[nabs-l] [nfbWaTlk] class essay

[Jorge Paez]

Jedi:
With all due respect, how can language be a problem?

Now let me make it clear from the start, I understand your points, and they are well expressed.
My problem with this is that, are we as a blind community going to try and get so politically correct about things?

Just think of it this way: "retarded" is now outlawed and you must call  someone "intellectually challenged."

I'm not saying what my position on that law is, but my argument is the following:
there are those of us who are blind as in visual problems, yes of course.
But there is also a mental blindness, e.g. not being able to see the truth in such case as those we call "blind faith".

And your use of the word "see" is a very example of this.
I've noted some people have problems with "see" and try to use "hear" around me but I don't have a problem with it myself.

When I'm talking to friends, etc., I say "Nice to see you" and "see you soon/later."

Do I see them?

No, like I said, I'm totally blind.

But what do you expect us to say? If this is the social norm what do you expect us to say?
"Nice to hear you" and "hear you soon/later?"

There is only so far that we can go in changing what it means to be blind and I think we'd much rather spend our energy on other things then language such as:
-educating the sighted public threw roll models,
-educating the children in schools about blindness and/or braille.
(this is something I myself did, delivering an entire presentation on Braille last year at my middle school.)

And so much more we can do then changing language.

And now that I think of it:
to add one more thing to this discussion,
do black have problems being called blacks,
or latinos latinos?

Sure, there is a difference between the metaphorical blindness and the physical one, but are we really going to be so picky as to start crying discrimination with language!

Has any other group--and there are many, ever put out a claim like this?


With the exception of the N words and language like that that is clearly made for the purposes of denigration,
there hasn't.
And even the N word was never officially complained about by anyone, it just became bad because people started interpreting it in such a manner.

Let our language evolve on its own.

Yes, perhaps some day blindness won't mean stupid, but let society determine that on free will,
not laws or organizations.





On Jun 19, 2011, at 4:32 PM, Jedi wrote:

> I agree that expressions like "blind faith" and "turn a blind eye" do need a little more attention as I also believe that they are part of the reason why the blind face such discrimination and lingering prejudice.
> 
> Back in ancient Greece, there used to be this thing called "Ate." Ate was the word given to a state where metaphorical and physical blindness meet. Whenever Ate was mentioned in a play or story, it was often unclear whether or not physical or metaphorical blindness was the topic of discussion. People overcome by Ate were said to be crazy and overcome by their emotions. Often, physical blindness worked itself into the story somewhere, usually as a punishment for actions committed under the influence of metaphorical blindness or as a cause of metaphorical blindness. Over the centuries, the crazy aspects of Ate faded and it morphed more into a sense of ignorance or not knowing. that notion still exists. If it didn't, why do the sighted tell us about things we know are there like stairs and things? Why do they insist that they know more about the world than we do just because they use a more common sensorium than we do?
> 
> While it is true that we may not be able to change language altogether, I think it is important to look at our language and see where it needs changing. Note that in this very sentence, I said see instead of discover; I can only conclude that I, like everyone else, have come to associate seeing with discovery.   In any case, it's always a good idea to think about how our social and linguistic conditioning affects us. There is nothing wrong with using the word blind to describe someone with a visual condition that substantially alters their way of life, but there is a problem with linking that physical blindness with a host of other problems such as ignorance, or as Joanne pointed out, subhumanity.
> 
> Respectfully,
> Jedi
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On 19/06/2011, at 2:18 AM, Kirt Manwaring <kirt.crazydude at gmail.com> 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,
>>> 
> 
> 
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