[nfbmi-talk] blind kids and civics

[joe harcz Comcast]

Thanks Christine.  And by the term "demand" on our youth I'm talking about 
expeccations of all of them including sighted and blind alike. Part of the 
expectation is that basics of civics, history, and economics are indeed 
taught.


So I'm not blaming the kids when this stuff often isn't taught, including 
basics but am crying out for these things to be taught. And not just by the 
schools either, but also by parents, and of course, civil rights 
organizations like NFB itself.


And wwhat is the essence of a civil rights organization? It is to promote 
equality of opportunity at a minimum not necessarily equality of results.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christine Boone" <christineboone2 at gmail.com>
To: "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 03, 2013 7:20 AM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] blind kids and civics


> Well Said Joe.
>
> On Oct 31, 2013, at 6:52 PM, joe harcz Comcast <joeharcz at comcast.net> 
> wrote:
>
>> I grew up as a moderately visually impaired person having RP. But back in 
>> the sixties we did have a sense of public service, mostly from the likes 
>> of JFK as being a goodly thing and something that all of us no matter how 
>> small in the eyes of corporations or big government cared about. We also 
>> simply cared as a civic duty about each other. Moreover, we were taught 
>> in both private school and public school basic tenants of our 
>> democratic-republic and the rights of citizens under our Constitution.
>>
>>
>> We were taught basic principles like the necessary checks and balances of 
>> a government that is made up of a legislature, executive and judiciary. 
>> Some of us also learned about the "Fourth Estate" which is and was the 
>> media to be a watchdog for all of our rights and to be a source of 
>> information to make these entities accountable.
>>
>>
>> Now these simple things were fought for in our American Revolution and 
>> fought for again in our second revolution which some call the civil war.
>>
>> For blind and otherwise disabled people these things were implicit and 
>> explicit in principle especially in the writings of Jacobus Tenbroek who 
>> was and is a lion of civil and human rights and not just for the blind 
>> but all of us.
>>
>>
>> Facts are that our children, including those who are blind are not versed 
>> let alone properly instructed in the basics of our legislative and 
>> related processes.
>>
>>
>> Part of what I do is to educate each and all of us in these fundamentals 
>> which apply to all of us as citizens.
>>
>> We, who are blind are not children of alessor God, and nor are we 
>> children of lessor laws, or rule of law.
>>
>>
>> At least we are not so in the basic principles of good governance I was 
>> taught years ago.
>>
>> But our rights as citizens, let alone as blind people have been perveted 
>> by the likes of Arwood, Zimmer, Rodgers and, yes Snyder.
>>
>>
>> Some of us call ourselves Republicans. Some say we are Democrats. Still 
>> others don't affiliate with either for they are disfunctional and/or 
>> corrupt.
>>
>> But a basic thing that does apply is public activism and that applies to 
>> we who are blind.
>>
>>
>> It disturbs me greatly that our youth are not taught the basics of civic 
>> involvement. And that certainly includes our youth who happen to be 
>> blind.
>>
>>
>> We need to demand more of our youth. But, not in a vacuum. We need to 
>> demand that at least basics of civics are taught to our blind kids.
>>
>>
>> This is so that they and we and all of us are included in our 
>> democratic-republic. For we regardless as to disability are supposed to 
>> be full citizens in this, sad and messy thing we call again a 
>> democratic-republic.
>>
>>
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>
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