[nabs-l] nabs-l Digest, Vol 53, Issue 17

[Kirt Manwaring]

Bridget,
  You know...I'm starting to think Jedi might be right.  Culture
doesn't mean lifestyle...it's more like community.  So I'm part of the
Mormon culture and blind culture and (cause I'm a basketball junkie
and writing in a selection Sunday comercial break) a part of the
basketball culture.  I'm part of the Interfaith dialogue culture and
the Mountain Dew culture (cause that drink's just amazing)...I'm part
of the facebook enthusiasts culture and the fantasy book reading
culture.  Heck...I like girls, I'm part of the heterosexual culture.
But man I think I'm oversimplifying this...but that's how I see the
blindness community- an interest that matters a good deal more than
mountain dew and basketball, but not nearly as much as girls, my
faith, or interfaith dialogue.  So, if all those things are cultures,
I guess I'm part of the "nfb culture", too.
  Best,
Kirt

On 3/13/11, Bridgit Pollpeter <bpollpeter at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Culture is based on a civilization containing its own religion, customs,
> beliefs, language and code of ethics.  This does not define an
> organization like the NFB or ACB.  Yes, we have a philosophy about
> blindness itself, but this "philosophy" is strictly about how one lives
> as a blind person in one's own established culture.
>
> In fact, there is information on the NFB's website regarding this very
> topic, and the same point is made-- the NFB is not a culture or even
> sub-culture.
>
> Any values or beliefs we hold are only united by our blindness, but if
> we were to look at each individual, we would find these concepts vary.
> Organizations like the NFB contain people coming from all socio-economic
> backgrounds with differing views on religion and belief systems.
>
> And in anthropological and historical terms, we certainly do not have a
> common language unique to us nor do we have customs specific to our
> group.
>
> Because we mostly agree on what blindness means-- a minor disability
> that allows us to achieve equal success-- this does not mean we create a
> culture.  We use a cane or dog to navigate, but this is our equivalence
> to using eyes; many of us use Braille, but it is merely a tactile of the
> language already used by society at large; we have views about how blind
> people should live and be treated, but these are based on our concepts
> of disability, and they are based on general rules of how people in
> general should be treated.
>
> So I believe using the word culture is a misuse of the word.  In fact,
> saying that the NFB is its own culture places a distinction between us
> and those who are not us which creates a divide.  We live, work and play
> in this society so our culture is the one adopted by our civilization
> and the group (family and friends) we associate ourselves with.
>
> By your argument, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are their own culture
> too, or The Daughters of the American Revolution or PETA.  Because we
> have common interest and choose to organize to promote our common
> interest and goals, does not mean we have developed a culture.
>
> Bridgit
>
> Message: 18
> Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2011 01:06:53 -0500
> From: Jedi <loneblindjedi at samobile.net>
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Future of the NFB
> Message-ID:
> 	
> <20110313060653.29087.71137 at domU-12-31-38-00-AD-3E.compute-1.internal>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format="flowed"
>
> Yes, you are missing the mark. A culture has little to do with whether
> or not you believe you can achieve within the greater society, unless
> that is one of the questions that founds your culture as it is with
> ours.
>
> The blind community actually has at least four cultures that I can
> identify: the NFB, the ACB, the unaffiliated consumer base, and the
> unaffiliated professional base. Professionals affiliated with one of
> the organizations are likely to build their professional values on the
> foundation of their affiliation's values. The unaffiliated
> professionals (and consumers) will have their own cultures, but that
> could be considered a major cultural grouping.
>
> A culture is a group of individuals sharing similar beliefs regarding
> human nature, relationships between time and space, traditions, values,
> etc. Just because one individual belongs to one culture, that does not
> mean that the same individual cannot belong to other cultures
> concurrently; this principle is called intersectionality. It is true
> that an individual can belong to multiple cultural groups, but strongly
> identify with some of their cultural markers over others for just about
> any reason under the sun.
>
> I would be happy to argue the NFB as a culture, but that would take
> some time and a lot of analysis. And frankly, I'm just not up to the
> task at the moment. The bottom line is that, anthropologically
> speaking, the NFB is a culture and that you can certainly belong to
> such a culture and maintain your cultural identity outside of the NFB
> without compromising any and all of your cultural identities. Does that
> make sense? The disability community also has multiple cultures, and
> these may or may not have anything to do with a specific disability,
> but may have more to do with how disability is defined. There are some
> disability cultures that the NFB would most certainly not identify
> with, others with which we would identify with some, and others with
> which we share much in common in terms of our core values related to
> the role of disability in our lives.
>
> Respectfully submitted
>
> Original message:
>> Jedi,
>>   I'm still not sold on the idea of a "disability
>> culture."...although, I think in the context of working with other
>> disability groups with a similar mindset to us, it makes sense.  But,
>> for me, the point of the NFB is empowering us to be part of whatever
>> culture we feel like with blindness being as minimal a factor as
>> possible.  I recognize that others have different interpretations of
>> how to apply NFB philosophy, but that's what it means to
>> me...blindness will not keep me from any of my goals in the world,
>> even though it places some limits in the way I have to overcome.  If
>> part of assessing our future is examining what NFB philosophy means to
>> each of us, that's probably a good place for me to start.  Thoughts,
>> anyone?  Am I missing the mark?
>>   Best,
>> Kirt
>
>
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