[nabs-l] Bad news for blind and visually impaired people

T. Joseph Carter carter.tjoseph at gmail.com
Wed Aug 10 21:03:21 UTC 2011


I think I would personally caution against adopting the notion that 
discrimination abounds everywhere we go.  It’s perhaps more than a 
little impolitic to say so (as if that’s ever stopped me before), but 
far too many members of minority groups seem to engage in what one of 
my college professors referred to as the Oppression Olympics.  They 
see slights and injustices every day—discrimination and injustice 
abound!

Some members of these minority groups tell me that they thought this 
way themselves, and then they became blind.  Then, they tell me, they 
learned what discrimination truly was!  And off they went, no longer 
oppressed because of their skin color, sexual orientation, language, 
or ethnic background—but instead everything is now about being blind!

No objective metric can be applied to determine if the disabled face 
more discrimination today than other minorities, though intuitively I 
suspect they do, and I’ve good reasons for believing it is probably 
the case, if for no other reason than that the inherent injustice of 
discrimination against a person on the basis of skin color or sexual 
orientation is part of the general social consciousness.  I have not 
observed the same of disability!

Even so, what conclusions can we draw from this, really?  Despite 
what I see as an obvious sign of a victim mentality among many in 
minority communities, I know for a fact that discrimination against 
those minorities does exist.  Probably it is less prevalent than they 
believe—there are those who claim that any and every Caucasian in 
America is racist by definition, for example.  The hypocrisy on the 
very face of such a claim demonstrates the problem quite adequately, 
I think.  Yet, my sister’s father is openly and defiantly racist 
enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if he owns a white robe and hood.  
(Don’t ask me what my mother ever saw in this man, I don’t know.)

Is it really different for us, though?  Do we have people out to 
slight us every where we go?  Are we perpetual victims?  We certainly 
are subject to discrimination.  I think any one of us can name very 
clear, overt, and obvious instances of it.  But every day?  From most 
everyone we meet?  Probably not.

I guess what I’m saying is that there is real danger in adopting a 
victim mentality.  For one thing, people learn to tune it out.  It’s 
like the boy who cried wolf, as it were.  The general public doesn’t 
see it even when it is there often times, so if we want their 
attention we must be careful that we don’t distract them with vague 
offenses and imagined slights.

Odds are some of us tend to jump at shadows a little too often.  I 
know I’m guilty of that myself, hence the recent discussion about the 
no-cook meals seminar offered by Hadley.  To me, that announcement 
seemed like something problematic, and so I had to ask others if they 
saw likewise.  They didn’t, which served as an important reality 
check for me, cynical and all too ready to assume the worst as I am.

Anyway, those are my thoughts, if you can make sense of them.

Joseph - kf7qzc


On Wed, Aug 10, 2011 at 01:48:13PM -0500, Bridgit Pollpeter wrote:
>Oh certainly - discrimination exist no doubt.  Race, religion,
>ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation- the list goes
>on-and-on.  People continue to be ignorant, and discriminate on a daily
>basis.  It is rampant and prevalent, and I don't believe this is a
>controversial issue especially since those of us on this list
>understand discrimination because we're blind.
>
>My point was that once the law supported discriminatory ideas like
>segregation.  It was legal to deny people of different racial and ethnic
>backgrounds rights like education, service at restaurants, sitting on
>the bus, employment- and so much more.  Eventually the law changed so it
>has become more difficult for the law to support this kind of behavior.
>The behavior still exist, but many laws now exist that no longer uphold
>this type of behavior.
>
>If a person who is black walks into a store and they are followed by an
>employee, or they're point-blank told to leave, that person can file a
>lawsuit against the store, but in 1950, the store had every right to
>kick people out of their store just for the color of their skin.  This
>was my point.  Hopefully, it will one day be illegal to create a website
>or device without accessibility in mind.
>
>Although, I do admit, the law can always reflect an agenda- it depends
>on how you go about it.
>
>Many of our laws still support discriminatory behavior like denying
>marriage to gays, approving citizenship in a timely manner and of
>course, providing independent ways to access information for people with
>disabilities.  The list is much longer.
>
>I will be controversial and agree that too many Americans are
>judgmental, intolerant, prejudice and plain ignorant.  Even in my own
>family it prevails.  My grandpa who still calls black people darkies, or
>my parents who not only believe homosexuality is a "sin," but who think
>you become gay by the influence of others- like it can rub off on you,
>or my aunt who believes poor people are not capable of true
>intelligence.  I've heard comments from people I know and strangers that
>was pure prejudice and intolerance- it is disgusting.  Despite personal
>feelings or religious beliefs, human beings all deserve respect and
>kindness.  The same God created us all, and I don't think this god
>enjoys to see any of his creation hurt, which by the way includes the
>planet, but that's an entire discussion for another day.  For some
>reason, humans have decided different means not equal.
>
>Regardless of the law, people still exhibit prejudice and
>discrimination.  This, sadly, will probably never change, but we can
>push to change laws so at least in legal terms, we can fight
>discrimination.
>
>Sincerely,
>Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
>Read my blog for Live Well Nebraska.com at
>http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
>
>
>Message: 12
>Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2011 23:37:43 -0400
>From: wmodnl wmodnl <wmodnl at hotmail.com>
>To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Bad news for blind and visually impaired people
>Message-ID: <BLU143-W11F322920209B11A7F52B1DC230 at phx.gbl>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"
>
>
>Can someone send me the original ruling post or link to the actual case?
>Thank you.
>PS. Discrimination in America still prevails regardless of anyone?s
>views.  People are still denied fair treatment based upon looks,
>appearances, and other personal assumptions.  I would not say that the
>blind are discriminated against and other groups are not.  Take a look
>at what is happening politically.  If the president was as powerful as
>the last one, there would be no tea party and obvious pushback from
>other groups.  I do not like to discuss these controversial issues;
>however, America and Americans are not as united and educated as some
>may believe.  We are trailing the world since our culture is still so
>judgmental and ignorant.
>
>
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