the elite blind

 

The     Elite Blind

 

When I joined the NFB in 1969, not only were we admonished never to join a coelition of disability organizations, but never, ever to appear on the same platform with an ACB spokesperson. 

It was made crystal clear that we, the Organized Blind had fought for and won certain considerations that other disability groups did not have.  We understood that they were jealous of us.  I was directly told by national leadership that we blind must protect our gains.  There was a limit to how far the government would go in providing assistance.  If we supported other disabilities we would run the risk of losing what we had secured for ourselves. 

I don't think I need to spell out how this made us look in the eyes of other disabled people. 

An example.  Our state legislature was considering a proposal that would call for the families of disabled children in special schools, to pay for the expenses above what the state paid for the "normal" child's education.  Many of these children had full time attendants and lived in residential facilities.  You can imagine what that would put on the backs of their families. 

Of course this involved our Washington State School for the Blind, a residential school.  It also included the school for the deaf and a wide range of other programs.  The Board of our state organization, the Washington State Association of the Blind called an emergency meeting and decided to testify against this proposed legislation at an upcoming hearing.  As state president I notified President Kennith Jernigan, he was also director of the Iowa Commission for the Blind.  He listened and said to wait for his return call.  When he called me back he said that he had contacts in the Iowa state legislature who had close connections with several influencial leaders in our Washington legislature.  They informed him that this legislation was a done deal.  He told me that he had cut a deal with our legislature to exempt the blind, if we stayed out of the fight. 

We called another emergency board meeting.  Several of us were frothing at the mouth.  We could not believe that Jernigan would sit in Iowa and cut a deal for us without even the curtosy of discussing the matter with us. 

We voted and sent a number of us on the board to speak in opposition to this oppressive proposal.  As it turned out, when we arrived at the hearing we couldn't even get in the door to the building.  That proposal was killed and buried before dawn.  

Looking back, I believe   that this event sounded the beginning of my disenchantment with the man I'd previously looked up to with complete trust and respect.  If this was a grass roots movement, the blind speaking for the blind, then something was drastically wrong. 

Curious Carl