an organization and how we can really change what it means to
>>>> be
>>>> blind for ourselves and for others.
>>>>
>>>> Arielle
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>>> nabs-l:
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/marrie12%40gmail.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info
>>>> for nabs-l:
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/aguimaraes%40nbp.org
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nabs-l mailing list
>>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> nabs-l:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/sarah.jevnikar%40utoronto.ca
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nabs-l mailing list
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/arielle71%40gmail.com
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nabs-l:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/tealbloodworth%40gmail.com