[Ohio-talk] 50th year of the dream

[Barbara Pierce]

The two civil rights struggles are parallel in many ways, but it has always
seemed to me that blind people have mostly not faced the bigoted hatred that
black people in my childhood faced. We have been thought stupid and
pitiable, incompetent and a pain in the neck. But mostly blindness has not
made ignorant people hate us in the same way they have hated those who were
different racially. In that way the celebration of how far society has come
in the past fifty years  since the I Have a Dream speech is much further
than blind people have traveled. 
I have had black friends who are also blind say that overcoming the
discrimination against the blind has been harder in their experience than
racial stupidity. I cannot know about that. I do know that it behooves us to
recognize and welcome fellow travelers. I know that the white race is freer
because of the progress we have made since 1963. Listening to John Lewis
makes me even more determined to strike the chains of bondage from everyone
who is held back by prejudice and ignorance.
Barbara

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-talk [mailto:ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Payne,
Richard L (GE Capital)
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 10:17 AM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List (ohio-talk at nfbnet.org)
Subject: [Ohio-talk] 50th year of the dream

I can remember the statement that Dr. Jernigan    made by comparing the
struggles of the blind with the civil rights movement    of African
Americans.
This is the 50th anniversary of Dr. Kings I have a dream and the historical
march. We have our own march on Washington that we now call the Washington
seminar.
I can state this day that when I first heard the comparison it seemed to be
a stretch to me. When I look back at the trail of years it reminds me of
just how far we have come and the long road ahead. Richard


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