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The National Federation Of The Blind blog has more details and links to Boston Herald articles concerning a recent incident in which the U.S. Navy discriminated against a Boston resident who is blind seeking to tour the U.S.S. JFK air craft carrier. The discrimination was done in the name of spurious and unfounded safety concerns. As with many of these instances, the Navy believes that as long as it sites “safety” to justify its actions it can discriminate with impunity.

Navy can’t see an injustice
By David Ticchi/ As You Were Saying…
Saturday, March 10, 2007 - Updated: 12:42 PM EST

The Navy’s recent refusal to permit a blind person to join a public tour of the USS John F. Kennedy is a reminder that blind people still experience discrimination
and public humiliation in much the same way as when black people were turned away from lunch counters in the South until the passing of anti-segregation
laws.
    The Navy’s justification that the denial was based on safety concerns does not change the fact that discrimination and humiliation occurred.
    In fact, the rationale that the blind are not safe in places suitable for the general public only adds insult to the injury that has been done. The
idea that the blind are unsafe in other places where members of the public are invited is simply wrong. More to the point, refusing to admit a blind person
on a public tour is against the law.
    In prohibiting Boston resident Mika Pyyhkala from touring the aircraft carrier while she was docked in Southie, Navy officials demonstrated an irrational
prejudice against the blind.
    This prejudice was not based on animosity toward blind people, but on ignorance about the nature of blindness and how blind people move about in the
world. However, prejudice based on ignorance is still prejudice, and in this case the Navy’s ignorance about blindness is no excuse for its conduct.
    The law makes it clear that no person with a disability can be prohibited from entering any place that the general public is invited.
    Because the Navy opened this vessel for public tours, it was illegal to deny anyone access on the basis of disability, just as it would have been illegal
to deny someone access on the basis of race.
    The determination of whether it was a good idea for Pyyhkala to board the ship was not up to the Navy. Congress has already determined that to deny
a person with a disability access to a public event or place is a violation of that individual’s civil rights; therefore, Pyyhkala’s civil rights were
violated.
    This is not the first time that a blind person has been denied equal access to a place of public accommodation on the demonstrably illogical assertion
that the intent of the discrimination was to protect the safety of the blind person. The problem is that the people making the determination that blind
people will be unsafe are not blind themselves and have no idea of what blindness is really like.
    Blind people, on the other hand, are used to being blind and have developed techniques to deal with their blindness. Those techniques, which include
the use of a white cane or guide dog to assist in navigation, are more than adequate to protect the blind from the hazards that exist in the world.
    Blind people have the same ability and the same right as other Americans to determine their own destiny. The United States of America was founded on
the principle that all individuals are created equal and entitled to inalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. When blind
people are denied the opportunity to determine their own destiny, for good or ill, these rights are violated.
    It is a sad irony that Mika Pyyhkala was prevented from boarding a ship commissioned to defend a country with such high ideals and named for a civil
rights leader. Blind Americans are simply Americans who have the physical characteristic of blindness, and we will settle for nothing less than the full
rights to which, as Americans, we are entitled.
    
Dr. David Ticchi is president of the Cambridge Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind.
[tags]discrimination, military, Navy, USS John F. Kennedy, National Federation Of The Blind, civil rights, blindness, Boston[/tags]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
John G. Paré Jr.
Director of Public Relations
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2371
(410) 913-3912 (Cell)
jpare@nfb.org

U.S. Navy Discriminates Against Blind Americans
Baltimore, Maryland (March 5, 2007): Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: “The fact that a blind person was not permitted
to tour the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy like other members of the public is a stain upon the good reputation of the United States Armed Forces.  Members of
the military are charged with defending the rights of all Americans, and for them to trample upon those rights instead is unacceptable.  At the very least,
United States Navy officials owe Mika Pyyhkala an apology for their conduct in this matter.  The National Federation of the Blind will pursue all available
legal remedies under the laws of the United States and the state of Massachusetts.  Our intention is to send, loud and clear, the message that the blind
will not tolerate discrimination against us in any aspect of life.  If we allow the claim that we cannot visit an aircraft carrier that is open to the
public, based on the patently fallacious justification that our doing so would be unsafe, to be made with impunity, we will next be told that we cannot
visit a restaurant, or a school, or a park. Blind people work, play, and move about in the world as well as anyone, and we will not stand for being treated
like small children.”  

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About the National Federation of the Blind

With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the
United States.   The NFB improves blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence.
 It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation’s blind.  In January 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the
Blind Jernigan Institute, the first research and training center in the United States for the blind led by the blind.