[nfb-talk] TSA discrimination in Orlando

T. Joseph Carter carter.tjoseph at gmail.com
Sun Jul 31 11:18:32 UTC 2011


Once again, and for the ten thousandth time, I was not given the 
option of walking under my own power.  I was told to hang on to the 
officer after giving up my cane, or be punitively searched.

Why is this such a hard concept to communicate?  Are my messages 
simply going unread, or is somehow the notion of being FORCED TO HANG 
ON TO SOMEONE ELSE’S PERSON like a small child not somehow offensive?

I’ve had much more frustration in dealing with the members of this 
list than I did with the TSA over this issue.  The fact remains that 
the TSA’s own regulations say X, and they did Y.  X does not equal Y.  
They did not follow their own regulations.  Most of the general 
public is outraged that they are doing the job their regulations say 
they must do when it does not make sense.  I am saying that they need 
some training about what their own regulations are.  Not a lawsuit, 
not a payout for me, not even an apology.  The TSA of this particular 
airport need to be instructed as to the procedure they are supposed 
to follow, because obviously THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS.

I filed my complaint, alone, without the help of the NFB.  I have not 
even received an acknowledgement of my complaint.  I don’t expect I 
will, either.  Supposedly that is why we have a National Federation 
of the Blind, but apparently this just isn’t a big enough deal for 
anybody but me to care about.  These officers will likely remain 
untrained.

God help any blind person who walks through with a slate and stylus, 
even though those are expressly permitted.  Those styli can be pretty 
sharp, you know.  And if they don’t know what to do with a cane, even 
after it has been scanned and proven safe, who knows what they’d do 
over a sharp pointy thing.

But that doesn’t matter.  We fought hard for the right, but if we are 
not willing to defend it, we can kiss it goodbye.

I was not offended by the TSA agents' ignorance.  It was simply that: 
Ignorance.  I am offended that Federationists are unwilling to defend 
the rights we had to fight for.  Yes, say whatever you want Mike, it 
is downright offensive to me to know that someone could claim to 
support this organization and yet shrug in indifference when the 
civil rights we fight for and even are jailed over are taken away 
from us by people whose very job depends on knowing better.

When did we become so apathetic as Federationists?

Joseph - KF7QZC


On Sun, Jul 31, 2011 at 02:46:35AM -0700, ckrugman at sbcglobal.net wrote:
>you got the same equal treatment as much of the public gets when 
>going through airport scheckpoints operated by the TSA. I have 
>traveled frequently and have never had a problem relinquishing my 
>cane to walk about a foot through the scanner.
>Chuck




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