Hi All,
"Casey" opens so many doors for discussion, that it's difficult to
limit my thoughts to just one or two.
"Casey" usually takes the form of a well intentioned, positive
sounding person. In my nearly 50 years of activity in the field of
work with the blind, I've met many, many "Casey's". In fact, when I
first came into contact with the National Federation of the
Blind(NFB), I bought the line, and soon became an active booster of
this belief that we blind people could look and behave just like the
"normal" sighted public. This was the Hay day of Kenneth Jernigan,
and many young men, and even a few young women adopted, "The Jernigan
Look". We believed that the NFB Way was the only Way to achieve
equality. While, on the one hand, proudly waving our extra long
white travel canes under the public's noses and showing our Braille
skills, we worked hard at looking and acting "normal".
And worst of all was the smugness of those of us who "passed
inspection". We called those who bumbled along, "Magoo", and we
mocked folks who squinted and strained to read print, rather than
demand it in Braille. We were focused on creating a role model, an
image that would be acceptable to the sighted public. Many capable
young blind men and women were passed over because they could not fit
the mold. And today, fifty years later, the public image of a blind
person is not much improved. At one level we cried out, "We know who
we are and we'll never go back", and announced that we were, "The
blind leading the blind", even as we strained to appear "normal".
We need to understand, and even to cut a bit of slack for the sighted
Casey's. They see our behavior due to our lack of eyesight to be the
problem. While they can't fix our eyes, they believe that they can
help us to look sighted.
But this approach also affects how we, the blind see ourselves. From
among our ranks rise up bright, charismatic people like Jacobus
tenBroek and Kenneth Jernigan, who tell us that we do not need to look
like Mister Magoo. They lead the way, creating an entire movement of
the Super Blind, the NFB ers.
Still, as we consider the impact of the Casey's, we need to remember
that while it is true that the road to Hell is paved with good
intentions, those same good intentions have built cathedrals and begun
social services.
Carl Jarvis
On 9/21/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I never told anyone on this list stories about Casey, and the story about
him is a long, complicated one. But to tell this little piece which Carl's
response brought to mind, I need to provide just a bit of background. The
Lighthouse for the Blind in Manhattan had a large recreation program. First,
I attended as a child, and then a teenager. Then, because of that program, I
learned to play the guitar and to love folk music. And then, as an older
teenager, I worked in the program, first as a volunteer and later, until I
left for graduate school, teaching children and adults to play the guitar
and the auto harp, running singing groups and even, if I remember correctly,
a discussion group. The director of the program was a man whom we called
Casey. He was short and stocky with a forceful, magnetic personality. He had
a master's degree in education, I think, was married, and had two sons. He
was fully sighted. He ran the program during the winter and Camp Lighthouse,
a camp for blind young adults during the summers. His wife and children did
not spend the summers with him at the camp. Just so you know, for discussion
at some other time, he always had a favorite female employee each summer,
and during the summer and during the winter, he fondled and flirted with
female volunteer and paid staff. Anyway, the camp was located on Barnegat
Bay in New Jersey. Actually, the camp was located on dry land and one had to
walk on a long boardwalk that crossed a very wide swamp to get to the beach.
But there were also homes on that beach, owned by wealthy people, and Casey
had cultivated these folks and socialized with them. I'm sure they donated
money to the camp. The blind people who attended the camp were a
heterogeneous group. There were workshop workers, graduate students, people
who were self employed in various occupations, rehab teachers, and people
with multiple disabilities. One weekend my sighted friend and I visited the
camp, on the way home from a vacation and I think I stayed on a few days
extra. I was, perhaps, 18 at the time. One evening at dinner, Casey made an
announcement to the camp. One of his friends who owned a beach house, was
hosting a party for the campers that night. There would be live music, good
food, and alcohol. He, Casey, would choose the campers who would accompany
him to the party. Almost everyone could go. However, he wanted to be sure
that the campers whom he brought would make a good impression on these
wealthy, influential people who were hosting the party because he was trying
to improve the image of blind people among sighted people. Therefore, he
would only choose blind people who could properly represent the blind as a
whole. Certain people would not be chosen because they would spoil the
impression that he was trying to make. I remember how angry I became. I was
angry at the message he was giving to the people he rejected. Everyone was
so excited and was hoping that they'd be chosen. I remember walking up to
him after dinner and telling him that I would not be going to the party. I
don't remember what reason I gave and I doubt that he cared. I spent the
evening trying to socialize with the few lonely souls who were left behind.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Friday, September 21, 2018 6:15 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: 'No Accident' Brett Kavanaugh's Female Law
Clerks 'Looked Like Models,' Yale Professor Told Students
Okay, I can understand that many bosses(male) like to surround themselves
with young, attractive women clerks. But for a female Yale professor to
coach young female students in how to dress up their looks in order to be
attractive to Judge Cavenaugh, well that is just plain ugly.
My experience is that bosses who are focused on a staff of young attractive
women, rather than on competent women, are far more apt to be the groping
kind. In my years in management in the Department of Services for the
Blind, I employed at least five personal secretaries.
The qualities I looked for were intelligence, concern for the needs of the
people with whom we worked, able to put people at ease, ability to work with
little supervision, self starter, and neat in personal appearance.
In fact, I am suspect of men who hire women based on their appearance over
their ability.
When I was one of two Braille instructors in the Adult Training Center, my
counterpart was a very attractive woman who placed great value on looks.
When new students entered the Center, she would look them over and select
those whom she felt were the better looking. She was able to do this
because she was spending her evenings...very late evenings, with the Center
supervisor. Because my counterpart was legally blind, she was very
dependent on others to describe the men she considered dating. She did not
want to be seen with a man who did not compliment her. She put appearances
way above all other qualities. And believe it or not, she went from one bad
relationship after another.
Carl Jarvis
On 9/20/18, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
'No Accident' Brett Kavanaugh's Female Law Clerks 'Looked Like Models,'
Yale
Professor Told Students
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Jessica Glenza, Guardian UK
20 September 18
Guardian learns Amy Chua said she would advise students on their
physical looks to help win post in Kavanaugh's chambers
Atop professor at Yale Law School who strongly endorsed supreme court
nominee Brett Kavanaugh as a "mentor to women" privately told a group
of law students last year that it was "not an accident" that
Kavanaugh's female law clerks all "looked like models" and would
provide advice to students about their physical appearance if they
wanted to work for him, the Guardian has learned.
Amy Chua, a Yale professor who wrote a bestselling book on parenting
called Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, was known for instructing
female law students who were preparing for interviews with Kavanaugh
on ways they could dress to exude a "model-like" femininity to help
them win a post in Kavanaugh's chambers, according to sources.
Kavanaugh is facing intense scrutiny in Washington following an
allegation made by Christine Blasey Ford that he forcibly held her
down and groped her while they were in high school. He has denied the
allegation. The accusation has mired Kavanaugh's confirmation in
controversy, drawing parallels to allegations of sexual harassment
against Justice Clarence Thomas by Anita Hill in the 1990s.
Yale provided Kavanaugh with many of the judge's clerks over the
years, and Chua played an outsized role in vetting the clerks who
worked for him. But the process made some students deeply uncomfortable.
One source said that in at least one case, a law student was so put
off by Chua's advice about how she needed to look, and its
implications, that she decided not to pursue a clerkship with
Kavanaugh, a powerful member of the judiciary who had a formal role in
vetting clerks who served in the US supreme court.
In one case, Jed Rubenfeld, also an influential professor at Yale and
who is married to Chua, told a prospective clerk that Kavanaugh liked
a certain "look".
"He told me, 'You should know that Judge Kavanaugh hires women with a
certain look,'" one woman told the Guardian. "He did not say what the
look was and I did not ask."
Sources who spoke to the Guardian about their experiences with Chua
and Rubenfeld would only speak under the condition of anonymity
because they feared retribution and damage to their future careers.
Chua advised the same student Rubenfeld spoke to that she ought to
dress in an "outgoing" way for her interview with Kavanaugh, and that
the student should send Chua pictures of herself in different outfits
before going to interview. The student did not send the photos.
There is no allegation that the female students who worked for
Kavanaugh were chosen because of their physical appearance or that
they were not qualified.
However, the remarks from Chua and Rubenfeld raise questions about why
the couple believed it was important to emphasize the students'
physical appearance when discussing jobs with Kavanaugh. The couple
were not known to do that in connection with other judges, sources
said.
"It is possible that they were making observations but not following
edicts from him," said one student who received such instructions. "I
have no reason to believe he was saying, 'Send me the pretty ones',
but rather that he was reporting back and saying, 'I really like so
and so,' and the way he described them led them to form certain
conclusions."
Kavanaugh is close to Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose retirement from
the supreme court left an opening, and Kavanaugh was one of three
judges who vetted clerks to serve in Kennedy's chambers. His role as a
so-called "feeder" judge made his clerkships among the most coveted
posts for law students across the country, but especially at his alma
mater, Yale.
According to one source, Chua invited a group of students that she
mentored to a bar last year to catch up and discuss their plans for
clerkships. The conversation turned to a high-profile #MeToo case that
was emerging in the news at the time involving a well-known public
figure.
The group began to talk about whether the federal judiciary would ever
face similar scrutiny, and, according to a source, Chua said she did
not believe it would. She told the students she had known about
allegedly abusive and harassing behavior by another judge, Alex
Kozinski, who was head of the ninth circuit and was forced to retire
from the bench last year after more than a dozen women accused him of
harassment.
The conversation then turned to Kozinski's protege and good friend
Kavanaugh, who one source said was a familiar name even though he had
not yet been nominated to the high court. Chua allegedly told the
students that it was "no accident" that Kavanaugh's female clerks "looked
like models".
Student reacted with surprise, and quickly pointed out that Chua's own
daughter was due to clerk for Kavanaugh.
A source said that Chua quickly responded, saying that her own
daughter would not put up with any inappropriate behaviour.
Chua has cancelled her classes at Yale this semester and, according to
her office, has been hospitalised and is not taking calls. Rubenfeld
sent an email to the Yale Law School community that said his wife had
been ill and in hospital and had a long period of recuperation ahead of
her.
The Guardian has learned that Rubenfeld is currently the subject of an
internal investigation at Yale. The investigation is focused on
Rubenfeld's conduct, particularly with female law students. Students
have also raised related concerns to Yale authorities about Chua's
powerful influence in the clerkships process. The investigation was
initiated before Kavanaugh was nominated by Donald Trump to serve on the
high court.
Rubenfeld said in a statement to the Guardian: "In June, Yale
University informed me that it would conduct what it terms an
'informal review' of certain allegations, but that to preserve
anonymity, I was not entitled to know any specifics. As a result, I do
not know what I am alleged to have said or done. I was further advised
that the allegations were not of the kind that would jeopardize my
position as a long-tenured member of the faculty.
"For some years, I have contended with personal attacks and false
allegations in reaction to my writing on difficult and controversial
but important topics in the law. I have reason to suspect I am now
facing more of the same. While I believe strongly that universities
must conduct appropriate reviews of any allegations of misconduct, I
am also deeply concerned about the intensifying challenges to the most
basic values of due process and free, respectful academic expression
and exchange at Yale and around the country.
"Nevertheless, I stand ready to engage with this process in the hope
that it can be expeditiously concluded."
In a statement, Yale Law School said it could not confirm or deny the
existence of an internal investigation.
A Yale Law School official said in an emailed statement: "This is the
first we have heard claims that Professor Chua coached students to
look 'like models'. We will look into these claims promptly, taking
into account the fact that Professor Chua is currently unreachable due to
serious illness.
If
true, this advice is clearly unacceptable."
The official added: "I can assure you that we take allegations of
faculty misconduct very seriously."
Chua and her husband are towering figures at Yale and were described
by one student as being the centre of gravity at the elite law school,
connecting students to jobs and clerkships, and rewarding loyalty.
The couple wrote a controversial book together in 2014 called The
Triple
Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of
Cultural Groups in America. It said that a mix of feeling superior
with some insecurity were two traits that led to success. It also
emphasised the need for "impulse control".
The couple have hired a well-known crisis communications expert but he
did not respond to specific questions from the Guardian about Chua's
remarks or the internal investigation.
In an emailed statement, Chua told the Guardian: "For the more than 10
years I've known him, Judge Kavanaugh's first and only litmus test in
hiring has been excellence. He hires only the most qualified clerks,
and they have been diverse as well as exceptionally talented and
capable.
"There is good reason so many of them have gone on to supreme court
clerkships; he only hires those who are extraordinarily qualified. As
I wrote in the Wall Street Journal, he has also been an exceptional
mentor to his female clerks and a champion of their careers. Among my
proudest moments as a parent was the day I learned our daughter would
join those ranks."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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