BUG: Deaf Identity and Internal Revolution

Afterword

Afterword The introduction to this book was completed sometime in the beginning of April 2006, approximately one month before the Unity for Gallaudet (UFG) protest began. I was tempted many times throughout the protest to change what I had written , especially in light of the way the phrase “not Deaf enough” was being used to distract the public from realities that had nothing whatsoever to do with Deaf identity politics. In the end, however, I decided to leave the introduction alone. There is such a thing, you see, as telling a lie with the truth. And there’s also just plain old lying. If I can possibly get away with it, I’d really like to spend the rest of my life avoiding both. I meant what I said in my introduction. Once upon a time the three holy criteria for deciding whether or not someone fit into the Deaf community were having deaf parents, attending a residential institution, and being able to sign grammatically perfect ASL. That’s the truth, and here’s another one—a lot of deaf people really were rejected for not meeting those criteria. This was a stupid move on Deaf peoples’ part because nobody has any control over what type of parents he’s born to or what type of school he’s initially placed in. And odds are high that if you reject someone over so-called “choices” he was never responsible for making in the first place, he’s not going to think enough of you to learn your language and contribute to your culture. And without those contributions, can the culture really grow? No. Which is why—from almost as far back 221 222 C H R I S T O P H E R J O N H E U E R as 1988, when Gallaudet students and staff revolted over the selection of a hearing president—it really didn’t. And what’s more, now things are even worse. On more and more blogs we are seeing growing evidence of deaf on Deaf hatred. It’s no longer hearing people calling Deaf people illiterate trailer trash or Social Security-mooching drug addicts. It’s deaf people doing that now. It’s called “blowback.” “Not Deaf enough,” justly or not, really is what set that whole thing off. What goes around comes around. And in many ways, that blowback is exactly what more than a few Deaf people have had coming to them for decades. That’s the truth. But this is what makes all of that a lie: I fit into the “hearing world” far better than a nonspeaking, ASLsigning , English-illiterate Deaf person ever will, and so does any D/deaf person like me. By some fluke I was born with only a mild hearing loss that later progressed to profound deafness. The result? I was able to acquire spoken English as my native language. My voice doesn’t sound like a hyena’s. My printed English sentences don’t look like they’ve just been spit out of a paper shredder. Does that sound rude? Truth often does. You tell me which type of person Hearing America is built for, which one it can more readily relate to, which one it will hire—Deaf or deaf? The fact of the matter is you don’t need to tell me. This country answers those very questions every single day, and quite savagely. For every person out there who has been rejected for being not Deaf enough, there are a dozen more being rejected daily because they are too Deaf. And what’s more, I can milk that for all it’s worth. All I have to do is distance myself from the whole “Deaf absolutist” B U G 223 thing, and any individual perceived of being one. In fact, all I really need to do is make that group my scapegoat. Suddenly my game plan is clear. They are the stupid ones—not me! They are the ones who can’t read and write, who reject cochlear implants and the benefits of modern medicine because they’re afraid of facing the real world. Look at me . . . see my hearing aid? See me say, “Yes, sir” and “No, sir?” Those absolutists don’t represent me, no way! I’m a realist! I’m for progress! I’m for inclusion! I’m . . . See what I mean? With...