Open Letter to Irv from Don Grushkin
To Dr. I.K. Jordan:
In Honor of Your 18-Year Legacy
Dr. Jordan:
I am writing to you with much sadness for you and Gallaudet University in the aftermath of your arrests, with the concurrence of the Board of Trustees, of the student protestors.
In 1988, 18 years ago, you were swept into office on a wave of student and alumni protest much like the one occurring at this time. All over the country and the world, people were expressing support for an end to the “plantation mentality”.
18 years. One full generation. 18 years later, you have arrested the children of the very same protestors who helped put you into office. In arresting the students, you have exhibited the very same “plantation mentality” of a slaveowner by attempting to quash a rebellion by force instead of words and negotiation.
18 years ago, you were hailed as a hero, embodying a hope for a better Gallaudet and Deaf future. You were the hope of seeing the dual manacles of audism and racism, which had held our collective hands down and silenced, shattered and transformed into Deaf-centric practices.
In 2006, 18 years later, you are now being viewed as a villain. In 18 years which is presumably enough time to at least make progress toward ending audism and racism on campus, you and your administration apparently have done almost nothing to change this. Indeed, you and your administration have maintained audist and racist practices on campus which have led to the current need for students to rise up this year.
18 years ago, you applauded the student protestors for the strength of their convictions, stating that they “had seized an idea with such force that it became a reality”. 18 years later, you belittle the student protestors as mere “dissenters”. Can it be that when the students rise up in support of you, it is a positive thing, but when they object to decisions that you and your administration have made, they are no longer in the right?
You had the opportunity to end your 18-year term on a positive note. Indeed, the Deaf community was prepared to see you out on a celebratory note. Instead, your legacy has been irreparably tarnished, if not utterly destroyed, by heavy-handed tactics you have employed against the protestors.
In the Jewish culture and religion, the number 18 is represented by the Hebrew letter “Chai”, which also means “life”. You may think that the arrests means a death to the protests. However, you may have unwittingly created the birth of a stronger, more cohesive Deaf community united toward ending the practices of audism and racism on campus as well as in our lives. Every great social protest movement seems to have had some defining moment of shock or horror perpetrated by oppressors which has served only to galvanize instead of quell their activism. In the American Revolution, it was the Boston Massacre. In France, it was hearing Marie Antoinette say “let them eat cake”. During the Vietnam War, it was the shootings at Kent State University. The Gay Pride movement was kick-started after the Stonewall Riot. I am not hesitant to foresee that future historians will see the true rebirth of Deaf Pride occurring not when Jane Spillman uttered the infamous line “Deaf people are not ready to function in a Hearing world”, but when our own President, the President we had helped put there, turned against his own constituency by having them arrested. Deaf people all over the country have been shocked and angered by what you have done. Out of anger and shock, comes a renewed determination not to let such things happen again.
Dr. Jordan, take a look at your legacy. It may not be what you had hoped it to be. It is now not what it could have been. But ultimately, it will be a good one, as a result of your having forgotten who you are and how you got to where you are.
L’Chaim (“To Life”) Unity for Gallaudet! L’Chaim Deafhood!
Donald A. Grushkin, Ph.D. ’85, ‘88
Newark, CA
In Honor of Your 18-Year Legacy
Dr. Jordan:
I am writing to you with much sadness for you and Gallaudet University in the aftermath of your arrests, with the concurrence of the Board of Trustees, of the student protestors.
In 1988, 18 years ago, you were swept into office on a wave of student and alumni protest much like the one occurring at this time. All over the country and the world, people were expressing support for an end to the “plantation mentality”.
18 years. One full generation. 18 years later, you have arrested the children of the very same protestors who helped put you into office. In arresting the students, you have exhibited the very same “plantation mentality” of a slaveowner by attempting to quash a rebellion by force instead of words and negotiation.
18 years ago, you were hailed as a hero, embodying a hope for a better Gallaudet and Deaf future. You were the hope of seeing the dual manacles of audism and racism, which had held our collective hands down and silenced, shattered and transformed into Deaf-centric practices.
In 2006, 18 years later, you are now being viewed as a villain. In 18 years which is presumably enough time to at least make progress toward ending audism and racism on campus, you and your administration apparently have done almost nothing to change this. Indeed, you and your administration have maintained audist and racist practices on campus which have led to the current need for students to rise up this year.
18 years ago, you applauded the student protestors for the strength of their convictions, stating that they “had seized an idea with such force that it became a reality”. 18 years later, you belittle the student protestors as mere “dissenters”. Can it be that when the students rise up in support of you, it is a positive thing, but when they object to decisions that you and your administration have made, they are no longer in the right?
You had the opportunity to end your 18-year term on a positive note. Indeed, the Deaf community was prepared to see you out on a celebratory note. Instead, your legacy has been irreparably tarnished, if not utterly destroyed, by heavy-handed tactics you have employed against the protestors.
In the Jewish culture and religion, the number 18 is represented by the Hebrew letter “Chai”, which also means “life”. You may think that the arrests means a death to the protests. However, you may have unwittingly created the birth of a stronger, more cohesive Deaf community united toward ending the practices of audism and racism on campus as well as in our lives. Every great social protest movement seems to have had some defining moment of shock or horror perpetrated by oppressors which has served only to galvanize instead of quell their activism. In the American Revolution, it was the Boston Massacre. In France, it was hearing Marie Antoinette say “let them eat cake”. During the Vietnam War, it was the shootings at Kent State University. The Gay Pride movement was kick-started after the Stonewall Riot. I am not hesitant to foresee that future historians will see the true rebirth of Deaf Pride occurring not when Jane Spillman uttered the infamous line “Deaf people are not ready to function in a Hearing world”, but when our own President, the President we had helped put there, turned against his own constituency by having them arrested. Deaf people all over the country have been shocked and angered by what you have done. Out of anger and shock, comes a renewed determination not to let such things happen again.
Dr. Jordan, take a look at your legacy. It may not be what you had hoped it to be. It is now not what it could have been. But ultimately, it will be a good one, as a result of your having forgotten who you are and how you got to where you are.
L’Chaim (“To Life”) Unity for Gallaudet! L’Chaim Deafhood!
Donald A. Grushkin, Ph.D. ’85, ‘88
Newark, CA
posted by DeafBayBlogger at 7:54 PM
1 Comments:
beautiful, Don! Thanks!
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