[stylist] question about philosophy

Fri Aug 20 22:00:04 UTC 2010

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. *smile*  As a
person who has had severl fundraisers over the years, including
selling calendars, hot dogs, candy bars, shot glasses, Capitol Steps
tickets, to name just a few, we never had a container sitting on the
table where people could drop money.  We would accept donations that
were given to us but that meant the people had to interact in some
way.  They couldn't just walk by and ignore us, dropping money in a
jar.  They had to talk to us, to hand us the money.  Similarly, people
who donate online will be at our website and see positive images.
Plus, they have to make a conscious decision to go there.  (If
dropping money in a container, some people  might not even remember
the name of the group to which they gave money.)

When I was living on the East Coast and was a member of a chapter
there, we discussed this topic in great detail.  We talked about blind
beggers in the past and the idea of the tin cup.  People would walk
by, dig into their pockets, and put change in the cup, pitying the
blind.  As a chapter, we decided to empty our pockets for other
organizations instead.  The chapter president gave everyone a plastic
container and told us to drop our change in their over the next month
and bring the containers back to the next meeting, which was in
November.  After receiving the containers and putting it in the
account, the chapter presented the money in check form for an
organization that was providing holiday meals and gifts for struggling
families.  Instead of taking, we were giving.

While I'm no expert on this topic, I know how I viewed blindness
before I lost my sight, and I see the same reactions from others today
now that I am blind.  There are a lot of organizational things that I
don't agree with, but I would agree with Dr. Jernigan that that image
needs to be changed.  Even today, I don't think it has.  Like someone
said on here, the car that the blind can drive is supposed to
represent the positives, the future.  Well, I believe the cup or
container just sitting there symbolizes the past, the negatives.  But
again, that is just one opinion out of many.  Perhaps someone should
write a letter to Doctor Maurer so he can read it at one of his
leadership seminars.  I'm sure there would be lots of opinions, as
there are for almost every letter read at the seminars.

Thanks,

Priscilla

On 8/20/10, Joe Orozco <jsorozco at gmail.com> wrote:
> If the group was just sitting in front of a store holding a donation cup, I
> might be bothered.  I mean, what a wasted opportunity to pass out brochures
> and such.  Yet it sounds as though the cup is only a feature of an
> educational outreach event.  For several years I helped the Texas
> Association of Blind Students organize their annual Southern Strums
> fundraiser at National Convention.  Last year there was no space for the
> division to hold its event within the hotel.  We switched it to a public
> venue, and in my eyes this was probably better since the event would attract
> the general public in addition to fellow Federation members.  People
> wondered about whether our donations would go down, and on the contrary, one
> lady came by and dropped a hundred-dollar check for the division, among
> other contributions.  Did she donate because she felt for the blind group?
> I don't know whether she did or not, but I also know that the presence or
> absence of a donation cup on a table where there is also literature about
> blind empowerment is probably not going to dramatically change the opinion
> of the average person walking past.  Opinions will not hinge on whether the
> group is taking donations but rather on the type of interaction the group
> has with the people who stop to chat.  And, it's a fundraising strategy
> completely independent of stereotypes.  Do we not think private agencies not
> use certain emotional tactics to get people to donate for the care of foster
> children?  Military veterans?  Cancer patients?  I doubt any of these people
> would want to inspire pity from the people from whom donations are sought.
> It's the world of nonprofits and more to the point, the realm of
> fundraising.  We'll change minds and automatic associations by exuding
> confidence, not by attempting to meet every acceptable definition of what is
> normal to the general public, because that would indeed be a long and
> arduous road to follow.
>
> Best,
>
> Joe
>
> "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
> some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Priscilla McKinley
> Sent: Friday, August 20, 2010 1:18 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [stylist] question about philosophy
>
> Listers,
>
> While I don't have a problem with donations online, the can or cup
> sitting on a table gives a negative image.  Throughout history,
> persons with disabilities, including blindness, begged for money,
> sitting on street corners with cans or tin cups.  The NFB has been
> struggling for years to change what it means to be blind, including
> ridding the public of such images.  In 1970, Dr. Jernigan gave his
> banquet speech entitled "Blindness: The Myth and the image" in which
> he discusses the tin cup:
>
> "How does the tragic view of blindness find expression in modern
> society? I would answer that it takes two forms: among the public it
> takes one form, and among professionals another. On the public and
> popular side, it tends to be conveyed through images of total
> dependency and deprivation-images, that is, of the "helpless blind
> man." A typical recent example occurred on the well-known TV program,
> "Password," in which a number of contestants take turns guessing at
> secret words through synonyms and verbal associations. On one such
> show the key word to be guessed was "cup." The first cue word offered
> was "tin;" but the guesser failed to make the connection. The next cue
> word given was "blind"-which immediately brought the response "cup."
> There you have it: for all our rehabilitation, all our education, and
> all our progress, what comes to the mind of the man in the street when
> he thinks of a blind person is the tin cup of the beggar!"
>
> In his speech, Dr. Jernigan goes on to say that we can't go back to
> those times, to those images.  We need to move forward.  In my
> opinion, donations are fine, but not charity, which the cans and cups
> and containers have represented throughout our history.  In fact, many
> people in disability studies believe that the term "handicap"
> originated from that image, the hand to cap, from the beggar, which is
> one reason the term disability is now used.
>
> Anyway, just thought I would share.
>
> Priscilla
>
>
>
>
>
> On 8/20/10, The Crowd <the_crowd at cox.net> wrote:
>> Here here, well said Joe!
>>
>> Atty
>>
>>
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