[nfbwatlk] Fw: NFB Article by Dr. Maurer in today's New York Times

[Mike Freeman]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pare, John" <JPare at NFB.ORG>
To: "Pare, John" <JPare at NFB.ORG>
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 7:52 AM
Subject: NFB Article by Dr. Maurer in today's New York Times




The Midas Touch 
By Marc Maurer 
The New York Times
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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