[nfbmi-talk] blind kids and civics

[joe harcz Comcast]

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.