[nfb-talk] [nabs-l] [nfbWaTlk] class essay

[Chris Nusbaum]

Take time to read this! It's a great essay.

 Chris

"A loss of sight, never a loss of vision!" (Camp Abilities motto)
To learn more about Camp Abilities and find a local camp near 
you, just click on this link to their national Web site: 
www.campabilities.org.

The I C.A.N.  Foundation helps visually impaired youth in 
Maryland have the ability to confidently say "I can!" How? Click 
on this link to learn more and to contribute: 
www.icanfoundation.info.

 Sent from my BrailleNote

 ---- Original Message ------
From: "Humberto Avila" <avila.bert.humberto2 at gmail.com
Subject: [nabs-l] [nfbWaTlk] class essay
Date sent: Sat, 18 Jun 2011 15:24:40 -0700

 Our daughter Joanne is a linguistic anthropology student and was 
assigned

 to

 do a one page essay on the ways society reenforces 
discrimination.  She

 could have chosen a number of groups and picked one from any 
number of

 ways

 that discrimination and bigotry is permitted to continue.  
Here's what she

 said about language and the blind.



 Don't Turn a Blind Eye on the Discrimination Against the Blind



 By Joanne Gabias



 North American societies are trying more and more to be

 accepting of disabilities.  They do so by adding Braille to 
elevator

 buttons,

 adding closed captioning on television, and making sure there 
are

 wheelchair

 accessible parking spaces.  These actions may alleviate 
discrimination to

 an

 extent, but in everyday society, discrimination is far from 
extinct.  As we

 know, language creates, transmits and perpetuates culture.  In 
our society,

 expressions that refer to someone as being naive, inattentive or 
stupid

 all

 use the word blind.  Discrimination against the blind can only 
diminish

 once

 our language removes these connotations (of being naive, 
inattentive or

 stupid) from the word blind.







 "What are you, blind?" This statement is normal in

 everyday

 speech in our society.  No matter the context, this phrase is 
degrading,

 and

 indicates the person is subpar.  Until this expression is out of 
our

 linguistic vocabulary, it is impossible for a blind person to be 
treated

 with respect and not be cast in these stereotypes of being 
naive,

 inattentive or stupid.







 "In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king" -

 Desiderius Erasmus.  This famous quote, once again or almost 
more so, shows

 the blind as inferior human beings.  This quote implies that the 
blind can

 never achieve greatness.  They will always be lower than 
everyone else.  In

 fact, having no sight rather than a small amount of sight is 
more

 advantageous, since having a small amount of sight can be 
unreliable in

 many

 situations.







 The English proverb "the eyes are the window to the soul"

 implies that people whose eyes don't work, don't have souls, and 
souls are

 required to be human in our culture.  In other words, the blind 
are not

 human.  Our society puts so much importance on sight that it is 
difficult

 for a blind person to show the world they are just as able as a 
sighted

 person.







 The list of linguistic discrimination towards blind people

 is abundant.  Until the connection between blindness and naive, 
inattentive

 and stupid is removed from our language, discrimination towards 
the blind

 will continue to be transmitted and perpetuated throughout our 
culture.

 As

 Mark Twain once said "The difference between the right word and 
the

 almost-right word is the difference between lightning and a 
lightning

 bug."











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