There is this romantic notion of what Deaf culture is suppose to represent and what “
Deaf President Now” protest was all about, which was quite good benefiting to just about every Deaf (and deaf) people nationally and internationally. What is the most amazing thing is that DPN story tellers hardly ever acknowledged the fact that several laws, even Federal laws, were broken during the whole protest interim.
Deaf protesters were never addressed on some of the crimes, nor were they charged or arrested as a result of their emotional passion and zeal to put Deaf culture on a pedestal for the world to take notice in the hope of putting up an culturally-Deaf president. But instead, to the disappointment of some Deaf students, teachers and staff, got
I. King Jordan. A man who was not born deaf but a man who became deaf at the age of 21 in a motorcycle accident. He is a man who did wonderful things for Gallaudet University.
Protest of this nature was a highly charged event that appealed mostly to the revved up emotions of students and staff. No official acknowledgements from Gallaudet University officials, students or staffs that laws were indeed broken during the protesting days. Philosophy classes may have discussed these moral events. But they would rather ascribe such a relatively famous event as being the “equivalent” to the days of the civil rights movements during the Montgomery bus boycott era when “quiet” and peaceful civil unrests was the preferred method even though laws, backward as they were, were broken back then. The laws of DPN now were certainly not backward by any means.
The DPN stories are told or re-enacted each year about how the protest began but never stating the obvious that illegal actions have occurred. These law-breaking events were celebrated during Gallaudet University’s 10th DPN anniversary. The re-enactment was described in Gallaudet University’s public relation website by linking to one news clipping taken from the Rochester, New York “Democrat and Chronicle” March 10 article titled “
Gallaudet Celebrates Day of Dignity”:
“Two of the university's school buses were also brought to the gate yesterday for effect. Ten years ago, the buses blocked the entrances and had their tires flattened.”
First off, during the first day of the DPN protest protesters needed buses to block the gates at the entrance to the university campus. In order to do that they needed drivers with “specialized” skills to start the buses (i.e. “hot-wiring”) without using bus keys since they certainly could not ask Gallaudet University bus drivers do an unlawful act nor could they break into the maintenance building to steal the keys to the buses. They needed to find a way to move university's buses over to the entrance gates and then purposely deflate the tires so that busses would remain stationary by creating a roadblock in front of the gates. A crime has to be committed in order to move those buses in front entrances of Gallaudet University's gates. The only way that this could be done was to hijack and steal those buses.
Now, stealing a Gallaudet University bus, which is a Federal property, could only be done by hot-wiring it. Once the engine was turned on the protesters drove the buses to key gate locations to effectively block any attempts by staffs or teachers who wanted to report to work. During this 10th DPN anniversary nobody publicly acknowledged that these illegal activities occurred in the sense that buses were hijacked, hot-wired and stolen.
The stories about the buses blocking the gates are routinely talked about among the Deaf circle every year during the DPN anniversary. Even at the California School for the Deaf (CSD) protest stories of DPN were told to Deaf students and the people who were listening in during a “
Community Outreach Day” to celebrate “Deaf PAH!” day by inviting Bridgetta Bourne-Firl, one the four important Deaf student leaders of DPN.
The CSD described the protest by saying in their website:
“When the protesters needed busses to block the gates to the university, drivers with specialized skills were needed to start the buses without using keys. They deflated the tires to the right tire pressure so that the busses would remain stationary and create roadblocks.”
A person who has the ability to hotwire automobiles is a person with “specialized skills.” What a nice way to mince words here. What they needed was somebody willing to commit a crime by hot-wiring a Federally-owned buses. Never did Mrs. Bourne-Firl or others mentioned the fact that laws were indeed broken in the process in order to get into those buses and move them to the desired locations around the campus gates. The university buses on the campus of Gallaudet University were Federal properties to begin with. In order to enter a bus without authorization, one has to break into one.
That is a breaking and entering charge.
Unauthorized driving of Federally-owned university bus is stealing charge. Another law broken.
Never did they say that the busses’ tires were deflated so as to prevent the police or anybody else from moving the busses away from the blocked gates of the campus of Gallaudet University - a charge of obstruction or interfering with police business.
The DPN protesters knew that the D.C. police would never purposely damage Federal property, even moving the university buses tires with the tires deflated. What they did was mince words here in their website rather than telling the full truth of the story that laws were indeed broken in order to fulfill the DPN agenda and goals.
Even one famous DPN protester, Tim Raurus, recounted wistfully the days of DPN protest in Gallaudet University’s “In Your Own Word” website chronicling in great details about how several Federal properties (e.g. Gallaudet University busses) were stolen and driven over to the gates around the campus of Gallaudet University. The
person commented by saying:
“To prevent the police from breaking through the Gallaudet gates, we needed to put a Gallaudet bus next to them because we knew the police wouldn't damage the school vehicles which were Federal property. We didn't have the key to the bus I was working on. We were in a hurry. One Gallaudet student approached me... I'd never met him before... he was "oral" and hadn't mastered ASL. He had on a black leather jacket and long hair and was from New York City. He told me he could "hot wire" the Gallaudet bus and that he did.”
A picture is shown in the "In Your Own Word" website with a caption identifying the deaf “oral” student from New York who was dressed in a black leather jacket and pants wearing a white head band, a look of a typical gang, standing next to a bus owned by the Federal government.
Another law was broken when the protesting students took to the streets of Washington DC. The students marched onto the street to the Capitol steps. DC Police tried to use their megaphones to get them to stop marching but megaphone shouts fell on deaf ears, literally. This would have been political suicide had the police gathered Deaf/deaf protesters by handcuffing them with their hands behind their backs. How would these Deaf/deaf protesters communicate with their hands tied behind their backs? But the bottom line is that the DPN leaders and Deaf/deaf protesters broke more laws by not getting a protest and marching permits from the city of D.C..
Stories like these were repeated often and play-acted at every DPN anniversary or whenever DPN is discussed. These moments in Deaf history repeat a very important point about Deaf people and the opportunities they richly deserve. In an eloquent statement by a famous protester, Tim Raurus, in the
same article interview:
“I tell this story because before DPN, I was not one to interact with deaf people who were not culturally deaf like myself. Deaf people have a history of fighting among themselves. Yet, during DPN, we all worked together for that common goal: a deaf president. Never mind the mode of communication our president would choose or his background, as long as he was deaf. And together we accomplished that goal.”
How quaint. Refusing to interact with those not of their kind or who were not culturally Deaf but Deaf students were willing to use them to achieve their goals to break local and Federal laws in the process.
Stories like these are told often to willing listeners or readers who are not familiar with some of the illegality that took place given that they are unable to have that opportunity when such stories are put on the pedestal by keeping some of the ugly truths aside. But laws were indeed broken and therein lies the problem among the people tightly ensconced in their Deaf culture.
Deaf DPN leaders never acknowledged publicly that some of the laws were broken and that crimes were committed in the process. They would rather focus on the historical and widely successful protest event than to acknowledge that criminal behaviors were indeed committed. But Greg Hlibok, the main leader in the DPN movement, had
this to say when he recalled the experience he had as a leader during DPN:
The Deaf President Now movement was an experience where I had to use my faith to get through. It lasted for one week. The school closed. Many people would ask me if we should go and do things like break windows to get attention, but I said no. I wanted to continue in a nonviolent way. I wanted a peaceful solution. There were reasons for this. The deaf community is small. The TV media was watching. I didn’t want people to see the deaf community as violent at all. First impressions can last a long time. In any crisis situation, it is important to regulate your anger. Then, you can have a peaceful solution.
But one thing Greg failed to see is that some laws were indeed broken and crimes committed. It is, however, understandable that during a highly charged and emotional event people would sometime overreact using intimidation to goad others to join the protest or prevent others from doing their jobs like keeping the gates open or staff trying to enter to go to work. Some verbal threats were hurled at students or even staff members or teachers who had to push their way through protesting students blocking the gates. Even to the point that DPN leaders had to intervene telling protesters not to get violent with those who were physically trying to get in. Also, Gallaudet University officials
never announced officially that the campus was officially shut down. Protesters may have to a large degree prevented staff members and teachers from going to their offices but food and supplies had to be delivered. Understandably so. Protesters cannot starve at a critical time as this.
Of course, aside from verbal threats and derisive shouts, physical threats toward at least one Galladuet University student who did not want to participate (like many others who chose not to) or help with the protest were supposedly one of the very few isolated incidents that have occurred during DPN protest. Incidents like these clarified the fact that there were deaf or hard of hearing students who were not completely familiar or understood what this Deaf culture was about on the campus of Gallaudet University.
Each year many deaf or hard of hearing students attend the “
New Signers Program” to learn how to sign, an important indoctrination into the Deaf culture by getting them assimilated into a virtually unknown culture. Many students simply did not want to participate in DPN. While many, many more did contribute to this historical protest.
This points out to the fact that there were deaf or hard of hearing “non-conformist.” They would surely get the short end of the stick with chidings, belittlements, harassments and even the possibility physical threats from
Deaf people when such “non-conformist” actions do not jive with their Deaf culture’s ideals, expectations or norms.
However, DPN was more of a peaceful civil disobedience rather than an all-out law-breaking protest event resulting in damage to Federal or private properties, causing injuries from physical actions or threats. Of course, in one case, a Gallaudet University student came close in getting physically assaulted from one of the few rabid Deaf protesters when they asked the student (as well as others) to join the protest. The student refused. They then signed that they will beat up that student if they ever the student again.
All in all, the DPN protest was a relatively and amazingly “smooth” protest with the usual up and down chaotic and emotional moments resulting in very little, if any, or no damage to Federal and private properties. It was a highly successful and momentous event in Deaf American history. However, many people not familiar with the protest or Deaf culture would see that Deaf people have the ability to hold other people “hostage” to their ideals in the name of Deaf culture to an almost “cult-like” status.
Oh, btw, I was there observing the whole thing and "participated" right up to the Capitol steps, learning as I went along like lemmings before a cliff.
UPDATE: If you have a complaint about me critizing DPN then you have a bigger problem than I thought. Good as the results that came out of the historical protest in opening people's eyes, it is not without fault. Those who refuse to acknowledge that laws were indeed broken and crimes committed also refuse to see the whole historical context of the DPN in its entirety and truth. If you were there, like I was in the protest from the begining to end as an observer, participant and student, then certainly you know what went on. If you weren't a part of the DPN protest, then you certainly have not partipated in an important history. But with the links I have provided prove that laws were broken and crimes committed. People, especially Deaf people who were DPN participants, MUST acknowledge that some crimes were committed. This had to be done in order to open people eyes. You CANNOT ignore the facts about illegal activities that took place and pretend it didn't happen. It did. The DPN protest could not have been done without violating some local and Federal laws. Ignoring or refusing to see the facts makes you a dishonest person in trying to hide the unspoken side of Gallaudet University's DPN protest as if it never happened. It did. Get over it.
This is an important philosophical question or even a political study to discuss whether some of the illegal activities were warranted for their DPN protest. A few classes I am aware of at Gallaudet University did in fact discuss political protests with DPN being one of them. The professors discussed and asked the students whether any of the protests were warranted, even if it means breaking local or Federal laws. This is how people are forced to think. You cannot hide from the truth when people, magazines, internet and televisions have recorded the DPN event, incriminating some of the protesters that laws they broke. Had it not been a DPN protest and instead we had a few wild Deaf students who did those things I described above, they would have been summarily arrested and charged by the D.C. police. Just because it was a DPN protest does not excuse the fact that many people broke local and Federal laws to achieve their protest goals at DPN.
Criticize if you want in trying to cover up some of the illegal activities, I have the links, the history, and the witnesses on my side. I dare anybody to come up to me and say that no laws were broken during the DPN protest. If you believe that DPN was a crime free protest, then certainly you do not want to face the truth. It was a good and important protest. The DPN protest was warranted, even it if means breaking a few laws (as long as nobody got hurt). But you CANNOT ignore and shove aside the facts that some laws were indeed broken in the process. Doing so makes you a dishonest person.
Don't hide from the truth. Be honest about it. Don't be ashamed about it.
