[stylist] Heroes of the blind community

Sat Apr 4 06:43:37 UTC 2009

John,

Do you have a doctorate? Please talk to some people that have attained one.
It takes a lot of work to get there and the people that actually do persist
and achieve that level deserve the title. It is a sign of respect for their
dedication to a particular craft to master it to that level.

If it was so common, than everyone you know should have a doctorate in their
family. It has nothing to do with what race or commonality group they may
belong to. Unless the person specifically tells you (not in general) not to
call them doctor, then you should do that. It is considered rude and that
you don't really know that person to not include their title. Even if you
have a friend that you do not call doctor, when you introduce them, it
should always include their title.

Cindy

> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org 
> [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of John Lee Clark
> Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 10:56 PM
> To: 'NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Heroes of the blind community
> 
> 
> Judith:
> 
> You don't seem to get what I am saying.  I did not say that 
> calling people who have doctorates Dr. makes us who don't 
> feel inferior.
> 
> What I said was that our insistence on calling them Dr. 
> suggests that we have a collective inferiority complex.  This 
> complex makes us rush to call anyone with a doctorate a Dr., 
> to stress it, as if we are trying our best to say that, yes, 
> blind people can be doctors!  Look, look!  We have Dr. 
> Jernigan!  And there was Dr. tenBroek!  And our president is 
> Dr. Mauer!
> 
> In more developed and empowered communities, it is not 
> necessary to use every single opportunity to use Dr.  Take 
> the black community.  It used to be that blacks with 
> doctorates were always, always called Dr.  Why?  Because it 
> was thought of as very special.  But once the black community 
> grew up some more, they dropped the whole Dr. thing, because 
> they realized it as pretensious.  Women doctors were always 
> called Dr. in all the feminist publications during the first 
> movement, but during the second movement it was dropped.
> 
> Again, the insistence on using Dr. does not suggest a higher 
> status or anything like that.  No, what it suggests is 
> immaturity, that it is still way too special, so much so that 
> it gets to our heads.  But it shouldn't be so special and it 
> should mean next to nothing.
> 
> After all, don't those blind doctors have accomplishments 
> that stand out enough?  The need for us to call them Dr. and 
> their need to call themselves Dr. suggests we do NOT have 
> much else to go on and so we have to depend on that title for 
> respectability and credibility.  That's a very unhealthy 
> position to be in.
> 
> A far healthier position to be in is to not need that title 
> at all, and let real credibility and respectability and 
> status take care of themselves in understated yet far more 
> powerful ways.
> 
> I hope this helps!
> 
> John
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org 
> [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Judith Bron
> Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 7:49 PM
> To: NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Heroes of the blind community
> 
> If someone goes through the education and dedication to 
> receive a doctorate,
> 
> they are referred to as Dr.  This title does not infer that 
> those of us 
> without it are inferior.  Think of it as a title like Mr., 
> Mrs., or Ms.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "John Lee Clark" <johnlee at clarktouch.com>
> To: "'NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 4:02 PM
> Subject: Re: [stylist] Heroes of the blind community
> 
> 
> > Hey, all:
> >
> > I notice NFB's tendency to take pains to refer to people with 
> > doctorates
> > as
> > Dr.  Am I to read into this a kind of inferiority complex 
> and if you have 
> > a
> > doctorate you make sure it is known and touted?
> >
> > If so, Ii recommend scrapping this altogether.  You may think it 
> > builds credibility, but the fact you mention Dr. at all 
> suggests it is 
> > SPECIAL for a blind person.  But it shouldn't be considered 
> special, 
> > but only a matter of course--of course you've got a whole colony of 
> > blind doctors!  Even if you don't have that many, it's good to be 
> > nonchalant about it.
> >
> > But I can sympathize.  The Deaf community used to make a 
> big deal of 
> > the title Dr. but that was back in the 1930s.  Nowadays, Deaf Ph.Ds 
> > are common as dirt.
> >
> > But I make this suggestion only from the perspective of language 
> > manipulation.  Understatements are better than overstatements.
> >
> > John
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org 
> [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
> > On Behalf Of LoriStay at aol.com
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 8:16 AM
> > To: stylist at nfbnet.org
> > Subject: Re: [stylist] Heroes of the blind community
> >
> > Start with the leaders:   Louis Braille, Dr. Jacobus 
> tenBroek, Dr. Kenneth
> > Jernigan, and many other leaders from NFB.
> > Lori
> > In a message dated 3/31/09 11:59:04 PM, jbron at optonline.net writes:
> >
> >
> >>
> >> >> Who are the biggest legendary figures or heroes of the blind
> >> >> community?
> >> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > **************
> > Feeling the pinch at the grocery store?  Make dinner for 
> $10 or less. 
> > (http://food.aol.com/frugal-feasts?ncid=emlcntusfood00000001)
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