I agree--the roots of the problem may be different (though I was once told that the staff asked me to go around rather than through a particular restaurant to get to my outside seat because it would be easier for me than going up and down those stairs...).
That was probably more a case of attempting to justify an initial act of oppression (oppression of a person because they use an animal as a mobility aid) with a "secondary" one (oppression of a person because she is blind) for the convenience of a particularly ignorant oppressor. That might be a little different than saying that the roots of both types of oppression are the same, though the example certainly does demonstrate the connectedness I mentioned.
Thankfully, we have not yet reached the point where someone would worry about liability if a blind person with a cane were left to sit unattended in a reception area.
I prefer to think that we have surpassed that point, rather than that we are yet to reach it. :) Obviously we haven't shaken it off completely, as your experience demonstrates, but hopefully it's not happening with any regularity...
Both issues do provoke similar emotional responses for me, though.
That was probably more a case of attempting to justify an initial act of oppression (oppression of a person because they use an animal as a mobility aid) with a "secondary" one (oppression of a person because she is blind) for the convenience of a particularly ignorant oppressor. That might be a little different than saying that the roots of both types of oppression are the same, though the example certainly does demonstrate the connectedness I mentioned.
Thankfully, we have not yet reached the point where someone would worry about liability if a blind person with a cane were left to sit unattended in a reception area.
I prefer to think that we have surpassed that point, rather than that we are yet to reach it. :) Obviously we haven't shaken it off completely, as your experience demonstrates, but hopefully it's not happening with any regularity...
Both issues do provoke similar emotional responses for me, though.
Me, too.
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