“People of the Eye

hi all
yesterday i was really sad when i saw some of the stuff on Deafread and i composed a long response and then just saved it in word and went out and lived in the real world.

it has been crazy-busy at my house this week but some of the stuff i glanced at hitting all of our brainwaves of those of us who go to Deafread for news and info and opinions did have a sad lingering effect.

so this space is intended to be a happy space - free of landmines

simply leave a HONK HONK HONK comment if u support DBC. i believe all Deaf organizations need our critical and caring eyes and our support during stormy times

if u wanna leave a longer comment that will be great

i am sure some naysayers* with stop by too - and they are welcome as long as their rhetoric is peaceful and comes from love. no, drive by shooting comments from folks who choose to remain nameless please

*naysayers are the individuals who seek to distort information and lead a smear campaign - they are not individuals who are sharing their personal experiences within the core and coming from a place of love.

Example - a former DBC member feels comfortable highlighting some comments from an AIM chat but neglects to highlight his own comments in the transcript when they are not favorable.
I.e. after joking about selling their ears for money – lassoBC typed
(“ha ha funny DE” but it is not highlighted at all)

I am deeply saddened to learn that several good folks feel that they were forced to leave or shoved out of DBC’s core. I understand that EACH of you felt u had very good ideas and they were rejected. Those of you who feel you were forced to leave because a different vision on the mission and strategies - it is good that you stepped down if u felt u could not support their path. For those of u who were cut off without any prior notification or discussion and for which u feel there was no just cause - i do express my sorrow that u had this experience. I also extend my sympathy to the core members who have held together during all these changes - i am sure they have been hard and upsetting.

I have had similar experiences in some Deaf organizations for a variety of reasons - power struggles. varying agendas, competition, attention, different mission and philosophy. It is hard for any group to come together an form a firm and loving position and stick to it. We all falter and waiver.

I do beseech each of you who has the time and commitment to unite and set up the type of organization u feel is best – polls, clear solitary mission, good first impressions, (no discussion of CI, AVT, Deafhood, audism, etc). I will defend u to the end just as I will any other Deaf organization that is seeking the right to a visual language for babies peacefully.

I will share why i support the DBC so that those folks who would like to give a HONK can join me:
1. DBC is an advocacy group that is LONG LONG LONG overdue
2. DBC is a grassroots organization that is committed to BILINGUALISM AND BICULTURALISM
3. There is more good in DBC than there is bad
4. i have NEVER NEVER NEVER witnessed the coming together of the Deaf community on such a level as i did at the DBC conference in Milwaukee.
5. DBC is committed to peaceful, positive and whenever possible proactive activism

I will withdraw my support of DBC if they ever advocated for violence (the AIM chat blowing off of stress-steam comments is not evidence of violence in my opinion).

In the spirit of full transparency - things u should know about me:
1. i am not a core member of DBC nor have i ever been
2. i am not a brainwashed sheep following cultist
3. i am not fully deaf or Deaf
4. i am an advocate for bilingualism - biculturalism (ASL and English) for Deaf children
5. i am very comfortable with the concepts of Deafhood
6. i am very tired of all the horrible, spiteful, demoralizing, meanspirited, unproductive and ugly COMMENTS that get thrown around all over the blogsphere
7. i know there are more good folks out there than there are bad

so…… honking for DBC does not mean that u dont ask DBC to examine the challenge before which is (as i see it)
1. to acknowledge the pain that some have encountered from their relationship within the DBC core - the pain is real regardless of if the causes are perceived to be different

2. clarifying ur mission re: the BICULTURAL part of bi-bi

to my knowledge (but i have not read everything in the blog sphere) there has been NO NO NO discussion of the BICULTURAL part of bilingualism - biculturalism

and i think this might be the heart of the issue. if some d/Deaf folks perceive any examination of a CUTLURAL view to be Deaf cultists - then we have a chasm folks and the ELEPHANT keeps winning. The answer in my opinion is not for DBC to diminish or undermine the importance of BICULTURALISM

all the scholarly readings i have done re: bilingualism-bilculturalism (BI-BI) have always emphasized the role of audism in prohibiting and restricting ASL to flourish and be used in academic settings for deaf children. and all the BI-BI writings i have read examine a cultural view of what it means to be Deaf (which is basically what Deafhood is about)

I have never seen the Deaf community so ACTIVE, ALIVE, and A-W-A-K-E out there in the real world as i have seen with the DBC .

I have never seen the Deaf community so ____________ gosh i cant find a word for what i see going on in the b/vlogs right now

i have been to several Deaf gatherings lately and someone always brings up - HAVE US SEEN DEAFREAD LATELY - and other folks will say yeah what a mess chat chat chat

and i will ask - why do u think this is happening - what do u think this is all about

and the most common refrain i have seen is
crabs
attention seeking

now i do not believe that is what is motivating several good folks to speak (type/sign out) - i am sharing that this is the perception

just as i do not want DBC to be massacred for things it is not guilty of - i do not want the dissenters to be massacred as well

what i truly want is - PEACE

and peace by MLK jrs definition is not the absence of tension but the presences of justice

i am not saying “cant we all just get along” in a superficial way on Deafread

i am not saying “cant we all just be one big ole happy family”

i am saying - we got some REALLY REALLY REALLY hard work ahead of us

we have to ask ourselves (and in we i mean me too) how do i disrespect my brethren?
how do i demonstrate a lack of love and respect for others - especially for Deaf people of color? we do need to discuss racism and classism with the Deaf community
how do i communicate concerns about oral / aural only programs and CI without communicating a disrespect or rejection for those who have CI or are oral non-signers

HOW DO WE UNITE TO PUSH THE REAL ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM?

united we stand, Divided we fall

HONK if u support DBC - If u prefer to handwave cuz its more Deaf-centered that is fine

just be visually loud and positive please

Peace

Patti Durr

Greetings all

There has been lots of discussion about a comment I made in this People of the Eye website by Aidan and Ben and others

Here is the controversial comment:
“I have had a great deal of contact with the core members of DBC and I have NEVER seen any of them pronounce radical views. How does one discuss why bilingualism is not accepted in Deaf education today when it was the foundation of Deaf education in 1817 without discussing oralism, audism and CI. This is not to say having oral / aural skills are bad or that having CIs is bad – no one in DBC is saying that. Their opposition is to oral / aural only methods.”

First of all – I want to thank folks for calling me to be a person of integrity. Second I would like to apologize for any confusion or hurt I have caused anyone for this comment and thirdly – I would like to apologize to DBC if I have misrepresented the group.

To clarify my comment:
1. my definition of radical may be very different from others definition of radical.

2. It is my opinion after reading many articles on bilingualism that:
a. bilingualism is always a political hot button and it is impossible to avoid controversy for any push for bilingualism (English / Spanish etc) in the US because we are a predominantly monolinguistic society

b. discussions of bilingualism or the lack there of - within Deaf Education has to examine the legacy of oralism (oral / aural only practices), audism, and CI/AVT programs*.
*AVT/CI discourages the natural acuity for lipreading and using vision to the fullest (by covering the lips and discouraging gesturing and/or signing)

c. When I said “This is not to say having oral / aural skills are bad or that having CIs is bad – no one in DBC is saying that. Their opposition is to oral / aural only methods.”

I should not have spoken for what DBC is saying or isn’t saying so I will share my understanding of the bilingual-biclultural movement within the US for Deaf babies and children – as I understand it:

Bi-Bi opposes a binary approach to the deaf child. They oppose the lack of a choice for visual input to language. They oppose any system that says speaking and listening is paramount (even though it is not fully accessible) and to use sign language is to be isolated and exclusionary. I believe if there were an approach that said ASL only – no English acquisition (in any form written, spoken, heard etc) a bi-bi program would oppose that also but since there is no program, corporation, organization etc that I know of that advocates for ASL without the acquisition of English – it is a moot point and goes without saying. Bi-Bi within Deaf Education faces a unique challenge that is not faced by the bi-bi situations for Latinos or French Canadian or other groups.

One challenge is that for most deaf children the language (ASL) that is being undervalued, under-explored, under-utilized, under-accepted, under-endorsed and under-understood by early intervention and education programs is not the mother tongue of most of the children (it’s not the language used in the home because most deaf kids are born to hearing families. Resulting in a lack of fully accessible language input).

The other challenge is how do we discuss oralism and CI/AVT without making people who are oral or have CIs (or the parents) take it personally. How do we challenge the system without communicating that we oppose the individuals who are oral or have CI (or the parents who have chosen this). I personally do not reject anyone who has CIs or does not sign. You are my brother and my sister PERIOD. At the same time i hope i can still critically examine the unexamined of CI while showing love and acceptance for folks who have CI or decide to implant their children.

So I truly do apologize to anyone if I have disgusted them, confused them, insulted them or misinformed them (by the above comment or anywhere else). I especially apologize to DBC for having shared my view on what I have seen because of course I have not seen nor do I know everything and it seems my statements got interpreted to mean either DBC is too weak, DBC is too strong, DBC is too inconsistent…, and has contributed to the fueling the fire.

It is curious to me that when a good healthy ground swell seems to be forming – when Deaf folks come together to mobilize and become effective that a war of words – “he said, she said” emerges on Deafread and seems to distract us from the main task at hand – examining systematic oppression, why bilingualism is not already an easily accessible option within the US Deaf education system, and how together we can accomplish more.

I really and totally saddened by the mud slinging.

Now re: the challenge to integrity- I did some browsing and reflecting on integrity and these are the quotes that spoke to me.

Buddhist teachings on honesty

Thanissaro Bhikkhu taught:

“Real honesty is being honest about what your possibilities are, what your potentials are. That’s where true honesty lies. It stretches us. It’s not simply admitting where we are - that’s a beginning step, it’s not the end step. So be honest about where you are but also be honest about what your possibilities are. That keeps the challenge of the path always before us.” (From Thanissaro’s “True Honesty.”)

Wikipedia comment re: integrity

Popular discussions of integrity often see the concept as an all-or-nothing affair: one describes an approved person as “having integrity” (as an absolute), but condemns an enemy or a collective enemy organization as “completely lacking in integrity”.

My daughter’s d’var torah on faith, trust and integrity

When God gave us the ability to chose between right or wrong God also gave us the ability to lie. Instead of simply saying, or thinking, “Why doesn’t everyone else tell the truth?” or “Why can’t we all be people of integrity?” we should think, “how can I be more honest?” We could also think of ways that we could be more honest with ourselves and others than we are now.
If we all thought like this and acted upon it, our society might be a much better place.

Peace

Patti Durr