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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Dear Fellow Federationists,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> During our last Tampa Bay Chapter meeting, a member made an announcement about the Tampa Lighthouse for the Blind’s upcoming “Dining in the Dark” fund raiser, prefacing it with, “I know how the NFB feels about this sort of event!”. I know we have quite a few new members who may have wondered what was meant by this disclaimer. There has also been some buzz on the discussion list of the National Association of Guide Dog Users about a similar event being hosted by Guide Dogs for the blind (GDB) and many GDB consumers are writing to the program to express their concerns about such an activity.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> In an effort to help our members understand our position, I am pasting below and attaching to this message Resolution 2012-04 which I had a hand in writing. One way in which policies of the National Federation of the Blind are made is through the process of resolutions that come before the convention, are discussed and debated on the floor and voted on by the assembly. I am also attaching a scholarly article entitled “Simulation as a Learning Method to Facilitate Disability Awareness” which appeared in the Journal of Experiential Education. Volume 23, Issue 1, p. 5, 2000. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Resolution concerning Dining in the Dark<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Resolution 2012-04<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Regarding Dining in the Dark<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>WHEREAS, the real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight but the widespread public misconception that the blind are not equal to the sighted<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>in society; and <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind categorically rejects the myth that the blind are not equal to the sighted; and <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>WHEREAS, programs of the National Federation of the Blind teach and promote a positive understanding of blindness, that the blind are normal and equal<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>members of society, and that blindness does not mean inferiority; and <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>WHEREAS, an activity known as "Dining in the Dark" is being promoted and used to raise funds by having sighted people experience blindness by eating in<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>the dark; and <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>WHEREAS, an article published in Time magazine entitled “Dining in the Dark” assures would-be diners that the cook “works in a well-lit kitchen”; and <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>WHEREAS, the Dining in the Dark website--www.dininginthedark.org--states: “you will pick from a specially prepared menu (designed by a sighted local ‘star’<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>chef)” and "In darkness everyone becomes equal. Our opinions can't be molded by dress, mannerisms, or makeup as none of it can be seen. You learn that<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>without sight your other senses become more acute”; and <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>WHEREAS, these statements lay bare the underlying philosophy of Dining in the Dark, that sight means superior ability, and that, when sight is removed<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>in the dark, the blind and the sighted are equal: Now, therefore, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention assembled this fourth day of July, 2012, in the city of Dallas, Texas, that this organization<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>condemn and deplore the use of Dining in the Dark in a manner that diminishes the innate normality and equal status of the blind in society; and <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this organization pursue an active policy of opposition to Dining in the Dark activities and events, including use of media<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>and public protests, whenever and wherever such activities and events exploit blindness and blind people based on a demeaning philosophy.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>