[NABS-L] Draft Resolution 2.0, Seeking Further Feedback

[Justin Salisbury]

Hi Everyone,

After the feedback I've gotten so far, here is a second version of this resolution. Please continue to share any thoughts that you have. It is improving because of your participation in the process. 

Resolution 2024-##, Regarding the Harmful Namesake of the Perkins School for the Blind

WHEREAS, The New England Asylum for the Blind was incorporated in 1829 and opened its doors in August 1832 in Boston, Massachusetts; and

WHEREAS, In 1839, the Asylum was renamed after Thomas Handasyd Perkins after he donated to it, and, after further name changes, that entity is known today as the Perkins School for the Blind; and

WHEREAS, The Perkins School for the Blind, as a collective institution including its library and products, remains an important provider of blindness-related services today; and

WHEREAS, Born in 1764, T. H. Perkins used money from his wealthy family to start an international trading business, where he traded human slaves and the goods produced by their labor, including cotton, sugar, and rum, in the Caribbean, until the Haitian Revolution in 1791; and

WHEREAS, T. H. Perkins later expanded his fortune by illegally smuggling opium into China; and

WHEREAS, Pairing valuable products, services, and educational experiences with the name of a known opium smuggler and slave trader teaches students and community members of all backgrounds that these immoral acts are not disqualifiers for being publicly honored; and

WHEREAS, Continuing to honor a known slave trader and opium smuggler perpetuates intergenerational trauma for people of all colors; and

WHEREAS, On its website, the Perkins School for the Blind acknowledges that it has financially benefitted from both the slave trade and opium smuggling, and acknowledges the problems caused by this, particularly to those in Black and Chinese communities; now, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this seventh day of July, 2024, in the City of Orlando, Florida, that this organization asserts that the enslavement of human beings and illegal smuggling of opium are unequivocally immoral and that participating in these wrongdoings is a disqualifier for being honored in any space sufficiently influenced by the National Federation of the Blind; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this organization commends the Perkins School for the Blind for acknowledging how it has benefited from these historical wrongs; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, That this organization urges the Perkins School for the Blind to advance its efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion by changing its name to remove all references to Thomas Handasyd Perkins.

Thank you all,

Justin

Justin MH Salisbury, MEd, NOMC, NCRTB
English Pronouns: he/him/his
Phone: 808.797.8606
Email: President at Alumni.ECU.edu