[Nfbmo] Hey, What's With the White Cane

Thu Oct 20 02:56:25 UTC 2016

Yay for Julie. But, isn't she rather like a superhero in real life?

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbmo [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Roger Crome via
Nfbmo
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2016 11:04 AM
To: NFB of Missouri Mailing List
Cc: Roger Crome
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Hey, What's With the White Cane

I think that the challenge that we face in regard to TV and movies is
getting the accurate portrayals.  Dan, since the rest of us aren't like you
and Dare Devil, we probably need a bit tamer portrayal.  Lol  Seriously
though, it is odd that people who are blind are always portrayed in the
extreme.  Super powers or incompetence with no middle ground seems to be the
accepted norm.  I would love to see a show that stars a blind person as a
lawyer or whatever profession with this person either being the hero or
villan but doing so using typical blindness skills and technology.  To me, a
show like this could feed the need for complex story lines while creating a
realistic portrayal of blindness that is neither negative nor flattering.  I
suppose we'll just have to wait until Julie makes it to the big screen and
turns things around.

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbmo [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Dan Flasar via
Nfbmo
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2016 11:09 PM
To: nfbmo at nfbnet.org
Cc: DanFlasar at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Nfbmo] Hey, What's With the White Cane

Well heck,
   We've had 2 seasons of a blind superhero who fights criminals  on
rooftops, practices law during the day and perceives the world via
heightened  
hearing.   What more do you want?
  Dan
PS   He does, however, use a white cane during the day in his  secret 
identity as Matt Murphy, whereas DareDevil doesn't seem to need  one -
unless num-chuks count?

In a message dated 10/17/2016 10:20:49 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
nfbmo at nfbnet.org writes:

I wonder how  many of you share this experience? I do not. Quite frequently
I hear people  telling their children that they should move out of the way
because there  is a man with a cane. When they are asked what the man is
doing with the  stick, the parents explain that this is the way he sees what
is in front of  him. I do not find the younger generation unaware of what
the white cane  stands for, and I do not believe that allowing foolish
portrayals of blind  people to appear without challenge diminishes the
number of white canes we  see on television. If it does, this only makes it
more imperative that we  press for realistic blind characters to appear on
the screen. I just can't  get my head around the idea that the cost of
demanding accuracy  in television depictions is that no one knows what that
long white stick  is for.

I'd love your thoughts.

-----Original  Message-----
From: Nfbmo [mailto:nfbmo-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of  nancy Lynn via
Nfbmo
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2016 9:47 AM
To:  mcb chat; nfbmo list; NFBC List
Cc: nancy Lynn
Subject: [Nfbmo] Hey,  What's With the White Cane

I got this from another list and thought  you'd like to see it.
Hey, What's With the White Cane?.

Honest  depictions of disabled people have vanished from popular culture.. 
By
Jim  Knipfel . Oct. 15 is national White Cane Safety Day, first decreed  by
President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Never heard of it? You're not  alone.
I'll admit, even as a blind man who uses a white cane on a daily  basis,
Oct.
15 doesn't get my heart racing, save for one irony: It's not  just the day
that Americans don't recognize; increasingly it's the white  cane and what
it symbolizes. Think of it as another kind of blindness. I  began noticing
the signs roughly seven years ago. My wife and I were in New  York City on a
Saturday night, working our way down a crowded sidewalk on  our way to a
show. The going seemed unusually slow and frustrating, even  for New York.
Soon the reason was clear: No one was stepping out of the way  to let us
pass. Some were transfixed by cellphones, but others looked  directly at us,
looked at my cane with some confusion, and still refused to  take a step in
either direction. I soon realized that many people under the  age of 35, not
just in New York City, but across the country, no longer  know what a white
cane represents. On more than one occasion, people in  their 20s have
approached me and asked, "What's that cane for? For  millennia the blind
have used canes and staffs as navigational tools to  help detect obstacles
in our path. After World War II, with so many blind  veterans returning
home, the standard cane design was refashioned. Mobility  sticks grew longer
and were wrapped in red and white reflective tape. By  the time LBJ made his
1964 declaration, the white cane was an accepted part  of the culture. So
how could a symbol of disability as common as the  wheelchair so abruptly
vanish from our collective consciousness? A friend  has a theory. In the
1980s and '90s, as political correctness began  infiltrating popular
culture, it became verboten to portray the disabled,  particularly the
blind, in anything perceived to be an unflattering light.  In a blink,
bumbling characters with white canes, once a mainstay of  slapstick films,
cartoon shorts and comic strips, vanished. What blind  characters we did get
now had superpowers or were masters of the martial  arts, and rarely had any
use for a white cane, even as a signifier. As a  result, children who once
grew up with images of characters with white  canes no longer saw them, and
so the common understanding of the blind and  our symbology began to fade.
Questions of "dignity," "respect" and  "inclusion" aside, expunging blind
characters from pop culture for fear of  offending someone has had dangerous
repercussions when it comes to the  daily lives of blind Americans. If fewer
and fewer people recognize its  meaning, what use does the cane maintain as
a symbol directed at the  sighted? Pedestrians who once stepped out of the
way are now occasionally  hostile obstacles. And with hybrid and electric
cars growing quieter,  walking just a few blocks in a well-known
neighborhood can become  a perilous journey. Despite all the far-reaching
achievements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the tool that I and
other blind Americans  have trusted to give us some modicum of protection
and visibility is fast  losing all meaning. Ironically, the best way for us
to mark White Cane  Safety Day may well be to stay home. Mr. Knipfel, a
former staff writer for  the New York Press, is the author of "Residue" (Red
Hen Press, 2015).  .

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