[NFB-Arkansas] Fwd: Discrimination issue in Arkansas

Thu Feb 5 22:31:22 UTC 2026

I just received a response from Jay Caldwell the General Manager of
Caldwell Toyota. He was very apologetic and acknowledged that the advice
they received from their insurance company was not well thought out. They
are changing their policy going forward and he plans to advise his
collogues of the unintended consequences such policies may have.

I forwarded his full email to Donna.

Clarke

On Thu, Feb 5, 2026 at 10:59 AM Clarke Huisman <clarkehuisman at gmail.com>
wrote:

> It seems like Donna did contact people in the correct order. By posting
> her email in the state list serve, my assumption was that that was a larger
> request for assistance.
>
> Would you like to share what you've done so far? I feel like a coordinated
> effort would be much more productive.
>
> Here's what I've done, before I realized there was an issue:
> I mentioned (without names) the situation to a friend of mine who is a US
> attorney. Immediately, she was concerned and could see no reason why they
> should have been treated this way. In addition to confirming that Seven on
> Your Side and contacting the AG's office would be good steps, she mentioned
> that it's possible that Caldwell violated their ADA rights and also their
> civil liberties. In addition, they may have violated the Fair Business
> Practice Act. She said she could put them in contact with someone at the
> ACLU office in Little Rock, if they would like. I also reached out to the
> GM of Caldwell (Jay Caldwell) to see if he had any thoughts on why this
> happened. That was two days ago and he hasn't written back. Everything I've
> done so far was for information only and with a respectful tone. I reached
> out personally, not in any way as a representative of the NFB.
>
> Whether they want to continue with purchasing from Caldwell or not, I feel
> like Caldwell should be made aware that their business practices may be
> violating the law and they need to be accountable.
>
> Clarke
>
> On Thu, Feb 5, 2026 at 6:28 AM Nena Chadwick <nchadwick at nfbar.org> wrote:
>
>> If the member decides to take it to the NFB organization, discuss it with
>> the affiliate Pres. and then take it to the national president and then
>> whatever is decided at that point to go forward or not.
>> As to the timing , Donna sent that out before I left for Washington
>> seminar and we had talked briefly and then when Cindy wrote on the List
>> serv me and Donna talked more and just wanted to make sure that if this was
>> something she wanted to do we would take the appropriate steps, so so yes
>> this was to make sure that things were done correctly from the organization
>> standpoint.
>> Live the life you want!
>>
>> On Feb 4, 2026, at 10:09 AM, APRIL SCURLOCK via NFB-Arkansas <
>> nfb-arkansas at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> 
>> Well will you share the steps please
>>
>> April Scurlock, 2nd Vice President
>> National Federation of the Blind of Arkansas
>> Cell: 870.490.1825
>> Email: April.nfbar at gmail.com
>> Website: www.NFBAR.org
>>
>> “We Live the Life We Want”
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 4, 2026 at 10:03 AM Nena Chadwick via NFB-Arkansas <
>> nfb-arkansas at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>>> I would like to just make sure that we are all following the National
>>> Federation of the Blind’s Branding. I know that discrimination is real, and
>>> we all feel like we need to jump in and help.  But first, we need to make
>>> sure that the organization is being asked, or is it just a personal matter?
>>>
>>> If the member wants the backing of the NFB of Arkansas, specific steps
>>> must be followed.
>>>
>>>
>>> *From: *NFB-Arkansas <nfb-arkansas-bounces at nfbnet.org> on behalf of
>>> Cindy Scott-Huisman via NFB-Arkansas <nfb-arkansas at nfbnet.org>
>>> *Date: *Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at 3:59 PM
>>> *To: *NFB of Arkansas Internet Mailing List <nfb-arkansas at nfbnet.org>
>>> *Cc: *Cindy Scott-Huisman <cindyscotthuisman at gmail.com>, Clarke Huisman
>>> <clarkehuisman at gmail.com>
>>> *Subject: *Re: [NFB-Arkansas] Fwd: Discrimination issue in Arkansas
>>>
>>> Dear Donna,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I am sorry to hear about this discrimination you and Dick experienced.
>>> I’d be interested to find out what response you already received from your
>>> original emails. Also, are you planning on some kind of action on, or
>>> further publicity of this incident?
>>>
>>> You are in the driver’s seat, so to speak, but I would be willing to
>>> help with what avenue you want to pursue.
>>>
>>> Off the top of my head, I’m thinking this could be brought to Seven On
>>> Your Side, the state newspaper, and an attorney could write a letter to the
>>> owner of the Mayflower car dealership to inform him of your civil liberties
>>> and rights.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> We will plan on discussing this topic during the Central Chapter
>>> meeting, and I will follow up with you with any additional comments.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Please know, whether your main focus at this point is to vent to your
>>> fellow members, or if you need a team to back you up in some tangible way,
>>> we are here for you.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Cindy Scott-Huisman
>>>
>>> National Federation of the Blind of Arkansas,
>>>
>>> Central Chapter Board President
>>>
>>> On Tue, Feb 3, 2026 at 12:46 AM Donna Walker via NFB-Arkansas <
>>> nfb-arkansas at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Good evening, I’m sharing an email I sent to NFB nAtional and our state
>>> president a couple weeks ago. While we work every day to change the lives
>>> of blind people in our state in our country serious problems with ignorance
>>> and discrimination still exist. I realize that a lot of people are
>>> concerned with the budgetary problems facing the division of services for
>>> the blind as a result of our federal governments lack of fiscal
>>> responsibility and funding programs mandated by congressional action. While
>>> this issue may not impact you directly it’s another indication that we
>>> still have a long way to go and must deal with ignorance from some of the
>>> most unbelievable places on a daily basis. Sharing my email for your
>>> consideration or discussion. Donna
>>> Donna Walker. Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>
>>> *From:* Donna Walker <walkercutoff at gmail.com>
>>> *Date:* January 19, 2026 at 4:01:40 PM CST
>>> *To:* nfb at nfb.org
>>> *Cc:* Nena Chadwick <nchadwick at nfbar.org>
>>> *Subject:* *Discrimination issue in Arkansas*
>>>
>>> Good afternoon, whenever you think that you are past the point of being
>>> amazed or surprised at the way people react to blindness something happens
>>> to show you that ignorance still abounds. A situation like that happened to
>>> my husband and myself last week. We are both blind, but have made it a
>>> practice to own and maintain an automobile for personal use for years and
>>> years. This because Transportation is such a problem in Arkansas and often
>>> we can find a reliable driver easier than a reliable driver who always
>>> wants to use their vehicle or has a vehicle that appears to be roadworthy
>>> enough to make the trip. My husband has been actively searching for a
>>> vehicle very similar to ours, but with less miles and a few other options
>>> that ours does not have. He recently found exactly what we were looking for
>>> at an auto dealer in Mayflower Arkansas, Caldwell Toyota. He was
>>> negotiating a deal with one of the salesman at the dealership, Josh
>>> Pearrow. We were supposed to bring our trade-in and a cashiers check for
>>> the difference between the two vehicles to the dealership last Wednesday to
>>> finalize the sale.
>>> On Tuesday afternoon, the salesman, Josh, called with some additional
>>> questions and requests from his sales manager, Charlie. since we were
>>> bringing our current vehicle up there to pick up the other one who would be
>>> driving? Would it be a licensed driver? As if! He asked us to send photo
>>> copies of our state identification cards, the current registration and
>>> licensing information on the car we have now and a copy of our insurance
>>> card from State Farm showing that the current vehicle is covered by auto
>>> insurance. Additionally, they had said before that a personal check was
>>> fine for the difference, but now wanted it to be a cashiers check. We had
>>> already exchanged photos of the two vehicles, vehicle, identification
>>> numbers and current mileage, etc. After we supplied the additional
>>> information, everything was on go, that was Tuesday evening. We were to run
>>> by our bank in the morning to get the cashiers check and meet Josh at the
>>> dealership at about 10 o’clock on Wednesday morning. That dealership is
>>> about 70 miles from our home. on Wednesday morning we were over halfway
>>> there, west of Little Rock when Josh called. The sales manager Charlie was
>>> blocking the sale as it currently stands or stood. He said that Charlie
>>> said he lost sleep overnight worrying about this deal. He’d never heard of
>>> blind people buying a car before, and he was convinced that it was not
>>> legal for us to own one. Poor Josh was obviously distressed and
>>> embarrassed, and I felt bad for him, but we were getting seriously angry
>>> because Charlie said that they would sell us the car if we put somebody
>>> else’s name, a licensed driver on the title along with us. They would not
>>> sell us the vehicle otherwise. They They did not want to be liable if
>>> something happened or an accident, etc. I tried to reason with Josh, we
>>> were never able to speak with Charlie. I explained that anyone can own a
>>> car, it was illegal for us to drive a car or to operate the car in Arkansas
>>> without auto insurance  and current license and tags. I explained that we
>>> would absolutely not consent to having somebody else’s name on the title of
>>> our new car as he clearly could see we’d never titled a car before in
>>> anyone’s name but ours. He said we could take it off later if we wanted to
>>> which I told him was absolutely insulting. We were grown-ups and we did not
>>> need a cosigner or a keeper. We pulled over and waited for a few minutes
>>> for Josh to try and reason with Charlie, but Charlie would not change the
>>> requirement for a sided, licensed driver to be on our car title, our
>>> property. i’m sure you will understand that that was the end of that
>>> purchase, we turned around and returned home and returned the funds from
>>> the cashiers check to our bank account. We did receive a phone call from
>>> the salesman, Josh, who was visibly upset about the entire situation. We
>>> assured him that we did not blame him as it was not his decision to
>>> terminate the sale or place. Ridiculous restrictions upon it. It was
>>> obvious that he was embarrassed, besides which he just lost his sales
>>> commission. We have never dealt with a situation like this before… Dick and
>>> Donna Walker: 501-467-4042.   Sent from my iPhone
>>> _______________________________________________
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>
> --
> Clarke Huisman
>

-- 
Clarke Huisman
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