[nabs-l] what is Federationism

Wed May 4 03:03:17 UTC 2011

I've made this point many times before, but it's been a while; perhaps there 
are new subscribers who haven't heard it yet.

I think Mike's characterization of federation philosophy is accurate, and 
there's a lot worth championing in that way of understanding blindness, but 
there's also, in my opinion, a serious inconsistency.

Mike wrote,
virtually all of the problems of blindness are those experienced by other 
minorities within society, e.g., discriminatory treatment and lack of 
acceptance as persons of equal standing with the rest of society.

Mike also wrote,
Additionally, we of the NFB believe that we, the blind, can adapt to the 
world, requiring few modifications to function effectively in the world as 
it is.

I don't think this is quite write.  It seems to me federationism not only 
suggests that we can adapt to the world as it is, but that we ought to adapt 
to the world as it is.  And this is the aspect of federationism I think is 
problematic and inconsistent.

My question is: why not adapt to the discrimination and unequal treatment? 
What I would argue is that designing products, services, institutions, etc 
in such a way that they are inaccessible is a form of discrimination.  So 
federationism requires 1) that we stand up and resist discrimination and 2) 
that we accept and adapt to discrimination, and this is inconsistent.

One could avoid the inconsistency by defining discrimination narrowly.  You 
might say that discrimination requires intent and that badly designing 
various products, services, etc is not done with discriminatory intent, and 
thus does not qualify as discrimination.  I could concede this point, but 
then I'd argue that recognizing these things as inaccessible and than 
failing to correct them is discrimination.  It conceivably wasn't a 
discriminatory intention that led builders of the Canadian Parliament to 
fail to include enough women's washrooms.  There weren't that many women in 
the building, and they certainly weren't sitting in the House of Commons, so 
there was no need to build washrooms for them.  But when women did begin to 
be elected, failing to build the washrooms would be discriminatory.  Nor was 
building the washrooms a matter of accommodating the special needs of women, 
doing so was required as a matter of justice, it was the correction of a 
flaw in the initial design.  I think the same argument applies when it comes 
to altering the world to make it more accessible for blind people.  Most 
things are designed under the assumption that they will be used by sighted 
rather than blind people.  To design things in this way is wrong, just as it 
is wrong to design Parliament under the assumption that only men will use 
the washrooms.

You could challenge me on what I mean by inaccessible, and here's another 
place where I suspect I clash with federation philosophy.  A blind person 
shouldn't have to undergo significant blindness training in order to 
function in the world.  She should absolutely have the opportunity to 
acquire such training, but she shouldn't be condemned to a life of poverty 
and isolation if she fails to receive such training.  We should not be 
fighting for a world that only well-trained and qualified blind people can 
adapt to; we should be fighting for one where as many people as possible, 
with the widest variety of skills as possible, can flourish.  This is an 
ideal; it's not a place we should ever expect to reach, but we should 
nevertheless strive to achieve it.  To simply adapt to the world as it 
exists is to accept injustice and discrimination.

Apologies for digressing from the intent of the original question.

Cheers,

Marc
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 7:36 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] what is Federationism

> Chris:
>
> I conceive of Federationism as the attempt to live the Federation 
> philosophy
> in one's own life.  It is the active espousal of NFB philosophy in word 
> and
> deed.
>
> What is the Federation philosophy?  Here's what I wrote on the NFB of
> Washington website:
>
> The real problem of blindness is not the lack of eyesight; it is the
> misconceptions about blindness held by society.
> The blind are neither especially cursed nor especially blessed; they are
> normal people who cannot see.
> With training and opportunity, blindness can be reduced to the level of a
> physical nuisance or inconvenience.
> With training and opportunity, the average blind person can perform the
> average job in the average workplace as well as can his/her sighted
> colleagues.
> The blind are a minority within society and virtually all of the problems 
> of
> blindness are those experienced by other minorities within society, e.g.,
> discriminatory treatment and lack of acceptance as persons of equal 
> standing
> with the rest of society.
> In essence, NFB's philosophy of blindness amounts to the knowledge that it
> is respectable to be blind.
>
> Additionally, we of the NFB believe that we, the blind, can adapt to the
> world, requiring few modifications to function effectively in the world as
> it is.
>
> I joined the Federation and am still a Federationist because I believe in
> the tenets of NFB philosophy and, having had some difficulty securing
> employment, because I vowed that I would do what I could to see to it that
> such discrimination wouldn't happen to the blind of future generations. 
> It
> is my way of doing what I can to see to it that the blind achieve
> first-class citizenship and complete integration into society on a basis 
> of
> equality with the sighted.  I've always been interested in the law,
> especially constitutional law, and the NFB is a great way for me to play
> lawyer without a law degree (I've authored several Washington laws) and
> gives me a chance to examine in detail such concepts as discrimination, 
> what
> we can and should expect from society and, perhaps more importantly, what 
> we
> shouldn't expect.
>
> Mike Freeman
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> Behalf
> Of Chris Nusbaum
> Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 1:32 PM
> To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> Cc: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nabs-l] what is Federationism
>
> Hi, all.
>
> Here's an interesting, maybe somewhat philosophical question for all of 
> you.
> Sorry for those of you who don't like these topics, you don't have to 
> reply.
> I've always been an NFB member (since I was very little) but I was never
> really active in it.  Oh sure, I followed some of the issues and had some
> oppinions, but I never really was that active in the NFB itself.  Now, 
> after
> I went to the NFB's Leadership and Advocacy program, I seem to have a new
> sense of support for the Federation and as I'm learning more, I want to be
> more active in it.  I really am starting to understand and strongly 
> believe
> in the NFB philosophy, or at least how I interpret it.  So I want to ask 
> you
> a threefold question: what does Federationism mean to you, what do you 
> think
> the NFB philosophy is, and why are you a Federationist? I'm not going to
> tell you my opinion just yet, mainly because I don't really have a strong
> one.  That's why I want to hear from you, think about your opinions, and
> finally decide what I believe.  I look forward to hearing all of your
> thoughts!
>
> Chris Nusbaum
>
> "A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)
>
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