[blindlaw] I'm Confused - RE: Canes andBlindnessalongwiththechanging color of the cane

Fri Apr 2 00:20:51 UTC 2010

Okay, last response before Scott LaBarre comes after me with his own cane.
I don't understand why drivers need to identify people with the white cane.
It's understandable why bicyclists need to possess certain reflective
material to be spotted on the road, but unless blind people are going to be
walking willy-nilly in the middle of the street, what is the point of
drivers being able to see the white cane?  This argument suggests blind
people are not sufficiently good travelers and require drivers to be extra
alert of blind pedestrians.  Either we all undergo orientation and mobility
lessons to feel confident on the streets and show the public we can be
trusted to cross said streets, or we show the public that we need to be
handled with care, requiring the color white for no other reason than it
helps drivers pick us out.  I don't think anyone has thus far debated the
use of the cane itself.

Thanks for the lively discussion!

Joe Orozco

"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: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org 
[mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Russell J. Thomas, Jr.
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2010 6:42 PM
To: 'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] I'm Confused - RE: Canes 
andBlindnessalongwiththechanging color of the cane

The color white is easier for drivers to see. Using a different 
color cane
defeats this purpose. The laws are called "white cane" laws for 
a very good
reason. 

As blind people, We use a cane for mobility. Deaf people use 
hearing aids;
people with mobility impairments use wheelchairs; some people 
use contact
lenses. What is the problem? What is the issue?  We use a cane 
because we
need to.

Respectfully,

Russell J. Thomas, Jr.

THOMAS & ASSOCIATES

www.californiaemployersattorneys.com

Orange County Office                      

4121 Westerly Place, Suite 101

Newport Beach, California 92660                             

T: (949) 752-0101                             

F: (949) 257-4756

M: (949) 466-7238

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org 
[mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Joe Orozco
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2010 2:51 PM
To: 'NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] I'm Confused - RE: Canes and
Blindnessalongwiththechanging color of the cane

The question was not directed at me, but I feel the counter 
argument here
may be a little stretched.  Traffic lights are for the safety 
of the whole.
White canes are for the identification of a few.  The 
government could have
just as easily decreed that canes should be a glaring yellow 
and achieve the
same level of safety it sought in limiting canes to the color 
white.  It is
my uneducated opinion that the government merely labeled these 
laws "White
Cane laws" because they were literally translating the image of 
the cane,
not because there was any real value in dictating that the 
canes be white.
We're talking about a person's independent choice of mobility 
assistance,
not the universal symbol of something like the handicap sticker 
for parking.
After all, service dogs are service dogs regardless of the 
breed or style of
harness the dog uses.

Joe Orozco

"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: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org 
[mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Steve P. Deeley
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2010 4:17 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] I'm Confused - RE: Canes and Blindness 
alongwiththechanging color of the cane

Why don't we just let each city and municipality use what ever 
color traffic 
lights they choose to install.  Do you know the meaning of uniformity???

Steve
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark BurningHawk" <stone_troll at sbcglobal.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2010 3:58 PM
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] I'm Confused - RE: Canes and Blindness along 
withthechanging color of the cane

> Can't resist:
>
> I, personally,would like to switch the color of my mobility tool
> because I want it to be *ONLY* that; a mobility tool.  I frankly don't
> like the associations attached to the white cane as a white cane, nor
> do I like the color and its connotations of surrender and
> helplessness.  I don't like the construction o the cane as is,
> designed above all else to be light and to vibrate easily, allowing
> for sensitivity to surfaces.  I also think that a cane should serve
> more than just one purpose as a tool, and in earlier posts I have
> pointed out that, as a weapon, for one example, the cane as designed
> now fails utterly.  I can speak from experience to say that sometimes
> a weapon is a good thing to have--no where did Lao Tsu say "Speak
> softly and carry a long, slender, flimsy stick." :)
>
> Since I find the whole concept of using a long poking / tapping device
> to find out about your environment to be archaic and clumsy, very
> narrow-minded thinking, if I am ever forced to adopt such a strategy,
> I would like said device to serve more than just that poking/tapping
> purpose.  I also do *NOT* want attention drawn to me over blindness,
> as I don't identify myself as a "blind man," but rather as a man; I
> just happen to be blind, and that only some of the time--the rest of
> the time, I just can't see.  It's this image I prefer to put forth,
> however misunderstood it might be, to the world; not that of a person
> who demands the world take note of him as possibly needing help,
> possibly allowing himself to be led about by the hand, and signaling
> that he accepts a second-class status.  That's my position on the
> whole color thing, and my reasoning for the posts I sent last week.  I
> am not advocating for one second that blindness should be ignored or
> is something to be ashamed of, but neither is it something to identify
> with or be proud of in its own right.  Who out there says, "When I
> grow up, I want to be a blind person!"  Being proud of overcoming
> obstacles created by others' opposition to / fear of blindness is
> another thing altogether.
>
> Mark BurningHawk
> Skype and Twitter:  BurningHawk1969
> Home:  Http://MarkBurningHawk.net/
> Namaste!
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> blindlaw:
> 
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.deeley%40insightbb.com

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