Mishka Zena

The Buff and Blue
[Gallaudet University]
Volume CXV
Sunday, October 7, 2006
Special Edition #6

WHERE ARE OUR RIGHTS?
Written by Andrew Jones

I sit in HMB as a hearing graduate student in protest of an oppressive
and unresponsive deaf university.  How did I get here?

It started in high school.  I was taking Freanch classes to fulfill my
foreign language credit,but in every class I was focused on the ASL
class across the hall.  I dropped French in my second semester almost
immediately to start ASL classes.  Luckily I met a deaf person soon
after who would become a friend to me and introduce me to the Deaf
community and Deaf culture.

My undergraduate major was cultural anthropology with a minor in ethnic
studies.  Throughout college I was increasingly involved in the Deaf
community of Dallas, volunteering a the Deaf Action Center and
participating in events as much as possible.  I became deeply concerned
with so much oppression that I saw that Deaf community faced with,
especially people of color in the Deaf community.  Racism is definitely
an issue to be faced, as is audism.

Unfortunately I have to say that I was shocked when I arrived at
Gallaudet.  I expected a deaf utopia, a totally signing university.  At
first I became confused upon seeing many employees of the university
that did not sign.  I was stunned to find out that some classes were
taught through an interpreter–I thought the point of going to a deaf
university was to have direct open communication.  I have been here
since July and this is barely the tip of the iceberg.

As many of you know, just yesterday morning DPS broke in and assaulted
students on a supposed report of a bomb threat.  I was here.  I was
inches away from every body that crashed against a wall, florr, or
metal rail.  I smelt and felt the pepper spray a floor away from where
it was sprayed.  Worse yet, none of the intent of DPS was communicated
with the students.  Everyone seemed to be ignored.  The students became
an obstace course and were dehumanized in an officer’s attempt to
silence our protest.  There was a bomb threat?  Funny, I did not hear
that until hours after the break in yesterday night.  In emergency
situations communication is absolutely crucial; if the intent of DPS’s
entrance had been communicated, perhaps no students would have been
hurt.  Audism physically hurt our students yesterday morning and
Gallaudet denies that anything happened.

That audism is so firmly rooted in this university is appalling.  I am
deeply saddened that some have become so numb to its reoccurrences as
to ignore it.  It cannot be ignored any longer, and hearing students
must take their part in dismantling such a system.

This protest is about civil rights.  Many hearing students have told me
they do not feel it is their place, that this is a deaf protest.  I
understand and repect that perspective, but from my point of view,
protectingand fighting for civil rights is everyone’s duty.  You do not
have to be deaf to fight to end it.  We must fight not for each other,
but with each other.  As Anthony Robbins said, “You see, in life, lots
of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know.
Knowing is not enough!  You must take action.”

[Photo of protester giving speech in American Sign Language]

[Lower right of page:]

If the Metropolitan Police comes,
please remember to:

Go to the Atrium
Remain calm
Stay with others
DO NOT RESIST

UNITY FOR GALLAUDET!

http://www.joeybaer.com/files/specialed6.pdf [unofficial link]

Or:

http://eyethstudios.com/bnb/index.htm [unofficial link]

———————————————————————————————————

(End of Buff and Blue reprint)

———————————————————————————————————

“Audism”–definition:

An attitude based on pathological thinking which results in a negative
stigma toward anyone who does not hear; like racism or sexism, audism
judges, labels, and limits individuals on the basis of whether a person
hears and speaks.

(Humphrey, Jan and Bob Alcorn, 1995, So You Want To Be An Interpreter:
An Introduction to Sign Language Interpreting, 2nd ed., H&H Publishers,
Amarillo, TX, page 85)

http://www.amazon.com/You-Want-Interpreter-Introduction-Interpreting/dp/0964036770