[nabs-l] Blindness vs. Other Minority Groups
Patrick Molloy
ptrck.molloy at gmail.com
Sun Nov 13 20:33:38 UTC 2011
Chris,
Sounds like you did some of the things that I used to do when I was in
grade school and high school. My TVI and I always used to do a little
mini-lesson for my class when I was in grade school. We would teach
them Braille and sighted (or human) guide, and let them ask me any
questions that they had. When I hit high school, there was a
psychology teacher who always had me come and present to her classes
when they were doing their unit on senses and perception. It was a
really great opportunity. I too always met with teachers in advance
and showed them how all the technology I had worked. And inevitably,
one teacher would always ask: "Do I have to learn Braille?" To which I
always responded: "Only if you're interested in learning it!"
Patrick
On 11/13/11, Rania Ismail CMT <raniaismail04 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Chris, I really like your idea. I think that also shows your teachers how
> you do things independently!
> Rania,
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Chris Nusbaum
> Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2011 11:20 AM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Blindness vs. Other Minority Groups
>
> Hi Joshua and everyone,
>
> I am in 8th grade and am mainstreamed in the public school system
> here in Carroll County, Maryland. I'm also an anchor on my
> school's TV-LIKE morning announcements program. So, one day
> during Meet the Blind Month when I was on the program as an
> anchor, I made an announcement on the air regarding Meet the
> Blind Month and its purpose, to "educate the sighted public about
> the truth about blindness, and our real capabilities." I also
> encouraged them to ask me any questions they had about blindness,
> no matter what it was. I wouldn't be offended. I closed the
> announcement with a slogan that my TVI thought up; "I encourage
> all of you to open your mind and meet the blind!" This has
> started a great opportunity for me to educate my peers, and for
> them to openly ask me questions. My family and I also do a
> program for my teachers each year, in which we do a blindness
> simulations where the teachers have to make a peanut butter and
> jelly sandwich blindfolded. This also helps them get an glimpse
> into my world, if you will. I'd love to hear what you guys did
> for Meet the Blind Month, if anything!
>
> Chris
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Joshua Lester <jlester8462 at students.pccua.edu
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Fri, 4 Nov 2011 17:59:21 -0500
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Blindness vs. Other Minority Groups
>
> I actually did a presentation at my college, for "Meet the
> Blind,"
> month where I showed everyone how to guide a blind person, and I
> taught them the blindness courtesy rules, from the NFB.
> I'd encourage all students here, to ask if you can do the same
> thing,
> at your colleges.
> Blessings, Joshua
>
> On 11/4/11, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
> These are all great points. Thanks for humoring me with this
> discussion. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it
> important.
> As some of you may know, there was a time not too long ago when
> African Americans were perceived to be less intelligent than
> white
> Americans. In fact, there was a brief scientific movement
> called "race
> science" to try and quantify this intelligence difference and
> link it
> to racial differences in brain structure. Of course, this
> belief has
> been heavily challenged and is no longer popular. Additionally,
> psychologists have identified specific factors in the social
> environment that can lead to racial differences in performance
> on
> standardized tests that were once mistaken for differences in
> intelligence. For example, questions on IQ tests are sometimes
> worded
> in a biased fashion to favor people from white American
> backgrounds,
> and sometimes fears about being stereotyped can cause people to
> perform worse on tests than they are actually capable of.
> Because
> African Americans were stereotyped as less intelligent, this
> stereotype itself can lead to poor test performance.
> As we all know, there are lots of beliefs out there, among the
> sighted
> public, blindness professionals and blind people ourselves,
> about the
> inferiority of blindness and the many deficits and lack of
> ability we
> have. We know that a big part of our inequality comes from the
> social
> environment-parents and teachers who have low expectations, lack
> of
> instruction in Braille and other blindness skills, and lack of
> accessibility-and only a small part of it comes directly from
> the
> condition of blindness. I dream that in time, hopefully in our
> lifetime, this will become the widely accepted view, and the
> majority
> of the sighted public will understand that we can be equally
> successful as our sighted counterparts under the right social
> conditions, just like most people (at least most educated
> people) now
> understand that African Americans are just as intellectually
> capable
> as whites if the social environment supports their success.
> We definitely have a long way to go in this regard and it will
> be
> difficult to drive this point home. As others have said, some
> sighted
> people just don't know what our capabilities are. I think that
> in our
> culture there is a lot of focus on vision as a major sense, and
> people
> assume that vision loss is invariably a deficit. It explains
> why
> literature geared toward parents of blind children often
> highlights
> the fact that 80% of what sighted children learn is learned
> visually,
> and it explains why blindness professionals are often so
> unwilling to
> teach Braille and prefer to focus on vision-based literacy.
> People
> have trouble believing that all the other senses combined plus
> some
> mental effort can make up for loss of vision. People's beliefs
> about
> the primacy of vision for functioning are powerful, often
> unconscious,
> and are rarely challenged-because we are a minority, and because
> these
> beliefs are difficult to challenge. Truly understanding how
> blind
> people function requires some creative thinking and mental
> flexibility-something I frankly don't think some people possess
> or are
> willing to engage. And unfortunately, it is hard to get people
> on
> board for the environmental modifications we need to be
> equal-accessibility etc.-unless they truly believe that these
> changes
> will give us equal opportunity.
> Jedi, you make some interesting points about how we should start
> standing up to the sighted. I agree that we are often
> conditioned to
> accept treatment we shouldn't be accepting, and that the errant
> behavior of the sighted so often goes unchallenged. The problem
> is
> that I fear that attempts to stand up for ourselves will be
> misinterpreted. The treatment we get differs from treatment to
> other
> minority groups in that we are rarely treated with violence or
> outright hostility, but so often discriminated against under an
> illusion of kindness. Too often, an honest response to this
> kindness
> is simply shrugged off as rudeness or ingratitude instead of
> really
> being given proper attention. For example, when I was a
> teenager, I
> often refused offers of "help" from people I didn't know well
> and
> would let people know I didn't like it when they grabbed or
> manhandled
> me around. I am told that several of my schoolmates thought of
> me as a
> b**. I don't think they ever actually thought about changing
> their
> behavior toward me, but just wrote me off as a rude person. So
> I
> definitely think we should make an effort to communicate frankly
> and
> directly with the sighted, but I'm unsure of how to do it in a
> way
> that is accepted in dialogue rather than just dismissed. I
> would be
> interested in learning more about the dialogue strategies you
> mention.
> Best,
> Arielle
>
> On 11/4/11, Jedi <loneblindjedi at samobile.net> wrote:
> David,
>
> With all due respect, I think that's exactly the logic that
> rewards us
> for keeping our mouths shut thus maintaining the status quo.
> When we
> say to ourselves "Sighted people don't mean to be malicious," we
> somehow send ourselves, and each other, the second half of the
> message
> which ultimately says "So lay off," "No need to worry about it,"
> or
> ""It's no big deal." If that works for you, great. But what
> about those
> of us whom such logic doesn't work for?
>
> I tried to soothe myself with the notion that the sighted just
> don't
> know better. And for me, that made the problem all the worse
> because I
> started to think that there was something wrong with me for
> feeling
> upset by what the sighted person had said or done to begin with.
> I
> started questioning the validity of my own experience as the
> person to
> whom ignorant comments are made and ignorant actions are pressed
> upon.
> Like I said in a previous post, I had to rearrange my thinking
> or else
> go nuts. *grin*
>
> Yes, the sighted don't intend to be malicious, but the fact is
> that
> what they say and do is still harmful. Humans never meant to be
> malicious toward Earth, but our actions over the last hundred
> years or
> so have badly depleted our natural resources and will continue
> to do so
> until we realize that, despite our lack of bad intensions, we're
> harming something that's as much a part of ourselves as
> anything. I
> hope the analogy is not too remote.
>
> My bottom line is this. I think it's time to stop excusing the
> sighted
> when they treat us in ways that they themselves would never wish
> to be
> treated. I think it's time we start alerting ourselves and the
> rest of
> the world to the fact that our interpersonal relationships with
> the
> sighted public haven't changed as much as we would like them to,
> and
> that these interpersonal (and intercultural) relationships are,
> to a
> large extent, a huge part of why we have such a high
> unemployment rate,
> why we experience discrimination in our recreational and
> personal
> lives, and why the public still largely considers us a
> non-entity in a
> lot of ways (I think internet accessibility is a great example
> of this).
>
> Yes, what i'm suggesting is, i suppose, quite radical. But I
> think we
> can have our cake and eat it, too. I think it's possible to
> develop
> excellent interpersonal and intercultural relations with the
> sighted
> thereby getting our basic societal needs met. But the first
> step is
> realizing that nothing is going to change unless we intend that
> change
> to happen and take the steps to start it.
>
> Here's what I think we could do to get the ball rolling. I
> think we
> need to start publishing another round of Kernel books. I
> realize we
> still have a bunch left over from the last set we did, but they
> are out
> of date in that they don't address some of the newer issues that
> have
> cropped up in the last ten years or so. And frankly, we need
> fresher
> faces in these stories. we need more stories from the current
> generation because that's who will be reading these stories on
> the
> sighted end of things. I'm willing to write for the kernel
> books.
> anyone with me?
>
> The second thing we need to do is to formally teach ourselves
> how to
> communicate more effectively with the sighted. Last time, i
> talked
> about educating through dialogue rather than dialoguing through
> education. How is that done, anyway? Well, there are a few ways
> of
> going about it and there are some amazing groups and
> institutions who
> specialize in teaching people how to communicate based on their
> experience. I immediately think of the Swil Kanim Foundation,
> the
> Institute of Cultural Affairs, and the Center for studies of the
> Person. All of these entities have trained facilitators who can
> help
> groups of us learn how to communicate our experiences more
> effectively;
> we could potentially hold encounter groups during our next NFB
> convention in Dallas. The groups would be small to start out
> with;
> maybe twenty to fifty in each. But it's a start.
> Alternatively, the
> Federation could start a project wherein some of us volunteer to
> train
> as facilitators through one of these entities and then go around
> from
> affiliate to affiliate, chapter to chapter, and have these
> encounter
> groups locally. What would come out of either approach is a
> group of
> people who are more willing to be truthful with the sighted and
> can do
> so in a way that's honoring to everyone concerned.
>
> Anyway, these are some thoughts I've been playing with for some
> time,
> and I'm willing to participate in a project like this, but i'm
> going to
> need some help.I've said it before, but I'm interested in
> hearing from
> anyone who's also interested in this kind of thing and who think
> we
> could come up with some crazy way to get it going.
>
> Respectfully,
> Jedi
>
> Original message:
> Arielle:
>
> I think that it is in part that we are a small minority, but the
> biggest factor is people's ignorance about the capabilities of
> the
> blind. When someone shuts their eyes, they don't see how they
> could
> do anything, (pun partially intended.) Without training --
> which
> they don't have, they can't imagine how we get around etc.
>
> I don't think their statements are malicious, just ignorant!
>
> Dave
>
> At 10:09 PM 10/31/2011, you 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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