As South Carolina lawmakers and other elected officials ponder their respective agendas, we want to agree with the priorities of the blind and visually impaired community. Although our community has made progress in recent years thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act and other measures, much more needs to be done to ensure that blind people enjoy full inclusion, equality and justice.
Our unemployment figures, for example, are much higher than those of our visionary colleagues. National statistics show that the unemployment rate for people who are blind or visually impaired is around 70%. Sad to say, there is still the stigma that a blind or visually impaired person would be a risk to the company. Nothing could be further from the truth, since the blind, if given the chance, are some of the most productive employees out there.
In this sense, we would like to propose the following: that both our state government and our local governments commit to hiring more blind or visually impaired people. We would also like to see them strongly encourage private companies to do the same. In this sense, we want blind entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs to have the same opportunities and access to scholarships and other incentives that companies belonging to minorities and women currently receive.
To help this happen, we strongly recommend that both the government and the private sector include the blind or visually impaired as a category in the Minority and Minority Business Enterprise classifications. These steps can help open economic doors hitherto closed to our community.
There are other issues that we need to resolve. Very often, those of us with guide dogs still face discrimination routinely when hitchhiking by taxi or Uber. Time after time, we hear stories about blind customers who have been denied travel because drivers do not want animals in their vehicles. This is against the law and must be stopped. That’s why the National Federation of the Blind sued Uber and Lyft to promote better education for their drivers. We urge legislators at the state and local levels to give more force to anti-discrimination measures.
To ensure greater safety for blind and sighted pedestrians, we would like to see that the warning / danger signs include an audible recorded message stating, for example, that a sidewalk is blocked.
Another thing that needs to change is, simply, attitudes. There are many Americans who consider the blind or visually impaired to be second-class or inferior. Their sense of superiority does not allow them to accept us on an equal footing. As a result, many blind or visually impaired people are often in a state of isolation, isolated from society at large.
A dramatic change in public attitudes towards the blind, coupled with the adoption of the above-mentioned proposals, could help to break the economic and social barriers that still exist for many in our community. Their adoption can help propel us towards a more just society for which we must all strive!
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the defining characteristic of you or your future. Every day, we increase the expectations of the blind because low expectations create obstacles between the blind and our dreams. You can live the life you want: blindness is not what stops you.
ED BIBLE
President, Legislative Committee
South Carolina National Blind Federation