[NFBF-Tampa] Southeastern Guide Dogs: Beyond the dark into the Dark Ages

Wed Oct 12 21:07:19 UTC 2022

Dear Federation Family,

                While I was attending convention in Jacksonville, Marilyn
Shafer, Secretary/Treasurer of Advocates for Service Animal Partners called
to share a flyer that was received by a friend of hers by the Straz Center
for the Performing Arts. This flyer was a macabre-appearing black flyer
entitled, "Beyond the Dark". It invites individuals to "step into the shoes
of those living in the shadows of blindness". The National Federation of the
Blind passed Resolution 2012-25, a resolution I co-authored,  condemning and
deploring the use of similar events as fund raising/awareness projects. I
have pasted the response of Advocates for Service Animal Partners to our
Facebook page below. Please read and disseminate this message as widely as
appropriate.

Fraternally yours,

Marion 

Southeastern Guide Dogs

Through the dark into the Dark Ages

By Marion Gwizdala, M.S.M.H.C.

          My name is Marion Gwizdala; I am blind and handle a guide dog as
my method of choice for independent travel. I am also the president/CEO of
Advocates for Service Animal Partners (ASAP). ASAP is the only organization
dedicated exclusively to securing, protecting, and advancing the civil
rights of disabled individuals who use service dogs to mitigate their
disability. We operate a 24-hour telephone hotline service to assist
individuals with disabilities who face discrimination as the result of their
choice to use a service dog (855-ASAP211). We also provide  consulting
services to develop sound policies and protocol concerning service animals
in public places, such as restaurants, hotels, medical facilities, taxicabs,
and zoos. I have also been an  active member of the National Federation of
the Blind since 1984 and have served the organization in progressively
responsible elected positions within the organization, including serving as
president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users for twelve years.
One of my areas of expertise is the psycho-social aspects of disability and
the public impact of negative stereotypes and misconceptions about
disability. I am writing this message in my role as president of Advocates
for Service Animal Partners and not in any official role with the NFB. 

          Every year during October, the National Federation of the Blind
celebrates Blind Equality Achievement Month. Formerly known as "Meet the
Blind Month", this program celebrates our progress to achieve equality with
our sighted peers. We do this by reaching  out to the community in an effort
to counter the negative stereotypes and misconceptions many have about the
blind. Some local chapters host dinners, comedy shows, and other
entertainment featuring talented blind performers. Some host awareness expos
in which the public is offered an opportunity to learn how blind people
adapt to the loss of eyesight by using nonvisual techniques. Others offer
demonstrations of the use of Braille and the incredible doors of opportunity
opened by this tactile reading method. We demonstrate how the white cane
provides us independent mobility and how we are the head of the guide dog
team, not the other way around! We publish stories about blind people and
their accomplishments, not in an effort to portray them as different but to
realistically portray them as normal people who happen to be blind!. Our
goal is the full integration of the blind into society on terms of equality!
We are like our sighted neighbors and there is nothing to fear about us or
even blindness itself!

          The National Federation of the Blind believes that our blindness
is not the characteristic that defines us. Every day we strive to raise not
only the expectations the public has of us but the expectations we have of
ourselves. WE believe we can live the life we want . Blindness is not what
holds us back! What holds us back are the low expectations others have of
us, the internalization of negative social messaging, the reinforcement of
these negative messages as seen through the artistic exaggeration by the
media, and the manner in which those seen as experts about blindness talk
about us! Imagine our dismay that, during this celebration of blind Equality
achievement Month, we encounter a message that takes a sledge hammer to the
bridges of equality and inclusion we have built and the successes we have
achieved

While attending the National Federation of the blind of Florida convention
in Jacksonville, I received a telephone call from Marilyn Shafer, who serves
as Treasurer of Advocates for Service Animal Partners. Her friend had
received a notice from the David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts
about a concert by the Florida Orchestra. On the reverse of this
announcement was a black flyer with white print, a macabre-appearing
presence with the headline "Beyond the Dark".  Was this some sort of spooky
Halloween event? The portrayal and timing seemed to leverage the
archetypical fear of the dark and those who lurk in their shadows! This
flyer invited members of the Straz to step into the shoes of someone living
in the shadows of blindness.and see for yourself how some of the most
intelligent, talented dogs on this planet help people journey beyond the
dark." According to Southeastern Guide Dogs'  website, for a mere $20.00
Southeastern guide Dogs will reinforce the archaic misconception that blind
people live in darkness and the only way out of this darkness is through
their charitable work and a dog! In a self-serving effort to legitimize
their ableist views, Southeastern Guide Dogs exaggerates the value of this
dismal portrayal of blindness by asserting "everyone is raving about this
acclaimed multisensory experience." Who exactly is "everyone" and who, other
than Southeastern Guide Dogs,  is acclaiming this intentional betrayal of
their mission? Well, my friend, not everyone is raving! The blind whom have
fought for our equality and self-determination are not raving about this
self-acclaimed event! During the 2012 convention of the largest organization
of blind people in the United States, the National Federation of the blind
passed a resolution that condemns and deplores the use of such events
because it "diminishes the innate normality and equal status of the blind in
society". (The Braille Monitor; 2012) 

Today there is an enhanced awareness of how racism rears its ugly head and
diminishes the status of a group of people. There is no doubt that blackface
comedy is racist! According to the  Smithsonian's  National Museum of
African American History and Culture, "The pervasiveness of stereotypical
images like [blackface] made the civil rights efforts of African Americans
even more difficult. The black people represented here were irresponsible,
laughable, and difficult to understand. If white people accepted these
stereotypes, it became that much easier to deny African Americans the full
rights of citizenship."

The counterpart to racism among the disabled is called ableism. Southeastern
Guide Dogs is demonstrating their ableist attitude toward the blind,
engaging in what can only be described as blackface for the blind. Let me
take the aforementioned Smithsonian quote and rephrase it in the context of
this offensive, belittling event. "The pervasiveness of stereotypical images
of the blind living in darkness makes the civil rights efforts of the blind
even more difficult. The artificially blind people represented here lack any
understanding of the skills the blind learn to perform visual tasks without
the use of eyesight. Without those skills they fail miserably and blame it
on their blindness not their lack of skill. If sighted people accept these
stereotypes, it becomes that much easier to deny the blind the full rights
of citizenship." Do you know that blind people are unemployed at a rate well
above 70%? Do you know that disabled people are systematically denied the
right to a private, independent ballot. Do you know that major nonprofits,
Like Goodwill Industries can legally pay their disabled employees less than
$1.00 per hour while their executives earn in the mid to upper six-figures?
Do you know that Southeastern Guide Dogs' executive director, Titus Herman,
is a former executive of Goodwill Industries? The captain steers the ship!

In his article, "Simulation as a Learning Method to Facilitate Disability
Awareness", James T. Herbert (2000) wrote, "empirical evidence that supports
[the utility of blindfolding sighted participants] as a learning method to
facilitate positive attitudes toward persons with disabilities is weak. Most
of the new insights acquired by persons who simulated a disability were
negative reactions such as displeasure with self, embarrassment,
frustration, and reliance on others." Another study found that "as a result
of completing a disability simulation, students without disabilities were
more likely to report stronger agreement to several counterproductive
beliefs. In particular, reports that persons with physical disabilities have
a harder time in society, become more frustrated because of their
disabilities, and are often preoccupied with physical accessibility".
(Herbert, J.T.; 2000) 

Why would Southeastern Guide Dogs perpetrate such fraud? The answer is very
clear! They are asking the public to give them $20.00 to participate in a
sensationalized, unrealistic portrayal of blindness that reinforces the
misconception that blindness means darkness. By leveraging the innate animal
instinct to fear the dark and the unknown in the name of profit is
unconscionable. Southeastern Guide Dogs is irresponsibly diminishing the
capacity of the blind in an effort to make themselves the saviors of the
blind so Southeastern Guide Dogs can continue its pattern of disregard for
the basic human principles of respect, fairness, and due process. ! (see
"Sherrif's Office Retrieves Stolen Guide Dog <
https://serviceanimals.info/News.html>

Donors give to nonprofit organizations like Southeastern Guide Dogs because
they want to make a positive impact in the lives of the blind. Such a
damaging, self-serving, greedy damaging portrayal of the blind perpetrated
by those the public views as "experts" not only fails to make this positive
impact, it has negative impacts that ripple through the entire blind
community, creating a climate of pity for the blind not empowerment. 

The best way to counter Southeastern Guide Dogs' fraud is to reject their
desperate, offensive attempts to make a spectacle of the blind by refusing
to attend this event and encouraging your friends and family to do the same.
Let Southeastern Guide Dogs betray their donors wishes to improve the lives
of the blind by foolishly investing their donations in a manner that is
directly contradictory to their donors' good intentions! Donors gave money
so Southeastern Guide Dogs could enhance the lives of the blind, not
segregate them to the shadows and create fear of blindness in their greedy
quest for revenue! 

WE encourage Southeastern Guide Dogs 

to take a critical look at their policies and practices and realize how they
negatively impact the lives of those they claim to serve. We invite them to
consult with the organized voice of the nation's blind - the National
Federation of the blind - and Advocates for Service Animal Partners to
develop policies, practices, and procedures that acknowledge the full
capacity of the blind and our rights of due process. Southeastern Guide Dogs
engages in a paternalistic approach evidenced by their current and past
control over an individuals life through fear of reprisal against their
consumers. We urge the general public to reject Southeastern Guide Dogs'
attempts to generate revenue from their disgraceful, irresponsible actions.
We invite you to spend the time you might have engaged in this belittling
demonstration by taking that time to visit the websites of the National
Federation of the Blind https://nfb.org and that of Advocates for Service
Animal Partners http://ServiceAnimals.info where you will learn the truth of
living with blindness and the role of a service dog in someone's life. WE
strongly urge the David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts to stand
with the disabled community by publicly distancing themselves from their
unwitting role in disseminating and supporting this demeaning portrayal of
the blind! WE urge the media to refuse to publicize their attempts to
relegate the blind and otherwise disabled to the shadows where their dogs
lead them into the light! We urge the public to demand Southeastern Guide
Dogs leave behind the archaic notions that the blind live in darkness and
can only be successful through the charitable paternalism of a multi million
dollar nonprofit corporation out of touch with the reality of successfully
living as a blind person in charge of their lives and Southeastern Guide
Dogs' disregard for human rights. Perhaps if Southeastern Guide Dogs were to
be held accountable for the damage their behavior causes to the very
individuals they claim to serve, they will cast aside the arrogant
paternalism of decades long gone to embrace an enlightened current view of
the disabled as full participants in society on terms of equality with our
nondisabled peers!

REFERENCES

Herbert, James T., Simulation as a learning method to teach disability
awareness, Journal of Experiential Education, Volume 23, issue 1; 2000.

National Federation of the Blind; Resolutions of the National Federation of
the Blind; The Braille Monitor, August-September 2012. 

https://nfb.org/sites/default/files/images/nfb/publications/bm/bm12/bm1208/b
m120814.htm 

Smithsonian Institute, Blackface: The Birth of An American Stereotype;
National Museum of African American History and Culture; 2022. 

< https://nmaahc.si.ed
u/explore/stories/blackface-birth-american-stereotype>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbf-tampa_nfbnet.org/attachments/20221012/6b0a4a91/attachment.html>