[nabs-l] Blindness vs. Other Minority Groups
Chris Nusbaum
dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com
Sun Nov 6 20:58:21 UTC 2011
Your message was also very well-written, Cortnie! I agree
totally! Welcome to the list!
----- Original Message -----
From: Cortnie Ryan <cortnie.ryan at gmail.com
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Tue, 1 Nov 2011 01:13:06 -0400
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Blindness vs. Other Minority Groups
Hello, my name is Cortnie.
This is an extremely interesting topic of discussion. One in
which
I've pondered multiple times. I'm relatively new on this mailing
list,
and haven't quite had the nerve to put my thoughts and opinions
down
for all to see. Shy? I don't know. Anyway, on with the show, I
guess.
First off, I should say that the way this was brought to the
table was
very well-said, and I could tell it's something that was thought
about
at great length. Yes, forgive me for stating the obvious, but a
cause
for controversy is definitely a possibility, but these issues
need to
be discussed in order to reach a potential and satisfactory
resolution. Mind you, this is only my opinion, but it's an
opinion I
feel very strongly about. No, I don't feel that it's different
at all.
What you may feel as a compliment to another person, may,
essentially,
be a slap in their face. Saying that you do something well for a
blind
person is no different than if you were to, as previously stated,
do
well for being a woman. Quite frankly, that sounds sexist and
degrading, no matter how well-meaning the comment was. It's all
about
the perception. What someone else may see as complimentary, you
may
see as an insult. There have been many times those types of
statements
have been made to me. For instance, "Wow, I'm impressed. You do
really
well with crossing the street... for a blind person." Yet,
comments
like that aren't made to any other minority. A more tactful
approach
is taken. I'm unsure why it's that way, but I'm inclined to
believe
that it's a lack of education as well as the fact that most
people see
blindness as a physical disability or, I really hate to use this
word,
but a handicap. We as blind people may be a small fraction of
the
population, but blindness has been around as long as gays have,
or
even unconventional religious practices and beliefs. Take it
from
someone who has struggled through a couple different situations.
I
found my experiences to be quite similar. Lots of stereotyping,
but
different approaches were made when dealing with it. We all just
want
to be accepted and cared about for who we are on the inside.
That's
all that should matter. Unfortunately, though, that's not what
people
see when they meet us. Our supposed disability overshadows our
disposition and personality. It's the same with our success. We
can't
possibly make it in the fast-track world of the all-mighty
sighted.
Note the sarcasm.
Well, there's so much more I could write about this subject, but
then
it would just become even more of a rant. I'm trying to avoid
that.
Once again, very well written.
On 10/31/11, Joshua Lester <jlester8462 at students.pccua.edu>
wrote:
Wow!
Arielle, I've been waiting to say something about this issue!
I was listening to the National Quartet Convention, (Southern
Gospel
music's largest event,) when legendary singer/songwriter Bill
Gaither
made this comment, while introducing the next group.
Gordon Mote, is his pianist, and he happens to be blind, so bear
this in
mind.
Bill Gaither said this, while introducing the Southern Gospel
trio,
"Greater Vision."
"Now, we go from lesser vision, (refering to Gordon,) to Greater
Vision," (referring to the group.)
It's okay to make fun of blindness, but if I told a joke against
someone else, I'd be criticized.
There's a double standard in the politically correct world.
What's good for the goose is good for the gander!
Blessings, Joshua
On 10/31/11, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
Warning-this topic has the potential to start a heated debate,
but I
also think it is an interesting and important topic for us as
blind
people to think about.
Lately I have been thinking a lot about how the problems faced
by the
blind are similar to or different from those faced by other
minority
groups in this country historically and in the present. More
than
that, I have been thinking about how the general public sees us
as a
group in comparison to how they view other minority groups. It
has
struck me that oftentimes members of the general public treat us
in
discriminatory ways or stereotype us without even considering
that
this kind of treatment resembles stereotyping and discrimination
against other minority groups.
Let me give a concrete example. In his book Freedom for the
Blind, Jim
Omvig writes of a time when he was directing a training center
and a
female staff member at the center commented, "You do your job so
well,
sometimes I forget you're blind!" Seeing the teachable moment,
Mr.
Omvig brought up this incident to his students during a
philosophy
class, and to illustrate his point he said to the woman, "You
are such
a good teacher, sometimes I forget you're a woman!" From what I
recall, the staff member got a bit upset and insisted that "no,
what I
said about you being blind was very different from what you said
about
my being a woman. I was just trying to give you a compliment!"
Now, as blind people most of us understand the problem with her
comment-the implication that being blind must not be very good,
so
someone who does a good job isn't like other blind people. To
me this
sounds like the same problem as making the analogous comment to
a
woman-but she didn't see it that way. Why not? Is there a
difference
here?
I have often been quite frustrated when people I know and
trust-friends or family members, who have very liberal views
about
race, would never utter a racial slur or support discrimination
against racial minorities, women, gays etc. who nonetheless
have no
qualms about saying negative things about blindness. Like
saying blind
people are all worse than the sighted at something, or that
blind
people are more dependent or less successful than the sighted,
etc.
They will sometimes say these things to my face and don't
understand
why I don't like to hear these things. Sometimes family members
will
make comments comparing me favorably to other blind people.
They think
they are giving me compliments, and fail to understand that I
don't
want to hear negative things spoken about the blind as a
collective.
Yet these same people would never tell an African American that
they
are "smart for a black person" etc. I remember during the
protests
against the Blindness film in 2008, I was perplexed by how many
people
just didn't get it, and didn't see what harm the film could
do-and yet
an analogous film where everyone developed black skin or female
anatomy with such dire consequences would never be accepted in
our
modern society. And finally, in my research, I have observed
that the
college students in my experiments have no problem saying on a
survey
that the blind are much less competent than the sighted, yet
would
never say such things directly about another minority group-in
fact,
lots of fancy indirect measures have been developed to tap those
attitudes because people nowadays are so unwilling to admit
their
prejudices, unless it's toward the blind.
So, what's up? Are stereotypes about the blind somehow more
accurate
than stereotypes about ethnic minorities? Is discrimination
against
the blind somehow more justified? Or is it just that we are such
a
small group that we haven't developed the same history, had the
same
scale of civil rights activism, etc. to raise people's
awareness? Do
you guys think we deserve the same considerations as other
minorities
in this country? If not, am I missing something? If so, how do
we get
members of the public to see this?
Also, as an aside, I'm curious to hear from those of you who are
"dual
minorities" being both blind and a member of a minority group in
this
country (ethnicity-wise, or a different group like GLBT,
uncommon
religious beliefs etc.) How do you think your two identities are
similar? Different? Do you feel they interact with one another?
I look forward to the discussion.
Best,
Arielle
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