[nfb-talk] National Federation of the Blind Comments on Saturday Night Live Segment

Jim Marks blind.grizzly at gmail.com
Tue Dec 16 00:27:02 UTC 2008


The NFB has a duty to re-frame blindness in positive ways.  Confronting
negative messages gives us a powerful forum to challenge stereotypes and to
build new understandings about blindness.  It's not so much a matter of
getting huffy or being offended.  Rather, it's a teachable moment we cannot
afford to squander.  We cannot let media messages like those from the SNL
skit or the movie, "Blindness," define what it means to be blind for us.  No
response or a week response to low expectations, especially low expectations
couched in such high-profile media, impairs our efforts to change what it
means to be blind.  It's essentially up to blind individuals and the NFB to
choose our own identities.  In other words, we didn't create this fight, but
we sure are going to do our best to promote positive attitudes.  With any
luck, the next media guy might think twice before spinning low expectations
as humor or a metaphor.

-------
Jim Marks
blind.grizzly at gmail.com





More information about the nFB-Talk mailing list