www.dbcusa.org

August 11, 2008

To: Deaf America
From: Carol Finkle, one Hearing mother/grandmother in the heart of an invisible "mixed" American family; how, 'invisible'?: we are a Deaf-Hearing family.

Note: It is funny (interesting, strange, even painful, actually) that we have in fact been a "mixed" family for forty years, but it is only in the past twelve months that anyone has called us that, 'mixed', upon observing us; "ahhh, you're a "mixed" family now", they exclaim. "Why 'now' and not 'before'"?, you may ask. Because, (I will tell you why); it is because my son and daughter-in-law have adopted two Deaf toddlers in the past fifteen months, and they both happen to be children 'of color'; our little Hispanic angel from Colombia, and her equally precious baby brother who hails from India. So the story goes on and as always, I think to myself, "Hmmm, we've ALWAYS been a 'mixed' family, a Deaf and Hearing family; it's just that you can't SEE "D e a f", and so, sad to say, every society in the world treats this invisible "seeing' culture' just that way, by ignoring their existence, marginalizing them socially, economically and politically. Question: Do the candidates even have sign language interpreters with them during their campaigns as a matter of course? Do the candidates even realize the Deaf American vote could be the last untapped "swing vote"? I doubt it, but should they? Absolutely! But, also sad to say, all my rantings of the past ten months to that affect have fallen on deaf ears (pun totally intended)! Seriously though, there are millions of uninformed Deaf voters because no one counts them as a minority (American) minority voting bloc, but, alas nobody 'listens'; nobody hears me...because nobody 'gets it'.

Anyway, I am smiling now, I want to share some things I've learned along the way these past forty years that I've spent "eating, sleeping, dreaming, being educated about and internalizing this phenomenon called d/Deafness in all its aspects through the lives of my own d/Deaf children and the continuation of our invisible 'mixed', Deaf-Hearing family between New York City and Philadelphia, PA.

FYI, I went to the first Deaf Bilingual Coalition conference in Milwaukee this past June and heard, for the first time at any Deaf convention, a presenter talking about an issue as serious and important for Deaf Americans to be aware of as any other cultural minority whose language(s) and culture had their proverbial heads put on the chopping block by dominant societal forces, trying to create a "more perfect human species". Alexander Graham Bell, one of the most beloved heroes of the Hearing world, for Deaf people world-wide was a Eugenicist of the worst sort, trying to get laws passed making marriage of deaf people illegal and, of course, attempting to wipe out their language and the entire culture to the best of his ability. For a hundred and fifty years no Deaf adult, or American Sign Language was ever seen in a school for the Deaf in the Western world;

...Mr. Bell made sure of that! So that gorgeous, rich, VISUAL language went 'underground', as Deaf individuals did what all linguistic minorities have done throughout history when attempts at what we now refer to as "cultural genocide and/or ethnic cleansing" have been made by the power-brokers of the moment using one excuse or another to get rid of them (e.g., for the purpose of 'making a more perfect race'? for 'oil'? for 'water'?

Okay, enough for now, smiling!!
At any rate, I came across this informative web site which tells it all: http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/list3.pl.

Feel free to email me, or blog or whatever, ha! I am old, so the blog/vlog/Facebook generation is all still a bit new to me.

Carol Finkle
Email:
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www.creativeaccess.org

Creative Access, improving the quality of life of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people through full participation in the civic, arts, culture and political life of the Greater Philadelphia region and beyond, enjoyed by Hearing Americans as a matter of right; using the realm of the arts for social change since 1992.