[nabs-l] Blindness vs. Other Minority Groups
Joshua Lester
jlester8462 at students.pccua.edu
Sun Nov 13 22:02:19 UTC 2011
Cool!
I'm going to start this same program, in the schools!
If we're going to educate people about blindness, we need to start
with the children.
Blessings, Joshua
On 11/13/11, Chris Nusbaum <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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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