07/12/2024
Below is the email I sent to
[email protected]
Note that it was brief and as respectful as I could muster under the circumstances.
I received an automatic reply that indicated I would receive a response within 24 hours.
One rather noteworthy little hashtag I have seen on posts and that appears in their automatic reply is
Note that IUM and the word YOU are in all caps.
That says all we need to know.
*******
Good day:
I suspect this will not be the only email you will receive regarding some exceedingly undignified and hateful treatment of people with disabilities during the International United Miss pageant at the Rosen Center, so I will be brief.
I am not going to list specific abhorrent behaviors of photographers and attendees.
I am not writing to represent any particular individual or organization.
Rather, I want to call attention to the discordant and disturbing disconnect between the treatment of fellow hotel patrons who had no fewer rights to contracted hotel space than did your group, and the diversity, inclusion, equity, and celebration of people you tout, at least through lip service.
The hate speech, assault, criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, and demeaning treatment to which your group subjected others is inexcusable by any measure of human dignity and respect.
As a blind woman with two adult blind children, married to a legally blind man; as the Chairperson of the Blind Survivors Group of the National Federation of the Blind, and as a nearly 55-year-old human being, I am appalled by the behavior that seemed to pass for perfectly acceptable by individuals over whom you have contractual control, and for whom I imagine must agree to a Code of Conduct.
I certainly hope that IUM will supply a public apology and deal with those who brought this horrific stain to your doorstep in a prompt and appropriate manner. One potential restorative measure would be for individuals who were involved to reach out to the blindness community and apologize individually. That apology should not be general, but should specifically state the behaviors for which the apology is being offered.
For the good of IUM, I think it also makes sense to reevaluate employees, contractors, and/or contestants who do not measure up to the image you ostensibly wish to portray.
I look forward to a prompt redressing of the justified grievances this summer’s pageant leaves in its wake.
Sincerely,
Christine Faltz Grassman, Esq.
