[nfbwatlk] {Spam?} Bill Cosby's blindness

[Mary ellen]

Bill Cosby has admitted to reprehensible behavior and has been criminally
charged.  One hopes the criminal justice system will work and a fair trial
will result in a correct verdict.

 

But who will speak out about justice concerning the way blindness is
portrayed in the following article?

 

Bill Cosby, the formerly beloved comedian who now faces nearly 60
accusations of sexual abuse, is reportedly "completely blind."

 

An unnamed source told the New York Post's Page Six that Cosby suffers from
a degenerative eye disease called keratoconus. He can no longer see at all,

and is allegedly now confined to his home.

 

His legal team have previously made references to his vision problems, but
have not yet commented on this report.

 

"His alleged victims may take some solace in the fact that he's in his own
personal hell. He has been suffering from a degenerative eye disease and is

completely blind," the source told Page Six.

 

"All his Hollywood friends have turned their backs on him. He is confined to
his house in Pennsylvania, and the only person on his side is his wife,
Camille,

who is masterminding his defense. His only friends are the small army of
lawyers on his payroll."

 

Matt Rourke / Associated Press

Matt Rourke / Associated Press Bill Cosby clutches his companion's arm after
a pretrial hearing in his criminal sex-assault case in Norristown, Pa. on
July

7.

 

Word choice matters.  Cosby's victims are supposed to "take solace" in his
blindness, implying that becoming blind is so awful that it acts as some
sort of psychic punishment for his behavior.  I thought that issue was
settled when Jesus explained that a man's blindness was not caused by his
sins or the sins of his parents.  

 

The author states that Cosby is in "his own personal hell."  If that hell is
due to remorse, the loss of reputation and friendships, it's a fair
consequence.  To the extent that this author believes the "hell" is due to
blindness, we object strenuously.

 

Is Cosby "confined to his home" because angry former fans make appearing in
public a nightmare?  Or is he "confined to his home" because that's how it
is for blind people?  And why doesn't the photo caption say that he "takes"
someone's arm; the implication of the word "clutches" is both depressing and
sinister.

 

We have sometimes been accused of being overly "touchy" about rhetoric
concerning blindness.  When we point out prejudice, our comments  are put
down as an attempt to impose political correctness.  Asking that writers
examine their assumptions is not censorship.  It's a plea for journalism
that does not belittle an entire group of people with false notions of
blindness as "hell" "punishment" or "confinement."