Do dollars discriminates? Identifying money by feet may be more convenient, but inconvenience is not the same thing as discrimination.

• Author: Maurer, Marc
• Position: Brief article

I believe the federal court was wrong in ruling that U.S. paper currency discriminates against the blind because it cannot be distinguished by touch.

Discrimination occurs when the blind are barred from enjoying benefits, goods, or services. This definition of discrimination is what most people understand the word to mean. For example, if a landlord refuses to rent an apartment to someone because of the person's race, color, creed, or disability, that is discrimination.

Sometimes people with disabilities are prevented from using certain facilities or services because of the way they are designed. The National Federation of the Blind is suing the Target Corporation because the company's Web site doesn't accommodate the special text-reading software that the blind use to surf the Internet. In this case, a person with a disability is denied the use of a service, just as blacks at one time were not welcome at whites-only lunch counters.

But while blind people cannot identify paper currency by touch, it does not prevent us from spending money. When we hand merchants money, they...