[nabs-l] Security in ourselves, acceptance in others

Josh Gregory joshkart12 at gmail.com
Sat May 28 17:07:09 UTC 2011


Is there a site with...  the history of blind people and what 
they went through? I'm curious now, this is a good thread.
Josh

sent from my Apex
Email: joshkart12 at gmail.com

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com
To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sat, 28 May 2011 09:52:47 -0700
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Security in ourselves, acceptance in others

Although I was never subject to one, I can still remember when, 
at late as
the 1960's, welfare workers conducted "night raids" with the help 
of the
police wherein said workers would visit blind clients and go 
through their
homes to make sure that nothing had been bought that would 
indicate that the
clients had unreported income.  This extended even to such items 
as a new
dress.

I echo Briley's sentiments that many today have no concept of 
what went down
in the past.

Mike


-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org 
[mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Briley Pollard
Sent: Saturday, May 28, 2011 7:28 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Security in ourselves, acceptance in others

I think it is not always an appropriate comparison to say our 
struggle for
civil rights isn't completely parallel with the black American 
experience,
but we have struggled for civil rights.  Go read some history on 
how blind
people have been treated by families and institutions over the 
years.  Blind
children were targets for sexual assault in extremely high 
numbers because
they were considered to be vulnerable.  They were placed in 
horrific living
conditions throughout history in institutions because families 
believed that
blindness was equal to ineffectiveness, and that they'd never be 
able to
succeed or help out their relatives.  As a people group, we have 
suffered
many indignities that I don't think the current generation of 
blind people
even come close to realizing.

Best,
Briley
On May 28, 2011, at 1:23 AM, Darian Smith wrote:

 Mike:
 African-Americans/blacks (however one choosses to term
 themselves)would not have been too keen on the idea based upon 
how
 they were treated by whites  up to that time.
  It is curious that how    african-americans were treated is 
always
 one of the first ways we as blind  people choose to make our
 comparisons in our struggle  for first-class citizanship.  I 
wonder,
 were blind people  beatin and hosed down when they peacefully 
protest
 the unjust ways they were treated? Were  they lybnched?  Can we 
safely
 make those  comparisons?  unless  I am missing something (I 
could be,
 and it wouldn't be the first or last time I have), we  have some
 similarities with regards to civil rights, but largely our 
histories
 were quite different and  the scars, deaths,risks were felt on 
largely
 different levels.
 Just  some thoughts on  the matter,and I very much appreciate 
the
question.
  Respectfully,
  Darian

 On 5/26/11, Mike Freeman <k7uij at panix.com> wrote:
 Darian:

 What do  you think African-americans would have said during the
 1950's and 1960's had one of their number said he/she would 
rather
 date a Caucasian person because of the concern for two black 
persons
dating?

 Mike


 -----Original Message-----
 From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org 
[mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
 Behalf Of Darian Smith
 Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2011 5:49 PM
 To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
 Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Security in ourselves, acceptance in 
others

 Jedi,
  Sure-let me see...
 We as federationests have certain ways that we like to deal with
 situations, ways that we see life or phrase things in life.  For
 example We like to use  the term "blind"  as opposed to 
"visually
 impaired" or any variant there of.  We also like if a person 
uses
 products with Braille  on them (braille watches, braille 
compass,
 braille books and the like, but somehow we tend to make people 
who
 don't utilize these things seem lesser for not.
  I have a friend who would much rather date a sighted  gentleman 
than
 a blind gentleman because she is concerned about the idea of two
 blind people dating.
  Personally I may feel a certain way about  these things, but I 
would
 like to think that  it's  huge to  consider where each person is 
in
 their life and  accept them into the  fold as they are.    I am 
fine
 with educatinn,  so long as  we arn't critical and that we are
 accepting, because  seems to me that weas people hate to be told 
that we
are "wrong"
 for thinking like we do.
  Does that make sense?
  Respecgfully,
  Darian


 On 5/26/11, Darian Smith <dsmithnfb at gmail.com> wrote:
 Very good points.
  We as blind people are a minority, and I think it's  good to
 remember that  there are other minorities out there.  How does 
one
 member of a minority group address another member of that same 
group
 if they don't feel that this person is acting like they should 
in
 public?  Don't feel like this person is projecting a positive 
image
 of the rest of that group to society?
    I believe that we all face that problem and how we deal with 
it
 varies, but I would hope that we know enough to not  take  it   
upon
 ourselves to change the worlds opinions.  I think we can model  
that
 positive image that is with in our grasp to become, that 
probably is
 the  healthiest way to approach this  idea of 
perception-changing
 that we  think about alot,  Does that make sense?
  thoughts?

 On 5/26/11, Jedi <loneblindjedi at samobile.net> wrote:
 Excellent points.

 I'm going to add to that some.

 I've noticed that we also tend to judge a person's actions when
 they attempt to handle a vexing situation like overhelpfulness 
or
 discrimination.  I've been doing some research on the effects of
 such judgment and have concluded that it creates an invisible
 audience for the blind person in question.  This audience is 
made of
 both the blind and the sighted community and creates thoughts 
like
 "What will my blind friends and colleagues think of me if I 
react this
or that way?
 What will the sighted person I'm talking to think? What will
 sighted bystanders think?" What this does is create a win/lose
 situation where the stakes are high.  Aside from causing stress 
that
 limits problem-solving ability, this high stakes situation also
 creates a greater likelihood of negative response to perceived
 threats to the blind person's self-concept and sense of efficacy 
in the
interaction.
 So for example, an overly helpful person might cause a blind 
person
 to feel ineffective as it is.  But the invisible audience 
concept
 boosts that feeling considerably because of the stress involved
 with feeling like they have to show themselves as both effective
 and graceful in handling both the offers of help and the person
 who's offering it.  Is any of this making sense? So the bottom 
line
 is that by trying to be the perfect ambassador for the blind, we
 may be shooting ourselves in the foot by creating such a high
 stakes situation in our mind that the stress lowers our ability 
to
 present the cool, calm, and effective image we want to offer to 
the
public.

 On that note, I've noticed that our community seems to have it 
in
 our heads that we're responsible for how the sighted feel about 
us.
 The truth is that there are limits to that responsibility.  
Sure, we
 want to set a good impression in all areas, but so does everyone
 else.  The sad truth is that we are judged based on the actions 
of one
person.
 But the thing is, there's nothing that we can really do about 
that
 except to expose a given sighted person to the diversity of our
 population.  Even if we set the perfect impression, it's likely 
that
 the sighted person will still stereotype by saying that we're 
all
 amazing or that the one individual in question is the exception 
to
 a rule.  It seems to me that the only people who really get that
 we're as diverse as they are are those who know how to 
deconstruct
 society's grand narrative or are those who have seen enough
 diversity in our population to realize that they can't judge all 
of
 us based on one
 person.

 Respectfully,
 Jedi

 Original message:
 That makes perfect sense, but we should not fall into the trap 
of
 taking responsibility for others' actions.  When we do that, we
 lose sight of our own goals and direction in life.  Unless 
you're a
 therapist, or a rehab teacher working with people like that, it 
is
 not your job to fix them.  Even as a therapist or teacher, your
 place is to be a mentor and an instructor.  As I previously 
said,
 if that person, after being shown compassion and alternative 
ways
 of thinking, doing and living chooses to fall back into old
 patterns as soon as the instructor's back is turned, that shows 
a
 lack of respect for everyone around them, including themselves.  
So
 if a person wants to wallow in misery and self-pity, let them!
 That person will either fall hard when they find out their
 parents/family members/significant other or what have you can't
 take care of them forever, and then they'll realize what needs 
to
 happen in due time, or they will get sick of the status quo and
 want to change it.  And if people hold it against a decent blind
 person because they've met a person like that in the past, it's
 not worth it to try and make them feel any differently.  They 
will
 either come around in time or they
 won't.  Choice is the key word here.
 Everyone is free to think as they choose so long as it's not
 hurting anyone.  So, while it might temporarily sting a bit to 
lose
 out on a potential friendship due to someone's ignorance, as 
soon
 as you meet someone who's worth your time, you forget about that
 other person real quick

 On 5/26/11, Daniel Romero <djdan567 at gmail.com> wrote:
 I think the reason why this might go down is because of the view
 that we get from the public in general.  Most people who are
 sighted are not used to a blind person.  You have to understand
 that one blind person being seen is a huge thing.  They're now
 reliable for what a person thinks about blind people.  They are
 the ones setting an example.  So if you have a blind person who
 smells bad, rocks, pokes their eyes or just do not have the
 proper skills, the outside person will make an assumtion and say
 that all blind people are like that.  i'm not saying it's right
 for blind people to call out other blind people with a skills 
set
 that is lower then theirs, they're just calling them out because
 they are representing blind people.  It puts a bad label on us
 blind people who do take care of ourselves, have the skills to 
be
 independent and succeed.  like i said, i'm not saying it's right
 but I don't think us who do have the skills want to have a
 negative conotation.  Not all blind people poke their eyes, 
rock,
 hop, twitch,bump into everything, smell bad, do not clean their
 own clothes, or anything like that.  So to be part of a group
 that's going to display such a view that is negative to the 
public,
we fall right behind that.  Am I making sense?

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 --
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 - Robert Byrne



 --
 Darian Smith
 Skype: The_Blind_Truth
 Windows Live: Lightningrod2010 at live.com Follow me on twitter:
 http://twitter.com/goldengateace

 "The purpose of life is a life of purpose.

 - Robert Byrne

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 http://twitter.com/goldengateace

 "The purpose of life is a life of purpose.

 - Robert Byrne

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