Historical Rhetoric and Invective

Another blast from the past with extra points for sparkling rhetoric and invective.
RantWoman
(WCB = Washington Council for the Blind, www.wcbinfo.org )



One more article from that Braille Monitor, September 1966.
WSAB was the original name of the organization which later merged with the WCB in 1990.  In 1966, I had been blind for just one year.  Four years later in 1970 I was elected as president of the King County White Cane
Association.  At that time we had built the membership in Seattle to 67
members.  That same year I wrote the resolution calling for WSAB to go
before the state legislature and request that a Commission for the Blind be
established.  The convention met in Hoquiam and passed the resolution,
beginning a 7 year struggle to ultimate victory.
Carl Jarvis
PS:
After the establishment of Community Services for the Blind, Director
Charles Brown took over the Social Center where the King County White Cane Association had been meeting.


WSAB SUPPORTS SEATTLE CLUB IN FIGHT WITH CSB
To save the political and constitutional rights of blind persons as citizens, the Washington State Association of the Blind has resolved to support and help the organized blind of Seattle in their confrontation with the Community Services for the Blind (CSB), a local agency formed in 1965 which reflects COMSTAC policies.

In March Charles E. Brown, executive director of the Seattle CSB, wrote to  Tom Gronning, president of the White Cane Association of King County,
setting forth demands on the association as conditions for continued use of
meeting facilities recently placed under CSB's control. These demands included furnishing CSB with a copy of the organization's constitution and
bylaws and a list of elected officers -- with a person designated as direct
liaison.

"Further, it is essential that we request that you consult with us before
you engage in any fund raising program, or any organized political
activity," wrote Brown. "This is solely because we need to be aware of these matters, and also could not condone any such activities which would in any way be contradictory to our principals [sic] , or which would be, for one reason or another, embarrassing."

The White Cane Association rejected the demands as "paternalism of the most exaggerated and obnoxious kind." It's letter to Brown firmly stated:
'Whatever may be the demands of paternalistic social agencies, we shall
maintain and exercise our God-given and our constitutional rights to engage
in whatever political activity we please so long as it be within the laws of
the State and Nation. We shall equally maintain and exercise our right to
engage in public fund raising campaigns. You talk about what you insist
upon. This is what we insist upon. We insist upon it, moreover, whether you
'condone' our actions and activities or not, whether our actions and  activities are 'contradictory' to your 'principals [ sic] and practices',
whether they are 'embarrassing' to you for one reason or for ten."

In his banquet speech at the Louisville Convention, NFB President Jacobus
tenBroek gave his and the Federation's wholehearted support to the Seattle
affiliate, labeling CSB's action as "out of this world" paternalism. As for
the standards of the Commission on Standards and Accreditation of Services for the Blind -- which CSB professes to follow -- President tenBroek described them as "mis -conceived , mis -directed , and mischievous."

Eager to take a stand against such dictatorial action before it set a  dangerous precedent, the WSAB issued its resolution, which in full reads:

"WHEREAS, the WSAB in convention assembled in Everett, Washington, August 6, 1966 has studied in detail the report of Public Relations Committee of WSAB;

And, More particularly, the exchange of letters between Mr. Tom Gronning
dated March 21, 1966 and Mrs. Charles E. Brown, dated May 9, 1966; and

"WHEREAS, we, of WSAB, feel that it must be obvious to all concerned that the Community Services for the Blind Organization of Seattle is flagrantly attempting to silence the voice of the Blind and their activities in the area; and

"WHEREAS, this highhanded and shocking approach of the Community Service for the Blind Agency is 'justified' in the name of Commission on Standards and Accreditation of Services for the Blind; and

"WHEREAS, this newly formed Commission is a self-appointed and
self-perpetuating 'Super Agency' promoting the dominance of Agencies for the Blind over the Blind and which give only lip service to the blind.

"NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the WSAB in Convention assembled this 6th day of August, 1966, in Everett, Washington, that this Organization fully and without reservation supports the position of the King County White Cane Association and stands ready and waiting to lend every possible support in this crusade to retain the freedom of Blind persons to decide their own destinies and to speak for themselves."

WSAB SUPPORTS SEATTLE CLUB IN FIGHT WITH CSB
To save the political and constitutional rights of blind persons as
citizens, the Washington State Association of the Blind has resolved to
support and help the organized blind of Seattle in their confrontation with
the Community Services for the Blind (CSB), a local agency formed in 1965 which reflects COMSTAC policies.

In March Charles E. Brown, executive director of the Seattle CSB, wrote to
Tom Gronning, president of the White Cane Association of King County,
setting forth demands on the association as conditions for continued use of
meeting facilities recently placed under CSB's control. These demands
included furnishing CSB with a copy of the organization's constitution and
bylaws and a list of elected officers -- with a person designated as direct
liaison.

"Further, it is essential that we request that you consult with us before
you engage in any fund raising program, or any organized political
activity," wrote Brown. "This is solely because we need to be aware of these matters, and also could not condone any such activities which would in any way be contradictory to our principals [sic] , or which would be, for one reason or another, embarrassing."

The White Cane Association rejected the demands as "paternalism of the most exaggerated and obnoxious kind." It's letter to Brown firmly stated:
'Whatever may be the demands of paternalistic social agencies, we shall
maintain and exercise our God-given and our constitutional rights to engage
in whatever political activity we please so long as it be within the laws of
the State and Nation. We shall equally maintain and exercise our right to
engage in public fund raising campaigns. You talk about what you insist
upon. This is what we insist upon. We insist upon it, moreover, whether you
'condone' our actions and activities or not, whether our actions and
activities are 'contradictory' to your 'principals [ sic] and practices',
whether they are 'embarrassing' to you for one reason or for ten."
In his banquet speech at the Louisville Convention, NFB President Jacobus
tenBroek gave his and the Federation's wholehearted support to the Seattle
affiliate, labelling CSB's action as "out of this world" paternalism. As for
the standards of the Commission on Standards and Accreditation of Services for the Blind -- which CSB professes to follow -- President tenBroek described them as "mis -conceived , mis -directed , and mischievous."

Eager to take a stand against such dictatorial action before it set a
dangerous precedent, the WSAB issued its resolution, which in full reads:
"WHEREAS, the WSAB in convention assembled in Everett, Washington, August 6, 1966 has studied in detail the report of Public Relations Committee of WSAB;

And, More particularly, the exchange of letters between Mr. Tom Gronning
dated March 21, 1966 and Mrs. Charles E. Brown, dated May 9, 1966; and

"WHEREAS, we, of WSAB, feel that it must be obvious to all concerned that the Community Services for the Blind Organization of Seattle is flagrantly attempting to silence the voice of the Blind and their activities in the area; and

"WHEREAS, this highhanded and shocking approach of the Community Service for the Blind Agency is 'justified' in the name of Commission on Standards and Accreditation of Services for the Blind; and

"WHEREAS, this newly formed Commission is a self-appointed and
self-perpetuating 'Super Agency' promoting the dominance of Agencies for the Blind over the Blind and which give only lip service to the blind.

"NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the WSAB in Convention assembled this 6th day of August, 1966, in Everett, Washington, that this Organization fully and without reservation supports the position of the King County White Cane Association and stands ready and waiting to lend every possible support in this crusade to retain the freedom of Blind persons to decide their own destinies and to speak for themselves."