ASL Rose Newsletter
Vol. 5 No. 10
December 2011
Occupy ASL
Recently the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has swept over 30 major US Cities. Starting in the New York City Financial District, protesters have gathered to speak out against the uneven distribution of wealth in the country, especially as the gap between the rich and poor increases under the weight of economic distress. ASL Rose advocates that the Deaf community and its supporters follow OWS’s lead and take a stand for ASL and Deaf education, particularly as the fledgling economy forces budget cuts in ASL and Deaf education programs, and Occupy ASL.
While ASL and Deaf education have made great strides in the United States and throughout the world over the last century, there is still much to be done. The protests themselves have brought to light flagrant violations of Deaf people’s constitutional and human rights—Patti Durr, a Deaf protester and professor from RIT was arrested in an Occupy Rochester protest in November. Though she was not in any way a danger to the officers and requested repeatedly to be cuffed with her hands in the front to facilitate the use of sign language, the officers left her handcuffed with her arms behind her for nearly five hours. She was prohibited from using her cell phone to text her husband, and, since the station was not equipped with a video phone, had no way of contacting him. The police defended themselves by noting that they did have a TTY, and refused to acknowledge suggestions by the woman and others that TTYs are outdated pieces of equipment which most Deaf people no longer even have in their homes (Spies, 2011).
On a larger level, we need to consider the spirit of the Occupy protests and continue to fight for equality even outside of the realm of the current protests. Though ASL was recognized as an official language in the 1960s, some state legislations still do not recognize ASL as such, therefore leaving the door open for Deaf students and ASL students’ rights to be violated (Harrington, 2010). Schools across the nation continue to question whether ASL is a language worthy of course credit; in a debate on the subject, a former foreign language department chair at Weber State University said ASL users are “dependent on the English language” and that ASL “is not sufficient to sustain a culture” (Leventis- Lourgos, 2010). The ignorance behind a statement like this can easily become the presiding opinion unless we take a stand on the validity of ASL as a language, and the right of students both Deaf and hearing to learn and use it. Click here to watch the National Association of the Deaf’s position statement on the linguistics of ASL, and its importance in our schools and culture.
The first step is to raise awareness about the rights of Deaf people, particularly Deaf students in school, to communicate in their natural language of ASL. Take for example the plight of Danica Lesko, a Hard of Hearing student who was threatened by her principal to stop signing on the bus or face a suspension from school. Lesko was signing to friends on the bus when other students got up from their seats and started to tease her. The students refused to return to their seats, and after the incident was reported, Lesko was informed that she was banned from using sign language on the bus because it was a “safety hazard” and that she would be suspended if she continued to sign (Robinson, 2010). The ban was later lifted after her Lesko’s parents filed a lawsuit against the school district, but the fact that it was implemented at all is a grave reminder of how far we have to go to fight for Deaf people’s rights to learn and communicate using ASL.
Just like those protesting in financial districts across the country, ASL advocates should also be concerned with the effect of economic turmoil on Deaf education and the presence of signed languages in the schools. In a posting earlier this year, the NAD listed eleven schools for the Deaf facing “drastic budget cuts or closure: Cleary School for the Deaf, Kansas School for the Deaf, Lexington School for the Deaf, Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf, New York School for the Deaf – Fanwood, Oklahoma School for the Deaf, Rochester School for the Deaf, St. Francis De Sales School for the Deaf, St. Joseph’s School for the Deaf, St. Mary’s School for the Deaf, and Texas School for the Deaf (“NAD Action Alert”). Additionally, schools like San Diego State University, known for its “bilingual/bicultural deaf education program” announced cuts to the curriculum due to budgetary concerns (Leventis- Lourgos, 2010). The closure of Deaf schools would be a disservice to the education of thousands of Deaf learners, who would be forced to attend mainstreamed schools and study in a language to which they do not have full access. Deaf schools have long been defenders of ASL and Deaf culture, and the loss of these centralized spaces would be detrimental to the growth and unity of the Deaf community. We cannot let Deaf schools and their allies fall subject to even more discrimination and underfunding in these trying economic times.
ASL Rose encourages all readers to write to their state officials in support of Deaf schools. Make the legislators aware that Deaf learners’ educations are in danger if Deaf schools are closed! And the same applies to Deaf schools and signed languages throughout the international community. Make a call for change—we need to take control, take back our language, culture, and right to communicate, and stand together in solidarity against oppression—occupy sign language.
References:
Leventis- Lourgos, A. (2010, April 18). “Is American sign language a ‘foreign’ language?” Chicago Tribune. Retrieved December 5, 2011, from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-04-18/news/ct-met-sign-language-20100416_1_american-sign-language-silent-dinners-foreign-language
Harrington, Tom. (2010, May). “Sign language: Academic acceptance and official recognition.” Retrieved December 5, 2011, from http://libguides.gallaudet.edu/content.php?pid=114804&sid=991858
National Association of the Deaf. (2011, February 16). “NAD action alert: Preserve state schools for the deaf.” Retrieved December 5, 2011, from http://nad.org/news/2011/2/nad-action-alert-preserve-state-schools-deaf
Robinson, B. (2010, April 18). “Sign language ban imposed on NJ girl.” Retrieved December 5, 2011, from http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93532&page=1.
Spies, J. (2011, November 17). “RIT professor calls occupy arrests unconstitutional.” Retrieved December 5, 2011, from http://www.websterpost.com/latestnews/x1821245495/RIT-professor-calls-Occupy-arrests-unconstitutional
Wilcox, S. (2011, April 26). “Universities that accept ASL in fulfillment of foreign language requirements.” Retrieved December 5, 2011, from http://web.mac.com/swilcox/UNM/univlist.html.
