[nabs-l] [nfbWaTlk] class essay

Sun Jun 19 18:22:50 UTC 2011

:) That's a little ironic for a totally blind kid to say to 
another totally blind kid! But Kirt, you're right.  I make blind 
jokes all the time, which kind of puts sighted people at ease and 
tells them that they can talk to me about blindness without 
offending me.  For example, (and this is a true story) I was in a 
restaurant once and somebody came up to me who apparently 
recognized me.  She said her name was Jen, and she worked in the 
toddler room of the daycare I use to go to.  Her name wasn't 
ringing a bell, and I said that.  She then said, "I'm the blond 
who use to work in the toddler room.  Remember?" I looked at her 
and started laughing, saying, "Thanks! That helps  a lot!" She 
knew that I was being funny, I wasn't offended.  But, when I told 
my TVI, she thought it was hellarious and said it would make a 
great blond joke.  Another example is
the time when I found out that my PE teacher also owns a drivers 
ed school near where I live.  His son's in my class, and I 
decided to have a little fun with him.  I said to him in a break 
during class, "Hey, can you ask your dad what the charge would be 
to give me driver's ed lessons when I get to that age in a few 
years?" He replied, "Sure! I'll check." I paused for a second, 
and said, "You didn't get it, did you?" He had to think about it 
for a second before he said, "Oh!" But hey, depending on how long 
it takes for the Blind Driver Challenge car to get out on the 
road, I might be taking driver's ed lessons from his school after 
all! :) But anyway...  just some funny stories from my life.

 Chris

"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)
To learn more about Camp Abilities and find a local camp near 
you, just click on this link to their national Web site: 
www.campabilities.org.

The I C.A.N.  Foundation helps visually impaired youth in 
Maryland have the ability to confidently say "I can!" How? Click 
on this link to learn more and to contribute: 
www.icanfoundation.info.

 Sent from my BrailleNote

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Jorge Paez <computertechjorgepaez at gmail.com
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sun, 19 Jun 2011 06:39:36 -0400
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] [nfbWaTlk] class essay

Kirt:
Well written and completely agree.
I remember one time I was at this camp for the blind, and every 
time I happen to run into this kid, also totally blind, just like 
me, he'd say "Dude, open your eyes!"
Was he making fun of me?
No, just a saying.

On Jun 19, 2011, at 3:18 AM, Kirt Manwaring wrote:

 Holy crap this is awesome!
 (how's that for a formal letter opening?)
  I actually disagree with this.  A lot.  Maybe these expressions 
came
 about, at least in part, because of the stereotypes of us being
 stupid/inattentive/inferior.  But, the fact is, most of the time 
when
 people use them they aren't talking about physical blindness at 
all!
 Are we being racist when we talk about black friday every year, 
or the
 "black death", or some issues being black and white, or 
blacklisting
 someone?  I know I'm not.  When we say someone has an unorthadox 
way
 of doing something, are we saying they aren't part of the 
Eastern
 Orthadox branch of Christianity?  If I tell you all I just got a 
fat
 paycheck from my job, am I making fun of people who are 
overweight?
 The same principle applies here, I think.
  If someone has "blind faith", it just means they can't see 
what's
 really going on because they're mentally blinded by the 
person/idea
 they are following.  When we say "in the country of the blind, 
the
 one-eyed man is king!" (not that I've heard that in casual
 conversation), we're saying that when everyone is too 
stubborn/set in
 their ways to look at reality, even someone with a little bit of
 insight is superior.  it's a metaphor.  The way it's used in 
every day
 parlains isn't making fun of physically blind people at all, 
it's
 making fun of people with blind minds!  What's that motto at the 
end
 of each of Chris's messages?   "A loss of sight, never a loss of
 vision."  Same concept-these sayings and idioms make fun of 
people
 with no vision...heck, I use them sometimes because the imagery 
fits.
 And, when I say "dude!  What are you?  blind or something?", 
after a
 friend runs over a curb or misses an exit from the freeway, I'm 
not
 implying blind people aren't attentive.  I'm just implying we 
can't
 see.  Don't we have real problems to worry about?  Like actual
 descrimination maybe?
  Best,
 Kirt

 On 6/18/11, Carly Mihalakis <carlymih at earthlink.net> wrote:

 At 03:24 PM 6/18

 Hi, Humberto,

 Do you envision a culture that only speaks in
 generalities and does not celebrate people by use
 of descriptive language? Ought there be some
 ministry of language, some policing body that
 goes around, making sure individuals don't take
 offense to a mere figure of speech? 'Seems it may
 be impossible to speak in an interesting and
 engaging manner if descriptive, specific language
 is not employed, to help do so.
 Carly of Berkeley/2011, you wrote:
 Our daughter Joanne is a linguistic
 anthropology student and was assigned > to > do
 a one page essay on the ways society reenforces
 discrimination.  She > could have chosen a
 number of groups and picked one from any number
 of > ways > that discrimination and bigotry is
 permitted to continue.  Here's what she > said
 about language and the blind.  > > Don't Turn a
 Blind Eye on the Discrimination Against the
 Blind > > By Joanne Gabias > > North American
 societies are trying more and more to be
 accepting of disabilities.  They do so by adding
 Braille to elevator > buttons, > adding closed
 captioning on television, and making sure there
 are > wheelchair > accessible parking spaces.
 These actions may alleviate discrimination to
 an > extent, but in everyday society,
 discrimination is far from extinct.  As we
 know, language creates, transmits and
 perpetuates culture.  In our society,
 expressions that refer to someone as being
 naive, inattentive or stupid > all > use the
 word blind.  Discrimination against the blind
 can only diminish > once > our language removes
 these connotations (of being naive, inattentive
 or > stupid) from the word blind.  > > > > "What
 are you, blind?" This statement is normal in
 everyday > speech in our society.  No matter the
 context, this phrase is degrading, > and
 indicates the person is subpar.  Until this
 expression is out of our > linguistic
 vocabulary, it is impossible for a blind person
 to be treated > with respect and not be cast in
 these stereotypes of being naive, > inattentive
 or stupid.  > > > > "In the kingdom of the
 blind, the one-eyed man is king" - > Desiderius
 Erasmus.  This famous quote, once again or
 almost more so, shows > the blind as inferior
 human beings.  This quote implies that the blind
 can > never achieve greatness.  They will always
 be lower than everyone else.  In > fact, having
 no sight rather than a small amount of sight is
 more > advantageous, since having a small
 amount of sight can be unreliable in > many
 situations.  > > > > The English proverb "the
 eyes are the window to the soul" > implies that
 people whose eyes don't work, don't have souls,
 and souls are > required to be human in our
 culture.  In other words, the blind are not
 human.  Our society puts so much importance on
 sight that it is difficult > for a blind person
 to show the world they are just as able as a
 sighted > person.  > > > > The list of
 linguistic discrimination towards blind
 people > is abundant.  Until the connection
 between blindness and naive, inattentive > and
 stupid is removed from our language,
 discrimination towards the blind > will
 continue to be transmitted and perpetuated
 throughout our culture.  > As > Mark Twain once
 said "The difference between the right word and
 the > almost-right word is the difference
 between lightning and a lightning
 bug."
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