[nabs-l] blindness Vs other minority groups

[Alexander Castillo]

Hello all, first, I would like to identify myself as someone who is
coming from the perspective of two minority

groups. I am blind, and I am also from the Dominican Republic.

Let's start off with the statement that Joshua made about Christianity
being an acceptible religion to poke fun at.

This example misses the point, as christians in this country  are a
majority, not a minority. I'm not saying that

one should be able to make fun of Christianity because of this, I am
saying that it does not fit into the topic.

However, if we lived in a mostly non-christian nation, and christians
were a minority, then the comparison would be

right on the money.

The issue is whether or not blindness differs from other minority
groups.  And, I do not think that it does. If you

take a look at people who have been historicly oppressed, look at the
symptoms which have come from  that

oppression, the stereotypes and discrimination, we could probably draw
the conclusion that indeed, blindness is and

should be considered a disadvantaged minority group.

Once while walking home from a night of bowling I was told by a woman
that "I was walking very well for someone

blind." she then continued to say that I was almost walking faster
than she was. She meant this as a compliment.

While chopping vegetables,I heard a man say "Wow, he's chopping up
that pepper like he's not even blind.."


One of my brother's friends once told him that he did not understand
how I always "stayed fresh" meaning that I was

always well dressed and looking sharp.

I understand what this means. Blind people are understood to lack the
skills which sighted people inherently

possess, and therefore, as a blind person, I   was doing so well that
the sighted person was impressed.

Now, I will say that even though hispanics/latinos in this country
have a high school drop out rate, that in the

workforce we still hold mostly blue collar jobs, that  many of us  pay
taxes at a lower income braquet, and yes, we

as a whole in this country are considered for a very good part
disadvantaged," No one would dare tell me that I was

doing so well for myself even though I was Hispanic.

Disability, is very slowly beginning to be looked at as a minority
group in the same way as ethnicity, gender,

religion... The change is taking place because for once, the
disability community, and in our particular case the

blind community, is being led by our own people. But this is a very
slow process, and I would say that most of the

general population does not understand the change, or why even why
they  have such a rigid view on disability.

Disability, and blindness in particular, are considered weaknesses,
flaws, things which make the typical human being

incomplete.  It is rarely seen among the "able-bodied" as a simple
characteristic. If we consider this perspective,

the "able-bodied" or sighted person    is indeed giving a compliment.
They are saying: I recognize your flaw, and I

recognize how you have overcome it.

Indeed, we do deserve the same considerations as other minorities,we
have had a history of  opression, a history of

activism against such oppression, but what we lack is  that point in
history in which we had not been oppressed.

We cannot point to a map and say, once upon a time, our people were
free in this place, or once upon a time,

societyconsidered us equal. The blind, for the most part have remained
mysterious, and strange to the able-bodied,to

the sighted, to the typical human.


 We are even mysterious and srange to ourselves, often wondering why
some blind people do this, or why some blind

people do that.

Every day however, I come across more and more blind people who  are
ready for employment, who are confident, who do

not have and will not suffer the same stereotyping and discrimination
that many of us have and will face. These

people willl be the new representation of the blind. They will be seen
as active and intergrated members of society.

and the more that we strive to pull ourselves and others out of
conditions of being a  minority group, the more

force our new perspective on disability and in our case blindness will
  be absorbed into the fabric of society.

This was a long post, so thanks for reading,
Alex