Deaf Leadership or Doofus-ness?

I first became involved in Deaf leadership conferences in the 1970s. I went to the Eastern Conference of the Junior National Association of the Deaf in Portland, Maine; the Youth Leadership Camp (YLC) in Pengilly, Minnesota; and two conventions of the National Association of the Deaf (1972 in Miami Beach and 1978 in Rochester). When I was elected Student Body Government (SBG) President at Gallaudet University, I went to work as a camp counselor at the YLC. The theme for Deaf leadership conferences throughout the 1970s was something like: "PROVE DEAF CAN DO" the ways hearing people do. I enjoyed meeting and making friends with these " ... DEAF CAN DO" people, and we learned a lot about ourselves!

In the 1980s I became an educator, teaching the Deaf at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School and then Gallaudet University. I loved my students and I've been following their careers, which is my personal and professional joy.

In the 1990s I began to advocate for the more widespread use and acceptance of American Sign Language (ASL), and it's been an uphill battle. There are (yes, I am using the present tense for this verb) plenty of naysayers out there who believe rather firmly that ASL is somehow like the manual alphabet, in that ASL is, supposedly, a type of "word-sign" dactylology. They pride themselves in their own ability to sign in English word order and they regard this as being some kind of indication of competence in being a Deaf leader. They intentionally refrain from using 100% ASL with hearing people.

There exists this difference between using ASL and signing in English word order. I have seen first-hand different "leaders" to which the Deaf community has had to exercise forbearance and patiently endure. It was not all that long ago when the Deaf community was sharply divided and the political climate was very socialistic--although the politically correct term used then and still used today is: "progressive."

Those of us who stood against oral-only education, signed English, and cochlear implants were regarded as being either "mavericks" or even "gesture-using Neanderthals." We have endured these slights, and have succeeded in moving ourselves forward in a manner that has been positive and essential for all the Deaf.

The reason I even refer to this example of the past is that when we, the Deaf, either forget or just don't know the history of our language and anti-Deaf cultural oppression, we are becoming susceptible to repeating the same mistakes. This has been true throughout history and still holds true today, to wit, at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York, where President Alan Hurwitz of the National Technical Institution of the Deaf (NTID) is well known for his Deaf (?) leadership--Or is he simply a doofus whose leadership is perfunctory and amounts to mere pro-forma consistency with committee reports?

I find it necessary to criticize and spew cynical tirades about what needs to be done about the quality of Deaf leadership. Someday, the Deaf community will be a group without any "doofai." We can get there if everyone will just use ASL. What's Deaf leadership? And, what are you doing to make ASL better?