Federal Judge Ruling on Size of Money and Discrimination Against the Blind--and Making Life more "Normal?" for the Blind:

I've never been an activist regarding the rights of the disabled.  In fact, I'm usually thought that court cases and other whining about discrimination against the blind and other disability groups were either unnecessary or were doing the cause of independence more harm than good. Readers of this blog will note that I rarely mention my blindness.     On the other hand, I've never thought of my blindness as just an "inconvenience."  It's a lot more than an inconvenience!

 

So it has been with mixed emotions that I've watched the debate over the years about the size of currency and the possible discrimination against the blind.  After all, totally blind citizens make up an extremely small percentage of the American population; and I don't expect the rest of the world to spend its time catering to every minority group known to man.

 

Now, a federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Treasury discriminates against the blind because all of the paper currency feels exactly the same.  There is no way that a blind person can distinguish among the various denominations of paper currency.  What I didn't know is that, according to the ruling issued on November 28, of more than 180 countries that issue paper currency, the United States is the only one that does not have some features to help blind people distinguish various denominations of paper currency.  

 

The government says that making any kind of change will be costly and could make the bills more susceptible to counterfeiters.  Corporate  interests argue that such changes could have an impact on the vending business. (Somehow, such arguments, based as they are on pragmatism rather than legal considerations don't seem very impressive or relevant.//FONT>

 

When I am dealing with paper money, I have ways of telling the bills apart, once a sighted person, usually my wife Lydia, helps me separate them.  I put the $1 bills and the $10 in different compartments of my wallet.  I fold the $5 bills differently from the $20.  And in those rare cases where I get to deal with $50 or $100 bills, I can make similar arrangements.  (One can always make arrangements for dealing with $50 and $100 bills easily enough, I would think.)  But of course, I have to have someone tell me the denominations first before I can make these arrangements.

 

It is interesting how the world is increasingly trying to make life more "normal" for the blind.  I have just bought a talking color identifier that will distinguish 150 different shades of color.   . I have also bought a talking computerized Bible.  Talking bill identifiers do exist, but they are fairly expensive and would make sense only for a blind business operator.  

 

My first impulse is to hail yesterday's ruling as a dramatic step forward for independence of the blind; but I want to keep an open mind.  There may be legitimate arguments on the other side of which I'm unaware.  Besides, the ruling may well be appealed, which could drag out the process for years.  In addition, with such a large amount of U.S. currency in circulation, finding a feasible way to meet the legitimate concerns of the blind could be quite difficult.  So I'm not counting my dollars before they hatch.  I am, however, rethinking my attitude toward discrimination and independence issues.  And I must admit that I would dearly love to be able to count my own money without help from any sighted person.  A sighted person is not always readily available to help with this task.  And being a Calvinist who believes quite firmly in original sin and total depravity, I am reluctant to trust the good faith of every stranger with whom I come into contact.

 

Seriously, this could be a great breakthrough moment for the blind; but for now, let's just say that the jury is still out.

 

     

Straight ahead!  See my blog at:   www.noblindbluff.blogspot.com