[nabs-l] blindness Vs other minority groups

autTeal Bloodwortho tealbloodworth at gmail.com
Sat Nov 12 22:36:57 UTC 2011


I agree, it was very well put. I also felt like comparing race to blindness 
was alittle abstract, but you did a very good job, Alex, saying people don't 
necessarily judge you on how well you do by your race as they do with 
blindness/disability.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris Nusbaum" <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 7:43 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] blindness Vs other minority groups


> Great post, Alex! Very well written, and I totally agree!
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Alexander Castillo <alexandera.castillo at gmail.com
> To: nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Wed, 2 Nov 2011 01:51:26 -0400
> Subject: [nabs-l] blindness Vs other minority groups
>
> 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
>
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