Karl Ewan’s Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
I.K. Jordan’s op-ed about Deaf Culture and Gallaudet on page A19 in the 22 January 2007 edition of the Washington Post paints a very alarming and misleading picture about Deaf Culture.  Let me make this clear that I respect his right to air whatever grievances or opinions he may have on what transpired at Gallaudet in recent months, I believe that he also has a civic duty as a President emeritius to see to it that everyone has all the facts.
Mr. Jordan’s perceptions are extremely shocking because of his vindictive approach toward those who agreed to disagree with him by misleading the Washington Post readership with what happened during the recent protests and what constitutes Deaf Culture.
Our Deaf Culture is a very vibrant community.  It does not matter if you can sign fluently or hail from a residential/oral school or from a deaf family. What matters the most for many of us is whether or not you get it. If you get it, that’s great! If you don’t get it … what more can we do as a community? The only thing we can do is to continue being inclusive in the best way possible. We still experience racism, homophobia, sexism, and all of the “-isms” in our Deaf Culture as much as the mainstream does. I have seen since the Deaf President Now (DPN) protest in 1988, being inclusive has become the ultimate goal for the Deaf Community.
Whether or not to have a cochlear implant is an individual choice. I believe, as much as when you consider purchasing a product or service, that you must have the whole picture. What is happening with cochlear implants is that the consumer does not have the whole picture to make an informed and individual choice.  The information shared to the consumer has a tendency to be very much one-sided and that makes the company that makes the cochlear implant, the peditarican or audiologist who is supposed to present both sides of the coin, and the surgeon very financially content.
Mr. Jordan’s statement defining the small but vocal group of deaf people who define the community narrowly as absolutists is very broad and misleading.  As much in any society, we have ultra-conservatives, conservatives, moderates, liberals, and ultra-liberals. In our American society, we call them right-wingers, Republicans, Independents, Democrats, and left-wingers. He paints this small but vocal group as the “my way or the highway†type of extremism. While it is true that there is a group like that in our community as much as we have anti-government groups in every country of the world, Basque separatists in Spain, radical Islam fundamentalists in the Middle East, neo-Nazis in various countries including the U.S., and so on.  The large majority of that ”small and vocal group of deaf people” continue to work with the mainstream as opposed to the those groups that continue to resist the opportunity to work together in our global society.
I am a native user of American Sign Language (ASL) and I work with a large group of people who come from oral and signing backgrounds.  Some of them have deaf parents and/or siblings and some of them have a cochlear implant.  In Mr. Jordan’s worldview, because I am a native user of ASL and a deaf son of deaf parents, I am an absolutist and a militant.  The many people whom I associate with me in both personal and professional capacities will say that I am not a militant nor an absolutist. To generalize Deaf people under the categories of terrorism, dissention, extremism, or anarchism is at best, appalling … at worst, derogatory and discriminatory.
I come from a family who taught me the strong-rooted belief that Deaf people could do anything except hear and that we can be productive members in society.  My father, a printer and community leader, fought for captioning access and worked tirelessly with the late Frederick C. Schreiber, the Executive Director of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), to fight for the civil rights of the deaf way before DPN. I grew up with outdated technology, outdated social services, and with people who had a pathological view on deafness. I was only 16 years old when DPN happened and fast-forward 18 years later, the only thing that hasn’t changed is the pathological view on deafness.
It is with ’high-definition’ visual clarity that Mr. Jordan only deals in the absolute. I remind him of the absolute that Robert Davila is the President now. And most importantly, it is the absolute to let it go and move on, Mr.
Jordan.
Karl A. Ewan
Dear Editor,
I.K. Jordan’s op-ed about Deaf Culture and Gallaudet on page A19 in the 22 January 2007 edition of the Washington Post paints a very alarming and misleading picture about Deaf Culture.  Let me make this clear that I respect his right to air whatever grievances or opinions he may have on what transpired at Gallaudet in recent months, I believe that he also has a civic duty as a President emeritius to see to it that everyone has all the facts.
Mr. Jordan’s perceptions are extremely shocking because of his vindictive approach toward those who agreed to disagree with him by misleading the Washington Post readership with what happened during the recent protests and what constitutes Deaf Culture.
Our Deaf Culture is a very vibrant community.  It does not matter if you can sign fluently or hail from a residential/oral school or from a deaf family. What matters the most for many of us is whether or not you get it. If you get it, that’s great! If you don’t get it … what more can we do as a community? The only thing we can do is to continue being inclusive in the best way possible. We still experience racism, homophobia, sexism, and all of the “-isms” in our Deaf Culture as much as the mainstream does. I have seen since the Deaf President Now (DPN) protest in 1988, being inclusive has become the ultimate goal for the Deaf Community.
Whether or not to have a cochlear implant is an individual choice. I believe, as much as when you consider purchasing a product or service, that you must have the whole picture. What is happening with cochlear implants is that the consumer does not have the whole picture to make an informed and individual choice.  The information shared to the consumer has a tendency to be very much one-sided and that makes the company that makes the cochlear implant, the peditarican or audiologist who is supposed to present both sides of the coin, and the surgeon very financially content.
Mr. Jordan’s statement defining the small but vocal group of deaf people who define the community narrowly as absolutists is very broad and misleading.  As much in any society, we have ultra-conservatives, conservatives, moderates, liberals, and ultra-liberals. In our American society, we call them right-wingers, Republicans, Independents, Democrats, and left-wingers. He paints this small but vocal group as the “my way or the highway†type of extremism. While it is true that there is a group like that in our community as much as we have anti-government groups in every country of the world, Basque separatists in Spain, radical Islam fundamentalists in the Middle East, neo-Nazis in various countries including the U.S., and so on.  The large majority of that ”small and vocal group of deaf people” continue to work with the mainstream as opposed to the those groups that continue to resist the opportunity to work together in our global society.
I am a native user of American Sign Language (ASL) and I work with a large group of people who come from oral and signing backgrounds.  Some of them have deaf parents and/or siblings and some of them have a cochlear implant.  In Mr. Jordan’s worldview, because I am a native user of ASL and a deaf son of deaf parents, I am an absolutist and a militant.  The many people whom I associate with me in both personal and professional capacities will say that I am not a militant nor an absolutist. To generalize Deaf people under the categories of terrorism, dissention, extremism, or anarchism is at best, appalling … at worst, derogatory and discriminatory.
I come from a family who taught me the strong-rooted belief that Deaf people could do anything except hear and that we can be productive members in society.  My father, a printer and community leader, fought for captioning access and worked tirelessly with the late Frederick C. Schreiber, the Executive Director of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), to fight for the civil rights of the deaf way before DPN. I grew up with outdated technology, outdated social services, and with people who had a pathological view on deafness. I was only 16 years old when DPN happened and fast-forward 18 years later, the only thing that hasn’t changed is the pathological view on deafness.
It is with ’high-definition’ visual clarity that Mr. Jordan only deals in the absolute. I remind him of the absolute that Robert Davila is the President now. And most importantly, it is the absolute to let it go and move on, Mr.
Jordan.
Karl A. Ewan
January 24th, 2007 at 8:11 am
Well said, Karl A. Ewan, well said!
I hope that gets printed?? I doubt the Post would even post it…if not, just goes to prove that they are very baised.
Is Karl related to Sandy? I never knew or even heard of the man, but thanks to Ridor, I found out he was really an important Deaf man in the Deaf community!
If he is, what a great honor to have another generation of the Great Sandy, roaming and signing.
January 24th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Kudo goes to Karl A. Ewan.
January 24th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Yes, Sandy was his father. He had made a lot of contribution to both the Deaf Community and Gallaudet, especially with its varsity teams.
January 24th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Fabuloso!, saludos Karl Ewan!
Jeff
January 24th, 2007 at 11:10 am
I would like to see the op-ed in the Post. Could you send us the link, or is it only available in print? So I can relate better to what Karl Ewan wrote.
January 24th, 2007 at 11:53 am
This is truly great letter, Earl! I hope it gets published. Please post it when it does get published.
January 24th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Most excellent. They HAVE to publish that. Handwaves to Karl.
January 24th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Karl,
HAHAHA as always, your letters have verve!!! Yes, I concur with MikeS- they HAVE to publish this. This is a keeper!!!!
Keep up the good fight!
January 24th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Excellent, Karl! From you, I’d expect NOTHING LESS!
January 24th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Good article, brother. Your article have made me feel as if you spoke for me too. Dad would be talking all day about your article today. Thank you!
January 24th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Well said cousin! We need more like you, Karl.
January 24th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
I know that Karl’s father
(Alexander “Sandy” Ewan) is proud of him. I am glad that Karl sent a CC to Jordan.
Jordan shows a tantrum in the op-ed. So unbelievable that a president like Jordan wrote it with indignation and exasperatuion to one of the two most widely read newspapers in the nation. A university president is supposed to be restraint. It is a small wonder that a professor of the University of Tennessee told Carl Schroeder that I. King Jordan is no scholar!
I hope to see many Gallaudet
faculty members’s responses to
Jordan’s letter. It is of utmost importance that they do because the hearing world would be enlighened.
Jean Boutcher
January 25th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Karl very few can put in context so eloquently the issues you touch upon. I admire you for your candidness. Anytime I see your name connected in authorship to some forum on the world’s stage I become an instant vivid reader. Nothing holds me in enthrall as only you can. You rock baby. Good job on your response to the Washington Post
January 25th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Why dont we debate academics at Gallaudet? Why don’t we debate how the miserable graduation rate of below 50% can be improved.
The struggle over deaf culture was lost years ago. Many of my friends who worked at Schools for the Deaf were warned about the tide of change which was going to sweep over deaf culture but did not respond to The warning.
Gallaudet will be lucky to survive once it comes under scrunity by people who evaluate colleges and determine funding. The protest opened the college up to scrunity and it may not be a good thing.
When you break the law while undertaking civil protest you understand you may go to Jail. It is ironic that the students demanded abolute immunity while breaking the law openly and wilfully.
How can you ask for the broader community to support you when you are essentially obtaning a free education at tax payers expense. Many middle class people can no longer afford college education for their children. Those who attend colleger end up with horendous debts. It is really hard for a hard pressed averaage Joe to identify with someone who is getting a free ride like most students at Gally receive.
I am just repelled by what occurred at Gallaudet and I am sure many other people are as well.
January 25th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Thank you for your feedback as it is not easy to express oneself as self-esteem goes.
I remember Sandy Ewan and his wife so I am sure Sandy would be proud of you, Karl, as I am one of those oralists from Chicago Alexander Graham Bell School around 1955 - now they provide interps and allow Total communication concept by 1970 - so I am hoping the Deaf Community will encourage other schools to have interps and allow sign language as part of total communication with speech, lipreading, visual aids, notes takers, and hearing aids as they are good for those who have some hearing left to hear some sounds like car horn, dog barking, baby crying and some important recognizable noises, like airplane going over or washing machine on, etc. even to see if the tv sound is on too loud, or if vacuum cleaner is on - anyway, to try to use the cochlear implant is rather outrageous due to some pros and cons as not so reliable or practical yet - but hope parents will think carefully to decide right way - well, I may be rattling off but just wanted to share my inputs - I used to wear one hearing aid since I was 4 yrs old and later the one behind the ear as body ear aid not c i - until it was damaged by the cat - so not need it anymore - now I feel at peace and relax as some noises bothered me - for some ppl may be used to it - up to the individual - I prefer to use ASL and have interps at doctors offices or hospitals to prevent any misunderstandings connected with my health problems and also at where I worked, to understand the work situations was helpful to have interps on hand.
New technology to have video phones are awesome for communications means -
So hope things will get better for one and all.