WHEREAS, employment of the blind in every aspect of our economy, including the management and operation of franchise businesses, has long been a central goal of the National Federation of the Blind; and
WHEREAS, inclusion of the blind in non-discriminatory provisions of state and federal civil rights laws is an important step in prohibiting discrimination in employment; and
WHEREAS, the National Federation of the Blind of California has urged the introduction and worked for the passage of assembly bill 4260, legislation which would include the blind in the state's civil rights law, and thus prohibit discrimination in employment, including the granting of franchises; and
WHEREAS, the Zone Manager of the Southland Corporation, a nation-wide corporation which owns 7-11 Stores, lobbied the California Legislature against AB4260 on the false and discriminatory notion that blind people could not operate a 7-11 Store; and
WHEREAS, the negative attitude about blindness displayed by the Southland Corporation's Zone Manager is dramatic evidence of the need for the passage of anti-discrimination legislation; and
WHEREAS, thousands of blind people, many of them in the state of Maryland, operate businesses under a franchise system, and a number of well qualified blind people may wish to apply for 7-11 franchises; and
WHEREAS, the negative concepts about the capabilities of blind people expressed by the Southland Corporation Zone Manager, if they represent the views of the Corporation as a whole •ill seriously limit future opportunities for blind Marylanders: 1ow, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Maryland in Convention assembled this seventh day of September, 1986, in the City of Columbia, Maryland, that this organization calls upon the Southland Corporation to repudiate statements made by its California Zone Manager and to take steps to encourage qualified blind individuals to become 7-11 franchise holders.