II
,17 1
\ )pillioll. ('OIllIlll'lltan. l.cttvr-, \ il'''''
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uden victorious -----. h Civil I
cties
By F. CIaa ,Jr.
. is our Selma,' . d the
hearing-impaired tudents of
Gallaudet University in
Washignton, D.C. In early
March the 2,100-member stu
dent body too over this
foremos college for the deaf in
the world. They were protesting
the appointment of a president
who - unlike t e entire student
body - was not hearing impaired.
The str tegies, the rhetoric, and .
the rationale of that. prote r
re constant reminders of the
long-lasting effect of the Civil
ights movement on the
progressive movement of
today.
The university, duriag'] en
tire 124 year history, had never
d a deaf president. The time
d certainly come for a change
and expectations were high. For
of the 3 finalists fo the position,
two were bearing-impaired, in
cluding I. King Jordan, the
school' popular Dean of the
School of Art an� Science
. The students ere therefore
outraged en oCilher bearing
impaired candidate chosen.
MakiDg mattera
Mrs. Jane B ett SpilmaD,
cbairman of the board of direc
to ho had Dever bothered to
learn sign 1aaguage and.....", .... ..,
H Iplng
chlldr n I arn
ReadiDa· . eniD& to
someone else to say. WritiDg
is speaking ODe's 0WIl miDd.
When a child to do the·
teDiDg . 0 t ever elf
cbance to do any of taaaJl&
the Ii tening caD become
tireaome aod boriDa-
This' wby reading
iDs m go hand d haDd.
Writing gives the opportunity
I for If-apr . a cbance to
be card thr the use of the
. co word.
A boo which has been
prepared especially to help
pare ts help t ir clIiIdrea
to' ·te U· HIIppeIU
When 0UJdmJ Write: A Plftltt'l
• Guide To Cmltiw JtWtinI EMr-
cUa PM CJaiJIftII (P Prcu
9tf7, 15.00). The , Dar-
. .
quoted as aying that "deaf
people are not re dy to function
in a hearing world." How
familiar this sounds to the lame,
excu es gi for the lack of
African Americans in the
workplace - "We just can't find
any who are qualified." Or to the
argument of the early 1960's that
African Americans should be
denied the vote because "they're
just not ready for it."
This similarity to the Civil
R�s�� D I� on
the student at Gallaudet.
During the campus proteSts the
students often raised their fists
defiantly while signing the
ords:deaf power.' In Words
which came directly from the
Civil Right Movement y
poke of the "plant . n
tality" of the University and id
tha "deaf people have been: p-
pr�tool�" ;
They also spo e of their ed
to "control our destiny." In 0 ; dc�
to do this they anted the
ministrati� r dically altered t .
represent them. The ovet
.whelming majority of a t,
ministrators were $till not h
ing impaired and of the 21 meal
of the board, oaly 4
hearia&-' •
TbeimportaDce of a heariDg
impaircd admia' tr tion
no los on the students. As R.G.
Gentry, a senior at Gallaudet,
wrote ina major op-ed piece in
the Washington Post, "A hear
ing person cannot possibly un
derstand what it is like to be
deaf, anymore than white per- .
son can understand what it is
like to be Blac or a man under
stand what it is like, to be a
woman. Lac ing that under- -
standing, they canno possibly
make logical decisions in our
best interests." You can't get any
clearer than that.
Mr. Gentry also noted that
"The students are the shock
troops of this deaf protest. .. If
any student is arrested, another
will step forward and take his or
her place." How much his words
remind us of the studen
protests of . ashville, .Atlant
Birmingham, or Albany, Geor
gia, where wave upon wave of
African-American students
were arrested fJgbting the op
pressive Jim Crow system. The
students of Gallaudet defintely
too page from that victorious
book.
Of course the endemic n
ture of r cismin this society for
CCI to see these two struggles
differcntly: Even within the
restnctio made agai t the
hearing-impaired, oppor-
Benjamin
Chavis
tunities - both educational and
employment - are significantly
fewer for deaf African
Americans. Such is the nature of
American racism. However,
that understanding does not
prevent us from hailing the sig-
ificant victories of the Gal
laudet protest. The students,
together with the support of I
mo t of the faculty, were able to
force Mrs. Zinser to resign as
the new president, to, be
replaced by Dean Jordan. They
also succeeded in forcing the
ouster of Mrs. Spilman as chair,
to be replaced by one who was
hearing-impaired These are no
small victories, and they should
be celebrated.
The victory at Gallaudet
reminds us of the many victories
of the Movement, and of the im
portance they played in ener-
I ginziog us for future struggles.
As Mr. Gentry reminded us,
"We hope all people, in these
synical and despairing times,
. will realize that with cour.
and solidarity our govcl'lllDe' 15
can be made to respo d to the
challenges r. cing us. "
rrk�tlwpe
I.. �
<f�?�
for_fv�
� tkt- � or- sk
SHAKOOR
CALLS FOR
NEW JUDGES
yROD
Judge Adam Sha1coor, chief
judge of the Wayne County 36th
District Court is calling on the
state and the Detroit City Coun
cil to hire two new judges, and
an dditional number of staff,
including clericals, to deal with
an added number of criminal
pro ecutions.
Judge Shakoor notes that a
lack of judges prevents the
courts from processing cases
and delays justice, allowing
dangerous criminals to stay on
the streets and ina-easing delay
and suffering of defendants who
are innocent.
He stated that there has been
a 40% increase in cases at the
36th district court, incl ding
traffic, real estate,
I landlord/tenant and criminal
cases. Judge Shakoor notes that
I in 1986, there were only 132,000
case befor his court, but in
1987 there were 897,000 cases.
Significantly Shakoor noted
that the court's 10 d increased,
not because of an ina-ease in
. crime,.but a result of a DeW ef- .
fort to combat aime --- Detroit
Ma� COleman Y biriDg
of more police and �
back �800, who were ptcviously -
laid off. .
However, Judge S akoor
emphasized that this ha
resul ed in dditional prOlCCU-
I ti which have p so much of
a strain on court resourcea that
it necessary to usc ••
judges from Waync, Oakland
and M comb simpfy to deal .
narcotics cases.
The req t for two additioo
al judge has th� upport of
Michigaa Chief Justice Dorothy
. Cumstock Rielley, the St te
Court Administrator Office, the
Wayne County Board of Com-
. . oners, the Greater Detr .
Chamber of Commerce, aad
ew Detroit Inc.
Such a request would involve
both the St e of Michigan,
·whicll )'S the bulk of &alanes
and furniture and the Detroit
City Council, since the city pays
for court � and ho .
Judge Shakoor aloe
pb.sjzed that ed for aD iD-
crease in staff including deri
Wt year,. because a.larger staff
was necessary to perform the
rk before it got to the judge.
David Lehman, Director of
the Public ProtetioD Division in
� Michipn Office of Manage-
and B ed that the
biriDg freeze made by the ate
earli r this year uld not apply
to 36th District Court, be
cause it under the judicW
Ie, but it uld apply to
cmplojeea of the De of
Correctio , ho 0 Id be
UDder the ea:ccutNe branch.
Ilb�
.,�tlmt����
''!f�.'' .
I I
. The ex- . will b e served its purpose
in the boo are j a be tbe child 0 th
SlaI1_ . which caD be eI- •.. DOt a chore, . a fn�_
II'IIUI�IIUU used indefinitely; aD filled opportunity to do ��
appetizer to get the child . - ou' paper.
IIooked OD wri· � The book .
" . " ' " .... : ", . '.:,' . : .,:,: . J::: ... ;' .' I . ,
.'