[nfbwatlk] FW: [Blindtlk] Polocies Against The Blind...

[Don Mitchell]

I regularly donate blood through the redcross at the local church of Jesus 
Christ of Later-Day Saints here in Vancouver, My only problem with the 
service is that the incredibly complex paperwork is not made available in 
braille or other alternative formats. I have it read to me and often it is 
done by women volunteers and some times young people who are not at all 
comfortable asking the required questions about sexual behaviors and 
practices. I have never been denied the opportunity to donate.

Don Mitchell
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kaye Kipp" <kkipp123 at gmail.com>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 11:19 AM
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] FW: [Blindtlk] Polocies Against The Blind...


> Good grief.  I've never heard of that one before, but it feels like we're 
> going back half a century.
>
> Kaye
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
> To: <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 11:15 AM
> Subject: [nfbwatlk] FW: [Blindtlk] Polocies Against The Blind...
>
>
>> Apparently, at least one of the situations cited by Dr. tenBroek in his 
>> "The
>> Cross of Blindness" speech from 1957 still happens. Read on.
>>
>> I believe, however, there is one mistake in what the good pastor told the
>> manager: I don't think any Federal antidiscrimination statute applies 
>> unless
>> a blood donor site is a place of public accommodation, program or 
>> service.
>>
>> Anyone who sees no need for the NFB should ponder the message below.
>>
>> Mike Freeman
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of James Kelm
>> Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 10:23 AM
>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: [Blindtlk] Polocies Against The Blind...
>>
>> Dear friends,
>>
>>    Well an interesting thing happened to my wife and I last Friday, and I
>> thought that I'd see what you all thought.  It seemed to be a relevant
>> story, based upon the recent conversations here on this list.
>>
>>    Wanting to do something good for our fellow human beings, my wife and 
>> I
>> decided that we would donate blood at one of our local blood banks.  We
>> arrived, filled out the necessary paper work, and waited in the waiting 
>> room
>> to do our duty.
>>
>>    After a few minutes, a gentleman came out and requested that we follow
>> him to his office.  I am assuming that this gentleman was some kind of a
>> manager.  After entering his office, he politely informed us that he had
>> spoken to his corporate office, and learned that they currently had no
>> policy in place to assure my safety in the case of an emergency, so
>> unfortunately they did not allow blind people to donate blood.  He then
>> turned to my wife, who is sighted but like many middle-aged people, wears
>> reading glasses.  The gentleman went on to explain that unless my wife 
>> went
>> home to retrieve her reading glasses and thereby demonstrating that she 
>> was
>> not blind, they also would not allow her to donate.  I politely explained
>> that the corporate office should be aware that their company policy 
>> violated
>> Federal anti-discrimination laws, and they did not have the legal luxury 
>> of
>> determining which laws they were, or were not prepared to follow.  The
>> gentleman told me that he understood, but that he had to comply with his
>> corporate office's instructions to not allow the blind to donate blood.
>>
>>    This situation came as a bit of surprise to me.  Of course most of us
>> blind folks are use to vague and concealed discrimination, but I was 
>> caught
>> off guard to face such an open and obvious demonstration of one's civil
>> rights being disregarded.  It was rather shocking to be directly told by 
>> a
>> business, that they did not want the blind!
>>
>>
>> Your Brother in Christ,
>> Pastor James Kelm
>> True Hope Church of Duluth
>> Web Site: www.thcduluth.org
>> Office E-mail: office at thcduluth.org
>> Phone: 218-727-4186
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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>
>
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