How is the National Association of the Deaf inclusive towards the members of the Deaf community who cannot get a job they desire because they are Deaf, who are forced to work 7 days a week at minimum wage because they were denied the right to a solid language, and those who survive day to day on a fixed income such as SSI/SSDI or no income at all?
Let's see....
Hmmmm....
The 51st National Convention of the NAD
July 3rd, 2012 through July 7th, 2012
Louisville, Kentucky
NAD Membership: $40.00
Convention Registration: $160.00
Airfare from Dallas/Fort Worth: $500.00
Hotel: @ $100.00 * 5: $500.00
Base Total: $1200.00
As a rough estimate, I can holler:
WHOOOOO-EY! That's a lot of Money!
Now....
Now....
Now....
Because many Deaf people have been denied an adequate education that would allow them to move upwards towards a higher education, a better income, and happy lifestyle, they are constantly scrutinized and discriminated by a system that understands them NOT. Now, the essential part of this argument belongs to the fact that sign language has not been duly recognized and credited with providing the least restrictive learning environment for a child that does not hear. With this said, thousands of children have grown up to become adults with no reading and writing skills because they were forced to concentrate all their learning on speech and hearing.
The keywords here are : Scrutiny, Discriminate, and Coercion.
It's the majority that dictates what we cannot do.
And they KNOW us NOT!
Yup, we DO live in a world where the majority does not see a unique culture, a bona fide language, and genuine way of life when it comes to the People of the Eye. Deaf people who are comfortable with themselves and hold no shame that they do not hear. Deaf people who know that they can do anything they set their minds, hearts, and souls to do. Ya see, being Deaf is not the absence of a hearing ability but the Gift of a Third Eye. An eye that is aware of the fact that there IS a language amongst us that requires no spoken words. A language that teaches us that we all, hearing and Deaf members of the living world, are interconnected. A Living Language called Humanity.
Yet alas,...
There is also the side of the spectrum where there is an entity of elitists within the minority who have not had to struggle like the people described above and who HAVE, since the beginning, had a plethora of healthy examples provided to them without any conflict or struggle. These such examples are deeply rooted in the cultural and traditional values that Deaf people hold close to heart and have passed on from generation after generation. The "Lucky Ones" have been described as the:
Selfish.
Conceited.
Snobbish.
Greedy.
Cliquish.
The oppressed who oppress their own.
A group of minorities who have chosen to use their privileges and advantages to pull their fellow folks down to the bottom of the pot that they may retreat in jovial denial from the original oppressor, The Audist Establishment. In fact, there are a number of individuals who have actually escaped the crab pot only to turn up the heat on the burner. Signed a deal and done sold out.
Eye Eye $ $.
Los Traidores!
So as we have it, it doesn't look like the National Association of the Deaf seems to give a damn about you and your fight to survive in a world that does not wish to understand the Deaf. I will proclaim as a member of the Deaf community, that the National Association of the Deaf is NOT representative of the American Deaf community.
Audism breeds and begets more hate,
STEP UP AND STOP IT!
Personal, political, financial, and special interests have no place in the fight for equality and social justice.
Yo NAD?
WHAT'S UP!
Hola, Jeff.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part I agree. There is a minor correction I'd like to make, though, and I believe this correction would strengthen the point you're trying to make.
"An eye that is aware of the fact that there is a language amongst us that requires no words or sounds. "
ALL languages have words. The above sentence is contradictory in itself because it implies that ASL has no words, per se. Without words, there cannot be language.
ASL is composed of words that make up the syntax of ASL. The difference between ASL and English in terms of words is that the words are made via hands, while for English, words are made via mouth (hence sound).
So, we have to be careful how we portray ASL as a language since ignorance abounds, and anti-ASL folks would point to the "NO WORDS" and go "aha! I knew it! ASL isn't even a language. Lookee here. It's right there in the Terlinguan post!". Never mind the fact that linguists agree that ASL is a bona fide language.
Just my two cents.
Shelley, your two cents are appreciated. I made some minor changes so to better stress the meaning in my statement. I hope this better pinpoints my meaning.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by!
V
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteStratification exists in every organization, not just the NAD. That the NAD has a membership with higher socio economic status than the larger Deaf community is not a surprise. The questions should be: Does the NAD have a model which facilitates inclusion? What values are attached to the model? What actions taken by NAD exemplify those values? I understand the class issues, but if you eliminate those issues then new ones will arise. The strategic plan of NAD is already outdated and outmoded. It is difficult to imagine from that plan that a comprehensive assessment of the Deaf community was conducted. It looks to me that the writers of the plan failed to look beyond the membership --- IF that far. I dont think adjusting fees can remedy the apathy that emerges when organizations do not listen. A comprehensive assessment extending beyond paying members is needed. THEN adjust strategic plan to reflect a grass roots approach.
Here is my suggestion on how to critique the NAD - look at their strategic plan. There are many problems with it and it really does look like it was developed in a backroom with the intent of navigating away from rational dissent. Having previously been a recipient of the NAD William Stokoe Award which helped finance my dissertation research I am not without gratitude for the NAD. However, it is fair to question whether the mission, model, values, and actions of the NAD are adequately aligned with the larger Deaf American community and not just the paying membership. I applaud the questioning, but now what? How do you show NAD and their constituents that change is desirable, viable, and achieveable? Hard to do with emphasising a grass roots approach when NAD's current strategic plan tends to emphasize a paternalistic top down approach. So what exactly are you suggesting to change that mess? My suggestion is a public discussion on the NAD strategic plan, but without NAD facilitating that discussion as that would be a conflict of interest. Maybe set up a blog, collect the comments, conduct a qualitative analysis of the comments, write up a report, prepare a press release and then watch the rhetoric hit the fan :)
Good post! What bothers me is that this is a GRAND opportunity for NAD to make their workshops and such accessible to those attending the popular KY Deaf Festival in this unique dual event. Capitalize on the strength of attending numbers instead of minimizing access (as u pointed out) and to cater toward those who can afford such conference privileges. Way I see it, this is another MISSED opportunity for many who are attending this popular Deaf Festival to actually EXPERIENCE a NAD conference for once in their lives, sad to say. Also, no surprise there to make Exhibits free since the privileges see many less privileged Deaf people as mere consumers, to be taken advantage of for their gains. It is any wonder that I constantly see many grassroots Deaf people say that NAD does not represent them at all. This NAD ship has sailed off course once again while this beacon of light at this port is still shining and folks' hollering, "We're over here!" (hands frantically waving still).
ReplyDeleteDD,
ReplyDeleteYour comments are very good. I agree with everything you have mentioned and know that it is essential to address these questions in order to assist the NAD in molding itself into a more inclusive position. Your suggestions are great ways to confront the issues we have mentioned here and I believe they would prove to be rather effective.
As many of us are aware, audism is rife and rampant in this world and such creates an atmosphere for further divisions and disbandment within our own community. Classism, sexism, homophobia, racism, and other such -isms.
I want to stress that my criticism is not intended to make the NAD look bad or to destroy it but rather strengthen it. Perhaps my approach doesn't appear to be constructive yet I will say this: I care about the mission of the NAD and would like to see the association get back on that purpose instead of where it has steered itself in recent decades.
I believe it would be crucial for the NAD to find a way to allow members and non-members to express their concerns regarding these socio-economic issues on their own website, perhaps through a blog, as you suggested, or a live webcast during the convention in Louisville.
Where there is a collective willingness, this is an opportunity. Do we want to make these necessary changes or do we want to continue to squabble about strategies, semantics, and cronyism?
I'd rather us get back to the fundamental purpose that the NAD was founded for instead of allowing the community to wallow in the war of infighting.
I like the suggestion that a forum or discussion board be utilized in order to help the NAD pull through towards a more inclusive future.
Thank you.
V
Mike,
ReplyDeleteA missed opportunity indeed. It will be interesting to see what people will be blogging and vlogging about in retrospect regarding this summer's events.
I, like you, have seen many Grassroot folks state that they will not join or support the NAD because the association doesn't seem to recognize them as much as they do the folks who are more politically and financially involved.
You see, it is not just the fees and money that is keeping them away from the association, it is the stigma that is delivered by the elitists who run the whole deal like a corporation.
Aye, aye, matey.
We are the pirates of the ship...
WATCH THE WAY WE NAVIGATE,
V
Jeff, "Aye, aye, matey..," ha. Correction in my comment: "..INSTEAD OF CATERING toward.." Agreed the aim is to STRENGTHEN NAD via new approaches of dialog, inclusion, representation and so on.
ReplyDeleteHappy Father's Day, later.
Hola mi Amigo Jeff,
ReplyDeleteIt's true that NAD has evolved away from the grassroots, especially since it has become more involved with politics and less involved with protection of ASL or everyday Deaf rights.
One way to involve the grassroots again is to look at the Frat. The NFSD in the past was a social group united by group purchase of insurance. Investment on a regular basis was required, and in the socials likewise. People had a stake in running the organization, and it was not confined to the elite Deaf.
Now that the Frat is dissolved, we need to find another way to encourage investment of self and resources with a clear sense of return. It need not be financial, but the stakes are clear: our future as fully participating citizens of the nation.
IF the NAD would encourage grass roots social actions, rather than try to control the actions, they might be able to use their existing resources more wisely. I know I am dreaming. Won't happen.
Deletei wrote so long of a comment - ur comment moderator stated "thou shall not pass" due to length - it was a blessing as riddled with typos etc and pretty much just repeated what u said far better
ReplyDeleteappreciate what others have brought to the table too
George Veditz said in a 1933 paper recalling the origins of the NAD "The newly launched ship of state was without breath or motion, as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean."
kinda fits with ur quote at top right - "A ship in the harbor is safe, yet of course, that isn't what ships were built for." which i assume is by J.A.R.
NAD did get launched off fine once Hodgson kicked McGregor into gear and they all came together and got busy but 50 years later after many of them had aged or departed and after the onslaught of the first wave of Oralism had wrapped its ugly caress around one generation of newby Deaf folks the NAD seems to have lulled itself back into being a painted ship in a painted port.
Veditz concludes his 1933 paper saying who becomes the new president to put their hand on the tiller will determine the course of the NAD and i do believe that will be the case in Kentucky. Whether or not the NAD is still capable of becoming a "real boat" again and truly setting sail will depend on much more than just who is at the helm. Daugaard-gate seems to have opened a can of worms and it remains to be seen whether or not the ship is water logged.
Thanks again for trying to remind us all - we are NOTHING without the people and civil rights organizations should be aiming for serving the greater good and that civil disobedience is largely how civil rights are rung in. Not by meetings, delegates, politiking, rubbing shoulders with this one or that but rather by hitting the pavement and STANDing up for the right to be Deaf and the right to have ASL + English.
see - i keep writing don't eye? so so so want a strong and ACTIVE naD for u and me and ye and thee and we... the people.
Peace,
patti
"NAD has evolved away from the grassroots". I'm not so sure this is a true statement. When NAD was founded in 1880, it was established by Deaf ELITES -- those Deaf who had received an education and language. And it has always been thus.
ReplyDeleteBut, the elites of the past and the elites of today are probably qualitatively different in their perspectives. The elites of old like veditz and hogdson and mcgregor and do on were concerned about the condition of ALL Deaf, not just those who were in the elite group.
Today, the concern is mostly toward "elite" issues instead of issues for ALL Deaf.
Agreed, though, NAD DEFINITELY needs to work on making itself inclusive toward the grassroots and return to its roots of the leadership being concerned about ALL levels of Deaf society.