[Iabs-talk] The Meitis tuch

[Dave Wright]

the midas touch
From "The New York Times" (Monday December 18, 2006)
The Midas Touch
By MARC MAURER
Published: December 18, 2006 
IN a ruling in a lawsuit last month, Judge James Robertson of Federal District Court said that United States currency  
discriminates against blind people
because bills are all the same size and cannot be distinguished by touch. His decision was applauded by some advocates for  
the blind, including the American
Council of the Blind, which brought the lawsuit. But as president of the National Federation of the Blind, the nation's  
oldest and largest organization
of the blind, I believe that Judge Robertson's ruling is wrong. 
Discrimination occurs when the blind are barred from enjoying benefits, goods or services. This definition of discrimination  
is what most people understand
the word to mean. If a landlord refuses to rent an apartment to someone because of race, color, creed or disability, then  
discrimination occurs. Sometimes
people with disabilities are barred from certain facilities or services because of the way they are designed. A person in a  
wheelchair cannot climb the
steps of a public building; if the building does not have a wheelchair ramp, that person is prevented from entering it. In  
another example, my group is
suing the Target Corporation because the company's Web site doesn't accommodate the special text-reading software that the  
blind use to surf the Internet.
In both cases, a person with a disability is kept out of a public place or denied use of a service, just as African-Americans  
were not welcome at whites-only
lunch counters. 
But while blind people cannot identify paper currency by touch, that does not prevent us from spending money. When we hand  
merchants our money, they take
it and provide us with the goods or services we have paid for, no questions asked. People with whom we transact business  
provide us with correct change
if needed, and we then organize the money in a manner that allows us to identify it in the future. We transact business in  
this way every day. 
There is no evidence that the blind are shortchanged more often than the sighted; if a question does arise about a particular  
transaction, it is the responsibility
of the blind person to sort out the matter. Identifying money by feel, as the blind are often able to do in many other  
countries, may be more convenient,
but inconvenience is not the same thing as discrimination. 
While it is crucial that minorities have a voice in society, it is also the responsibility of every minority group to use  
that voice wisely and not to cry
"discrimination" when no discrimination has occurred. The blind of America will fight discrimination wherever we find it, but  
we achieve nothing by falsely
portraying ourselves as victims and engaging in frivolous litigation. 
Marc Maurer is the president of the National Federation of the Blind.
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the midas touch
From "The New York Times" (Monday December 18, 2006)
The Midas Touch
By MARC MAURER
Published: December 18, 2006 
IN a ruling in a lawsuit last month, Judge James Robertson of Federal District Court said that United States currency  
discriminates against blind people
because bills are all the same size and cannot be distinguished by touch. His decision was applauded by some advocates for  
the blind, including the American
Council of the Blind, which brought the lawsuit. But as president of the National Federation of the Blind, the nation’s  
oldest and largest organization
of the blind, I believe that Judge Robertson’s ruling is wrong. 
Discrimination occurs when the blind are barred from enjoying benefits, goods or services. This definition of discrimination  
is what most people understand
the word to mean. If a landlord refuses to rent an apartment to someone because of race, color, creed or disability, then  
discrimination occurs. Sometimes
people with disabilities are barred from certain facilities or services because of the way they are designed. A person in a  
wheelchair cannot climb the
steps of a public building; if the building does not have a wheelchair ramp, that person is prevented from entering it. In  
another example, my group is
suing the Target Corporation because the company’s Web site doesn’t accommodate the special text-reading software that the  
blind use to surf the Internet.
In both cases, a person with a disability is kept out of a public place or denied use of a service, just as African-Americans  
were not welcome at whites-only
lunch counters. 
But while blind people cannot identify paper currency by touch, that does not prevent us from spending money. When we hand  
merchants our money, they take
it and provide us with the goods or services we have paid for, no questions asked. People with whom we transact business  
provide us with correct change
if needed, and we then organize the money in a manner that allows us to identify it in the future. We transact business in  
this way every day. 
There is no evidence that the blind are shortchanged more often than the sighted; if a question does arise about a particular  
transaction, it is the responsibility
of the blind person to sort out the matter. Identifying money by feel, as the blind are often able to do in many other  
countries, may be more convenient,
but inconvenience is not the same thing as discrimination. 
While it is crucial that minorities have a voice in society, it is also the responsibility of every minority group to use  
that voice wisely and not to cry
“discrimination” when no discrimination has occurred. The blind of America will fight discrimination wherever we find it, but  
we achieve nothing by falsely
portraying ourselves as victims and engaging in frivolous litigation. 
Marc Maurer is the president of the National Federation of the Blind.