TTMW Issue #61
"You Sign Base-Ball, I Sign Baseball" It is amazing how different the views of the oppressor are from the views of the oppressed. The oppressed asks: "Give me equal rights." The oppressor sees that as "You're trying to be better than me." The oppressed articulates, "I want access now. I deserve access now." The oppressor says, "Wait." "Give it time." "Be tolerant." In his letter from the Birmingham jail, Martin Luther King, Jr. writes, "I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom...Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely rational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively." Meanwhile, the oppressed stands on his/her platform and speculates. This body turns its back to the tension that is obviously there, unwilling to take the means to resolve it. The "recovering oppressors" at the top in a position of leadership do nothing; they fear both the oppressor and the oppressed. To the recovering oppressor this is good and neutral. To the oppressed this silence is a reverberating, "It's okay to hurt the oppressed, and their children, too." While the oppressed is waiting for access (which really constitutes of fighting small battles on a daily basis with little hope of winning the game), children ask questions that we've no answer for. Going back to King's letter, "We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights...Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging dark of segregation to say, "Wait." But ...when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television...and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness" then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience..." The oppressed cannot rise and win a baseball game because he doesn't have a real place on the team. The oppressor will never "save" a deaf child by ignoring the plight of inequality and lack of access. It has been written, "If you build it, they will come." Building it involves blood and sweat and tears. But the building won't happen if the oppressor sits around twiddling thumbs while looking out into the great expanse of dreams. Sam Garner, south dakota * A Dialogue A friend suggested that I should read Ryan Commerson's article about the "Ideal Deaf School Principal" (TTMW#59) and the responses to the article in TTMW #60. This led to lengthy discussion between the two of us, so we thought we'd send our comments. She: Ryan's got this utopian vision of deaf schools. Just how does having a deaf principal fix the problem? Me: Well, in the article, he does say that "the faculty and staff members ... do not use their voices either. American Sign Language is the primary language with the English language as its equal written counterpart." So, it's not JUST about the principal. She: Again, look at the title - "The Ideal Deaf School Principal". Did he honestly think every principal should have an interpreter in case there's a hearing parent so that everyone can have equal access? I mean, if Ryan is so set on this idea, then it would only show lack of exposure to the students. They'll all be given the wrong idea that in the real world it's the same thing too. Me: Talking about deaf schools here - I'm sure it's easy enough to get someone who could interpret, so that's not such a big deal. Having the interpreter there might be good so that parents feel comfortable about coming to talk with teachers or staff at the school. But it does seem like an injection of reality is needed. Where are all these ideal deaf principals going to come from, anyway? Considering their own experiences with education, most deaf people don't want to go down that career path. She: Why waste so much anger on trying to fix the problem when it's not even there in the first place? Ryan reminds me of a black person who is still angry at the whites for what they did during slavery. I'm a woman and I'm not mad at the men who once had power over us. Instead I use this freedom to write anything. Like this. Me: The problem is deaf education - and the people who are most significant in the equation are the teachers and parents. How much of an impact is having the ideal deaf school principal going to make, anyway? After all, the principal's function is mainly administrative rather than educational (although there may be some places where the principal is also a teacher). There is the disciplinary function, too, but that's usually relegated to vice principals and teachers. She: What will fix the problem(s) if all deaf institutes have a "Ryan's utopian principal"? Having that ideal principal will not solve the problem why parents refuse to be involved with their children's education in deaf schools nor it will help a teacher to be a better one. I recently taught at a deaf school and I had asked what percentage of the parents was involved in their children's education. Thirty percent was the answer. So where does that leave the rest? And is the principal of that deaf institute is supposed to take the blame for their lack of education? And I agree about the administrative function of principals. It takes a whole village to contribute to a deaf child's success - vice principals and teachers are as well involved in these matters, so focusing on having the perfect principal is not going to help. Even though I. King Jordan is not a "principal," he is supposed to make sure the university he's running is on solid ground and we still have some unqualified teachers at Gallaudet. So if it's not enough for Gallaudet to have a deaf president, it's not going to be enough to have a deaf principal. ~ Two Cents' Worth
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