So… Dr. Jane Fernandes isn’t qualified to become President of Gallaudet because she grew up mainstreamed and didn’t learn American Sign Language until she was 23, so therefore she’s not “deaf enough” to lead this prestigious college?
I have a few choice words for those protesters: SHUT UP. Who the hell died and made you God of all that is Deaf? What gives any of you the right to decide who’s Deaf and who isn’t? You’re probably the same people who said on TV in 1995 that Heather Whitestone shouldn’t be looked upon as a deaf Miss America, because she's from a mainstreamed background and doesn't know sign language. With that attitude, why the hell would she want to? Do you really think that insulting people is going to make them come around to your point of view?
This is completely the opposite of the intentions of the 1988 protest. They were concerned about the election of a president who had no background in Deaf education, the language, or the culture. You, on the other hand, are saying that only people who fit into your little definition of “Deaf” should be eligible for that position.
To become President of Grambling, do you need to be from the deep, poor South? To become President of Notre Dame, do you have to have been an ex-altar boy molested by a priest? Yes, you could have those backgrounds and still become President, but you will not have become President solely because of that background. Jane Fernandes' background as a mainstreamed student shaped her destiny; it did not decide her destiny.
Does Deaf Culture really have so restricted a view of itself that variations on a theme cannot be accepted and integrated? Twenty years ago, the idea of cochlear implants was a sign of the Apocalypse. Now, it’s as common as tongue studs or middle-aged men with 20-year-old wives. I guess that means all those people who came up to me back in the 80s and said that I was destroying Deaf Culture were… completely moronic idiots.
Dr. Jordan said 18 years ago that "deaf people can do anything except hear". He didn't say "residential deaf people" or "mainstreamed deaf people". It was "deaf people". Why must it be clarified now? Did Dr. Jordan do such a terrible job that you don’t want another person like him? Dr. Fernandes hasn't even started her job yet, and you've already made up your mind that she's going to kill Deaf Culture and bury it in the backyard. Eighteen years ago, the four leaders of the protest fought for an integrated Board of Trustees. You've got it now, and these actions you're undertaking just show that you don't trust that Board to make reasonable, well-informed decisions about Gallaudet's future.
If Dr. Fernandes can single-handedly set back Deaf Culture a hundred years (which I am sure is not her intention), then, in my view, it just shows that perhaps Deaf Culture isn’t as strong as its “members” would like to think.
