[nabs-l] what is Federationism

Thu May 5 01:37:55 UTC 2011

Good points, Marc.  Thank you! The only thing I would challenge 
you on is this: if technology is made inaccessible, it isn't 
always that the designer of that technology doesn't want it to be 
accessible, but rather that either the person doesn't know how to 
make the spesific technology accessible or that he/she doesn't 
consider the accessibility of it, being that the market of this 
country is generally sighted-based.  When I told our Web designer 
that the site for our foundation isn't accessible, she 
automatically apologized and started on redesigning the site in 
an accessible format, as have other Web designers I've been in 
contact with over the accessibility (or lack thereof) of their 
Web site.  Therefore in my view, the technology being 
inaccessible when first introduced isn't discrimination.  What is 
discrimination, however, is when people and groups of people like 
the NFB bring to a person or company's attention that the 
technology they produce isn't accessible and they don't listen, 
leaving their technology totally inaccessible by nonvisual means 
without regard to the millions of blind people they could be 
helping.  To use another example, during the Civil Rights  
movement, white-owned businesses and people segregated everything 
from schools to lunch counters on a basis of "white" or "black" 
only, without regard to the feelings of the people being 
discriminated against.  That's discrimination, and that's what I 
believe the Federation is there to fight.

Chris Nusbaum

"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)

--- Sent from my Braille-Note

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Marc Workman" <mworkman.lists at gmail.com
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Tue, 3 May 2011 21:03:17 -0600
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] what is Federationism

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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