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APPRECIATING DIVERSITY THROUGH STORIES ABOUT THE LIVES OF DEAF PEOPLE OF COLOR
O
GLENN B. ANDERSON AND KATRINA R. MILLER
ANDERSON IS DIRECTOR OF TRAINING, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS REHABILITATION RESEARCH AND TRAINING CENTER FOR PERSONS WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING, LITTLE ROCK. MILLER IS AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF REHABILITATION COUNSELOR EDUCATION, WINSTON-SALEM
STATE UNIVERSITY, WINSTON-SALEM, NC.
appreciation of cultural diversity within the American Deaf community is by collecting and analyzing stories about Deaf people of color. The authors examined biographical profiles in national print and visual media published since 1988. The materials focused on life stories of individuals identified as Deaf persons of color (e.g., Deaf and identified as Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander, or American Indian/Alaskan Native). Anecdotes were selected that provided a sociocultural rather than medical or pathological perspective and reflected the featured individual’s viewpoint. Four categories of shared experiences emerged: experiences related to overcoming obstacles to educational opportunities, stories about individuals who influenced the direction the featured individual took in life, childhood and family experiences, and experiences relating to stereotypes, cultural conflicts, or discrimination. The authors conclude by discussing lessons and messages derived from the stories. N E WAY O F E N H A N C I N G
America is not like a blanket—one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt—many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven together by a common thread. —THE REV. JESSE JACKSON (Reyes, 1992, p. 23) As the American Deaf community becomes increasingly multicultural, the tasks of appreciating its diversity and weaving together the common threads necessitate that one first understand the commonalities shared by the diverse groups within that community. One way to facilitate appreciation of diversity is to examine life stories of Deaf people of color as reported by the media. For example, in 1996 an article ap-
peared in the Silent News about a 13year old Black student named Kevin Hall, who was attending the St. Rita School for the Deaf in Cincinnati, OH (“Young Deaf Golfer,” 1996). Hall was the first student in the school’s 80-year history to play a varsity sport at a nearby public school, where he was a member of the golf team. As a high school freshman, he shot a 78 in a local country club tournament, a score that amazed 375
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LIVES OF DEAF PEOPLE OF COLOR many of the spectators. He was eventually recruited to play on the golf team at Ohio State University. While attending Ohio State, he took a sign language interpreter with him to every class and maintained a grade point average over 3.0 (GolfWeb Wire Services, 2004). During his senior year, he won the Big Ten Conference golf tournament by 11 strokes, led Ohio State to the team title, and became the first Black golfer in Big Ten history to shoot under 200 in league championships (Wheeler, 2004). His college golf career having ended in summer 2004, his goals were to become a professional golfer and join the Professional Golfers’ Association tour (Hoffman, 2004). Hall’s story is a microcosm of the rich diversity of the Deaf community. As a group, Deaf students attending elementary and secondary schools are more diverse and multicultural than the general school-age population (Sass-Lehrer, Gerner de Garcia, & Rovins, 1995). Our purpose in the present article is to provide Deaf students of color with information about positive role models and success stories relevant to their own ethnic cultures as well as the mainstream Deaf and hearing cultures. Method We located biographical profiles of Deaf persons of color in national newspapers, magazines, periodicals, books, and videotapes published in the United States in 1988 or after. These materials focused on the life stories of individuals who were identified as Deaf persons of color (e.g., Deaf and identified as Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian/ Pacific Islander, or American Indian/ Alaskan Native). We selected anecdotes that provided a sociocultural rather than a pathological perspective, and that reflected the viewpoint
of the featured individual. Biographies that did not meet these criteria were not included. Four categories of experience emerged from analysis of the material we collected: experiences related to overcoming obstacles to educational opportunities, stories about people who played a key role in influencing the directions the featured individuals took in their lives, childhood and family experiences, and experiences relating to stereotypes, cultural conflicts, or discrimination. Overcoming Obstacles to Educational Opportunities Many of the stories were about encountering obstacles to educational opportunities. These obstacles were not solely related to the experience of being Deaf; they were also attributable to the sociopolitical and economic contexts of the featured individuals’ lives. Several of these stories reflect the great lengths to which some individuals and family members went to ensure access to educational opportunities.
Lindsay Dunn Under the apartheid system in South Africa, young Lindsay Dunn had to change his last name from a common Swahili name to that of his mother’s uncle, “Dunn.” His uncle was of mixed Black and White ancestry; thus, he was considered “Colored,” which afforded him a higher status than being classified as Black. Schools for Colored children were free, but the school for Colored Deaf students was a 3-day train ride away from Dunn’s home. Although he was accepted into the Colored school for the Deaf, he still had to wait 3 years to enroll because of a long waiting list. Rather than allow him to remain uneducated for that length of time, his mother sent him to the local library every day. Dunn spent his days reading, and when he was finally admitted into
school, he found that he was more advanced academically than most of his classmates. Dunn earned his B.A. from Gallaudet University, and a master’s degree from New York University. He was the first Black Deaf person hired to work as a special assistant for diversity and community relations in the Office of the President of Gallaudet University (Carroll, 1995). Currently, Dunn is special assistant for advocacy in the Office of the President and serves as a member of the President’s Council.
Yolanda Rodriguez Yolanda Rodriguez’s father died when she was 12 years old, leaving her mother to raise five children alone. Rodriguez attended the Gabriel School for the Deaf in Yauco, Puerto Rico, for 4 years prior to being mainstreamed in a private school. She credits her mother with encouraging her to succeed and never doubting her abilities. In Puerto Rico, she notes, “the government school curricula failed to include Puerto Rican Sign Language and Puerto Rican Deaf culture” (“Rodriguez Becomes Nation’s First,” 2002, pp. 28–29). Rodriguez embraced a vision focused on changing attitudes toward Deaf people in Puerto Rico. She began working toward her goal by earning a bachelor’s degree in special education and serving as a teacher of Deaf students, making recommendations that the schools teach Puerto Rican Sign Language first and then approach instruction in reading, writing, and speaking in Spanish as a second language. By 1994, Rodriguez and Deaf colleague Elizabeth Rios had cofounded an advocacy group, Sordos de Puerto Rico. In 1998, Rodriguez was honored as one of the United States’ top teachers. This award resulted in a trip to Washington, DC, to meet with President Bill Clinton. Rodriguez then left
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her close-knit family to enroll in the doctoral program at Lamar University in Beaumont, TX, which was her first experience of living outside Puerto Rico. She earned an Ed.D. in deaf education in December 2001 and was appointed supervisor of deaf education in the Puerto Rico Department of Deaf Education.
Fat Lam Like the mothers of Lindsay Dunn and Yolanda Rodriguez, Fat Lam’s mother strongly embraced the attainment of education as a family value. Lam grew up in Hong Kong. His father died when Lam was 11 years old, which forced the family to move from their home into a hut that, while rent free, had only a metal roof and no running water. At age 13, Lam took a job painting toys in his home. He did this for a year, then got a job making clothes in a tailor shop, working grueling 12-hour days. After 4 months, he went on to work as a carpenter’s apprentice, working a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift. This gave him more time for reading. According to Lam, “Education is always important in the Chinese tradition, especially for children from impoverished families. Education is the ticket out of poverty” (Shettle, 1995, p. 21). A coworker gave him access to books by passing on his son’s high school texts. After 6 years as a carpenter, Lam became a bricklayer, helping construct apartment buildings. He finished all the high school books he had borrowed from his coworker. Lam dreamed of going to college even though he did not have a high school diploma. He found information about Gallaudet when he visited the information service at the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong to look through a catalogue of American universities. When he came across an entry about Gallaudet, it caught his attention be-
cause it described the school as a college that served deaf students. After writing a letter to Gallaudet, he received an application and later took and passed the admissions exam. He was then able to obtain financial support from the Lutheran World Federation to travel to America and enroll. By the time he entered Gallaudet, Lam had studied enough English on his own to enroll in sophomore-level English classes. He eventually completed bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. He is the first Deaf person from China to earn a Ph.D., and is a tenured professor in the Department of Mathematics at Gallaudet (Shettle, 1995).
Robert Davila Like Lam, Robert Davila traveled from afar to realize his dreams. At the age of 8 years, he traveled 500 miles from a migrant farm near San Diego, CA, to attend the California School for the Deaf in Berkeley. When he entered school, no one there knew his native language, Spanish. Additionally, he did not know American Sign Language (ASL), which made communication with his classmates difficult. Davila learned both English and ASL quickly, making such rapid progress that he won admission to Gallaudet at the age of 16. Of Davila’s rapid acquisition of English and ASL, the Gallaudet Progress Report noted, “That feat would not be easily duplicated by a child with intact hearing; for profoundly deaf Robert Davila, it was no less than astonishing” (quoted in Moore & Panara, 1996, p. 282 ). After Davila’s graduation from Gallaudet, he continued his education by attending graduate school at a time when very few Deaf individuals were doing so. Davila said that he attended graduate schools “that had rarely, if ever, seen a deaf student before . . . and which offered no interpreters, no note takers—in short, no supports”
(Moore & Panara, 1996, p. 282). Among Davila’s many notable accomplishments are his appointment as head of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in 1989 (which made him the highestranking deaf official in the history of the U.S. government) and his selection as chief executive officer and vice president of the National Technical Institute of the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology, in 1996. In addition, he is the recipient of four honorary degrees (Moore & Panara, 1996). Life Choices: One Person Can Make a Difference Most people who make positive life choices and experience success in school or at work had at least one person in their life who helped make a difference for them. Such an individual is generally someone who has served as a source of influence or inspiration, or as a mentor or role model. The biographies of Deaf people of color emphasize the importance of role models and key supporters in their lives.
Andrew Foster In the case of Andrew Foster, two individuals helped make a difference in his life choices. For several years, Foster, an Alabama native, attended the Alabama School for Colored Deaf in Talladega until his family relocated to Detroit, MI, in 1942. When the family arrived in Detroit, World War II had begun and the booming war industry was in great need of workers. Still in his teens, Foster began work in a factory that produced military equipment (Moore & Panara, 1996). After the war, Foster, who had completed the eighth grade at the Alabama School for Colored Deaf, applied to the Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint (Carroll & Mather, 1997). Because the school would not accept him, he continued his education by obtaining a
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LIVES OF DEAF PEOPLE OF COLOR diploma in accountancy and business administration from the Detroit Institute of Commerce in 1950 and a high school diploma through correspondence courses from the American School in Chicago in 1951 (Moore & Panara, 1996). He also met Gallaudet alumnus Eric “Malz” Malzkuhn, who was a vocational rehabilitation counselor in Flint. Malzkuhn’s impression of Foster when he met him (“he was 22 and I was 25”) was that “he was just as smart as I was—if not smarter” (Moore & Panara, 1996, p. 215). Although aware that that no Black student had previously graduated from Gallaudet and that segregation by race was the law, especially in many southern states, Malzkuhn encouraged and supported Foster’s application and admission to Gallaudet in 1951 (Carroll & Mather, 1997). Foster earned his bachelor’s degree in education in 3 years and became the first Black student to graduate from Gallaudet. While Malzkuhn helped influence Foster’s decision to attend Gallaudet and earn a college degree, a missionary who had given a lecture at Foster’s church in Detroit during his teenage years inspired him to consider a missionary career (Moore & Panara, 1996). The missionary’s lecture was about his experiences working with Deaf people in Jamaica. Through the lecture, Foster realized that Deaf people in the United States were fortunate compared to Deaf people in other parts of the world. They had many more opportunities to go to school to get an education, to attend church, and to learn about God (Carroll & Mather, 1997). After obtaining graduate degrees from Eastern Michigan University and Christian Missions College in Seattle, he traveled to Africa in 1956, a time when many African countries were just becoming independent from European colonialism. Taking on multiple
roles as teacher, administrator, teacher trainer, recruiter, fundraiser, and evangelist, he established 31 schools for Deaf children in 17 different African countries, and has been widely acclaimed as the father of Deaf education in Africa (Kiyaga & Moores, 2003).
of the Captioning and Adaptations Branch of the Office of Special Education Programs of the U.S. Department of Education in 1989 (Moore & Panara, 1996). Hairston is the coauthor of Black and Deaf in America (Hairston & Smith, 1983).
Ernest Hairston
Karen Billie Johnson
The story of Ernest Hairston also illustrates how a single role model can make a difference. Hairston attended the West Virginia School for the Colored Deaf and Blind (WVSCDB), near Charleston. Because very few Black students qualified for college, WVSCDB provided highly skilled vocational training for its students. Students were assured of employment in their vocational training areas after completing school, regardless of whether they received a diploma or a certificate of completion. Students were also required to master two trades before graduation. Hairston’s trades were tailoring and barbering. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation was unconstitutional. West Virginia’s schools were among the first to comply with the Court’s integration order. By 1955, students had transferred from WVSCDB to the West Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind (WVSDB), in Romney. Hairston scored at the top of the class on placement tests and was enrolled in a 1-year college preparatory program. His English teacher, Mac Norwood, asked what he planned to do after graduation, and Hairston replied, “Work as a barber.” Norwood felt that Hairston could accomplish more than have a career in barbering. He became Hairston’s mentor and encouraged him to further his education and attend Gallaudet. Hairston went on to earn his undergraduate and graduate degrees, and later a Ph.D., from Gallaudet, and eventually succeeded his mentor, Norwood, by becoming chief
Karen Billie Johnson was born in Shiprock, NM, on the Navajo reservation (Irgens & Wood, 1999, 2002), and was raised in a traditional sixsided hogan. At age 6 years, she was sent to the New Mexico School for the Deaf, in Santa Fe. Johnson’s initial adjustment to school life was difficult. She was very homesick, and she had never seen indoor plumbing or electrical appliances. Eventually, Johnson began to learn ASL. An important element of ASL is to point at objects or people for identification. When Johnson returned home from school, she quickly found that pointing a finger or any object at another person is considered an insult in Navajo culture. She had not learned this before because of the communication barrier between her and her family members. One of her five brothers was willing to learn ASL, which helped Johnson begin to understand the Navajo aspects of her bicultural environment. She learned to adjust her behaviors in order to meet the expectations of the people around her at school and at home. Johnson credits several mentors for her desire to promote the understanding and preservation of Navajo customs, but she says she was most influenced by Esperanza Correa Latimer. Latimer was not only a Gallaudet graduate, but the first Deaf alumnus of the New Mexico School for the Deaf to return to teach at the school. After attending a founder’s day celebration that Latimer had organized in honor of two local Deaf women, Johnson began
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to develop a sense of her Deaf history and Navajo identity. As an adult, Johnson was invited to present on Navajo culture at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind during Deaf Awareness Week. Her goal is to work as a teacher’s aide with members of the Navajo nation who are Deaf. She believes that communities and schools should work together, “to understand what makes a culture and how to appreciate its values” (Irgens & Wood, 1999, 2002). Childhood Experiences and Family Life
C. J. Jones Few profiles were found that provided in-depth information about the childhood and family life experiences of Deaf persons of color. This could be attributed in part to the nature and focus of the profiles. While most of the comments about parents and siblings were brief, it was apparent that these individuals had a significant effect on the lives of many of the people who were profiled. For example, at age 7 years, C. J. Jones contracted spinal meningitis. He recalls that while he was recovering in the hospital, the doctors slowly and sadly brought the news to his parents that he would never hear again. But his parents surprised the doctors with their reactions to the news; they were thrilled. His parents were Deaf. Very few Black Deaf individuals are born into or raised in Deaf families. Of his childhood, Jones has said, “I couldn’t have asked for a better family. I was blessed to grow up in a home where everyone signed fluently” (Carroll, 1997, p. 8). Jones’s home was at the center of a small Deaf community in St. Louis, MO: “At night Deaf people would come to discuss their lives with my father. My father would help them with their decisions and problems. He would also make jokes—and make them laugh. I would stay up late,
watching them sign by the light of the kitchen. It was almost like watching my father in a movie” (Carroll, 1997, p. 9). Today, Jones is a professional actor and comedian. He has traveled and performed with the National Theater of the Deaf and played a guest role on the NBC television series A Different World. He is currently the executive director of Hands Across Communications, which produces educational and family-oriented videotapes. He is also the star of The Ride, a short film in which he plays a Deaf hitchhiker who travels across California with a songwriter (Willard, 1997).
Michael Byrd While C. J. Jones was instilled with a strong sense of Deaf identity, Michael Byrd experienced confusion about his ethnic identity. Byrd, a full-blooded Rappahannock American Indian, attended an integrated school in Virginia in the 1970s. Students who lived in the eastern part of the state were assigned to the Virginia School for the Deaf, in Hampton, which had originally been the school for Black students. Students who lived in the western part of the state were assigned to the Virginia School for the Deaf, in Staunton. Because Byrd lived in the eastern part of the state, he attended school in Hampton, though he later transferred to Staunton to complete his high school education. As a new student, he introduced himself as an American Indian. But people at Staunton judged him by his appearance, assuming he was from a mixed racial background, either Black and European American or Black and Hispanic. One day, his eighth-grade teacher told several other students that Byrd was not an American Indian. Because others were questioning his identity, Byrd began to do the same. When he
went home, he asked his mother and sister if he was truly an American Indian. They assured him that he was, and confronted the school to discuss their concerns regarding the teacher’s actions, particularly the confusion that had been created over Byrd’s identity. The next day, his teacher informed the student that there had been a misunderstanding and that Byrd was indeed an American Indian. Later, when Byrd enrolled at Gallaudet, he was again judged by his appearance and there was confusion about his racial identity. The other Gallaudet students also assumed that he was from a mixed racial background. It was difficult for him to convince his fellow students of his Native American heritage because he apparently did not have the stereotypical features they apparently associated with Native Americans. Byrd thus had to assume responsibility to educate his fellow classmates about the considerable diversity that exists among Native Americans. After attending Gallaudet and North Bible College in Minnesota, he returned to his hometown of Milford, VA, where he is involved in public speaking, teaching, and advocacy with Deaf Native Americans (Massey, 1992).
John Yeh John Yeh was born deaf in Taiwan in 1947 during a time when many Chinese families were ashamed to have children with a disability. Yeh, however, had the good fortune to be born into a family of devout Christians who considered all their children gifts from God and who sought to be good “stewards of this gift.” (Moore & Panara, 1996, p. 371). His siblings included a younger Deaf sister, Fanny, and three older hearing brothers, James, Joseph, and Jeffrey. His parents placed a high value on education and expected all their children to be successful and obtain professional
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LIVES OF DEAF PEOPLE OF COLOR jobs. Because the parents desired better educational opportunities for their children than were available in Taiwan, the family sailed to Brazil on a cargo ship when Yeh was 13, then moved to the United States 2 years later. After earning his undergraduate degree in mathematics from Gallaudet in 1971 and a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Maryland, Yeh worked for 5 years developing Gallaudet’s computer research information program. While his three older brothers were already well established and successful in the computer field, Yeh developed a more ambitious aspiration: He wanted to start his own company. His brothers left their jobs and joined him in starting a new venture, Integrated Microcomputer Systems (IMS), in 1979. Within a decade, the company became a multimillion-dollar enterprise and was considered one of the fastestgrowing businesses in the Washington, DC, area. Its revenues in 1991 exceeded $38 million, and Yeh received numerous awards, such as the Norman Vincent Peale Foundation America’s Award and the Employer of the Year Award from the President’s Commission on the Employment of People With Disabilities (Moore & Panara, 1996). According to Yeh, teamwork with his brothers and the values instilled in him and his brothers by his parents in regard to education and professional achievement were the keys to the success of IMS. After 16 years, Yeh and his brothers sold IMS and became “semiretired” in 1994. Two years later, he founded a new company, Viable Technologies, which uses remote technology to offer affordable real-time transcription services. The services are targeted to Deaf and hard of hearing students in schools and colleges. In addition, he is chairman of WebbyNation, which specializes in media, Internet, and wire-
less services and is the parent company of deafbuy.com and DeafNation (NTAC-AAPI, 2004). Cultural Conflicts, Stereotypes, and Discrimination Deaf persons of color maintain boundaries and interact in multiple cultures—their own hearing racial or ethnic group, their Deaf racial or ethnic group, the mainstream Deaf community, and the mainstream, predominately White, hearing community (Sass-Lehrer et al., 1995). A theme shared by several individuals involves several experiences dealing with perceptions other people had about them, or with the behavior of others toward them. Often, these perceptions were stereotypical or discriminatory. It was sometimes difficult to determine if the problems were in reaction to their race or to their deafness. Nevertheless, most of these achievers had the ability to handle these situations very effectively and change others’ perceptions of them from negative to positive.
Suddenly, several police officers pulled her out of the elevator and put handcuffs on her. She was taken to a room and shoved into a chair, and the police began to interrogate her about where she lived. She explained that she was a college student on break. The police then informed Armstrong that because she was from out of state, she would have to either pay a $300 fine or go to jail. Armstrong, who did not have the money, was put into a holding cell. She broke down and cried because she was frightened and confused. Armstrong’s mother, who also worked at city hall, heard what had happened and called the police chief. The police later realized that they had mistaken Armstrong and her cousin for murder suspects. Such an unpleasant experience with the police could easily cause a person to be bitter and angry for a long time. But following her graduation, Armstrong became the first Deaf person to work as a special police officer at Gallaudet University. She has been working at the university as an officer since 1991 (Carroll, 1993).
Mark Morales Wendy Armstrong Wendy Armstrong, an African American student at Gallaudet University, went home to Kansas to visit her family during winter break. Her brother, who worked at city hall in her hometown, loaned her his car while she was home. Later, she went to city hall to return his car. While in the building, she ran into her cousin by the elevator and stopped to talk. As she was talking, she felt someone whack her on the arm. Puzzled, she looked around and saw a detective standing nearby talking to her. He asked her if she had heard him calling to her. Armstrong informed him that she was deaf and got on the elevator, thinking that the conversation was over.
Wendy Armstrong does not present the only case of mistaken identity. Mark Morales and his girlfriend decided to visit Tijuana, Mexico. They drove down from Los Angeles, parked on the U.S. side of the border, and walked over to Tijuana. There they spent several hours shopping and enjoying the trip. When they were ready to go home, they got into the line for the customs inspection. Morales’s girlfriend, who was White, showed the customs official her Gallaudet identification card and was waved through. However, when Morales produced his Gallaudet identification card and California driver’s license, the customs official looked over his documents carefully. He began speaking rapidly
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to Morales, who replied, “I’m deaf, please write.” After the official tried to talk with Morales a second time, Morales was gestured into a nearby station office. In the station, Morales gave his college identification card and driver’s license to another official, who looked these documents over several times and tried to talk to him. Again, Morales said, “I’m deaf, please write.” The official wrote, “Where were you born?” He answered, “Los Angeles, California.” She looked at him suspiciously and wrote, “Why are you here?” He answered, “I came with my girlfriend to visit and look around.” The official then said, “I’m sorry, but you have to go back, you can’t enter the U.S.” Frightened, Morales tried to talk more with her, hoping she would change her mind. His efforts were to no avail, as the official would not budge. Morales began to worry about how his girlfriend would get home; she did not know how to drive a car with a stick shift. He wondered about how he would be able to contact his parents and ask for help since there was no TTY in the station, or how he would manage an overnight stay in Tijuana with his limited funds. Morales decided to take an assertive stance. He wrote, “I was born in Los Angeles, California. I’m a college student at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.” Once again, he showed the official his identification. Finally, she agreed to let him go through. Because Morales has distinctly Mexican features, his parents advised him to take his birth certificate with him the next time he took a trip to Mexico, so that the border officials would not question his status as a U.S. citizen. Morales went on to graduate from Gallaudet and now works as a certified deaf interpreter (CDI) with Gallaudet Interpreting Services (Morales, 1991).
Glenn Anderson A final story, excerpted below, describes an experience that the lead author of the present article, Glenn Anderson, had following his graduation from a predominately Black high school in Chicago and his enrollment at Northern Illinois University (NIU): The obstacles I encountered at NIU were due to my race as well as my deafness. I chose to attend NIU because it was close to my hometown, Chicago. Also, at that time, I was not aware of Gallaudet. All newly admitted students were required to come to NIU for new student orientation in early June. That was 2 weeks before I was to graduate from high school, and almost 3 months before the start of classes at NIU. It was quite a cultural shock for me when I arrived at NIU and found I was one of only about 100 Black students on a campus of 15,000 students. Also, as far as I knew, I was the only Deaf student enrolled in the undergraduate programs. After the orientation program, my father and I asked for applications for the dormitories. To our surprise, we were told the dormitories were full and no space was available. We were given a list of “university approved” apartments in DeKalb, the town where the university was located. We called many of the apartments on the list and were told none were available. One of the staff gave us the address of an apartment in a nearby town called Sycamore. Once we arrived in Sycamore, we found out that the apartment was located across the railroad tracks in the “Black section” of the town, and the only way to get to NIU was to commute by bus. All of the Black male students I met lived in off-campus boarding houses or rooms. The only Black students who lived in the dorms were the female
students and two players on the basketball team. About 1 month into the semester, my adviser in the Physical Education Department became aware that I was Deaf and did not speak as clearly as the other students in the department. He requested that I meet with him. During the meeting, he suggested that I either change my major or transfer to another college. When I asked why, he said all physical education majors were required to maintain at least a “C” in public speaking prior to their junior year to be eligible for practice teaching assignments. Although I had yet to enroll in a public speaking course, it was apparent that he had already predetermined that I would not be able to attain a grade of “C” or better even if I took the course. When I explained to him that one of my goals was to teach Deaf students, his response was, “We do not prepare our students to teach the Deaf.” He then referred me to the counseling center. During my meeting with the director of the counseling center, he suggested I withdraw from school. He explained that if I withdrew from school by the end of the week, I would be able to get a partial refund of my tuition. I declined to do so, and instead I went back to my adviser to tell him I was not happy with the advice I received at the counseling center. He then referred me for appointments with several different people. One of my appointments finally paid off. With the help of the chairperson of the Department of Special Education, I learned about Gallaudet and was able to take the admissions exam and transfer after I completed the fall semester at NIU. Transferring to Gallaudet was one of the best things that ever happened for me. When I reflect back on my experiences at NIU, I am thankful that I had
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LIVES OF DEAF PEOPLE OF COLOR the courage to be persistent and to stand up to my adviser instead of becoming victimized by him. I can see how easy it would have been to become just another statistic who fell through the cracks. (Anderson, 1993, pp. 34–36; excerpt copyright 1993 by Glenn Anderson, reprinted with permission )
Today, Anderson, who earned his Ph.D. from New York University, is the first Black Deaf person to serve as chair of Gallaudet’s Board of Trustees. Additionally, in 2002, along with Robert Davila, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency that advises the president and Congress on issues affecting Americans with disabilities. Conclusion By collecting and analyzing stories about Deaf people of color, we have attempted to identify common threads or experiences shared by the diverse groups that make up our community. One common thread is the experience of interacting in multiple cultures— one’s own hearing, racial, or ethnic group, one’s Deaf racial or ethnic group, the mainstream Deaf community, and the mainstream, predominately White, hearing community (Sass-Lehrer et al., 1995). Based on our analyses and summaries of the life experiences of several Deaf people of color as reported in various periodicals and related media sources, we discussed four categories of shared experiences: overcoming obstacles to educational opportunity, key figures or role models who influenced their life choices, childhood experiences and family life, and dealing with stereotypes, cultural conflicts, and discrimination. These shared experiences provide
insight into vital elements of success. Persistence is a recurring quality demonstrated by those who overcame obstacles to obtaining educational opportunities. Their personal values included not only the attainment of education but a strong determination and willingness to do whatever was needed to achieve their educational goals. The availability of a role model, mentor, or source of influence is often instrumental in inspiring one’s life choices. The lesson learned is that often all it takes is one person to make a difference in the direction one chooses in life. The contributions of childhood and family life experiences are essential in the development of a positive selfidentity and self-esteem. The individuals described in the present article had families who instilled a sense of cultural pride in them, decreasing their susceptibility to being overwhelmed or victimized in the face of discrimination. One avenue by which to resolve cultural conflicts and discrimination is to work to change others’ erroneous or stereotypical perceptions from negative to positive. These are the lessons and messages that can be passed on to future generations of Deaf people of color. Acknowledgments Portions of the present article were reprinted with permission of the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, Washington, DC. The authors would like to thank Marie H. Katzenbach and the Arkansas School for the Deaf for their assistance in obtaining several of the references we have cited. The contents of this publication were developed under a research and training center grant (H133B010501) from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative
Services, Department of Education, Washington, DC 20202. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the agency, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government. All programs administered and services provided by the University of Arkansas Rehabilitation Research and Training Center for Persons Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing are administered on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to handicap, race, creed, sex, or national origin, in compliance with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. All applicants for program participation and/or services have a right to file complaints and to appeal according to the regulations governing this principle.— The Authors. References Anderson, G. B. (1993). Personal perspectives on being empowered as an individual who is African-American and deaf. In G. B. Anderson & D. Watson (Eds.), The black deaf experience: Excellence and equity (pp. 29–37). Little Rock, AR: University of Arkansas Rehabilitation Research and Training Center for Persons Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Carroll, C. (1993, March/April). Thoughts of a deaf cop. World Around You, pp. 6–7. Carroll, C. (1995, May/June). From Zululand to Washington, DC: Human rights leader sees work in USA. World Around You, pp. 5, 10. Carroll, C. (1997, March/April). C. J. Jones: The heart of a performer. World Around You, pp. 8–9. Carroll, C., & Mather, S. M. (1997). Movers and shakers: Deaf people who changed the world. San Diego, CA: DawnSign Press. GolfWeb Wire Services. (2004, May 20). Deaf golfer leads OSU charge. Retrieved September 2, 2004, from www.pgatour.com/story/ 7345022 Hairston, E., & Smith, L.(1983). Black and deaf in America: Are we that different? Silver Spring, MD: T.J. Publishers. Hoffman, C. (2004, June 17). Pros Hall’s goal. Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved September 2, 2004, from www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/ 6/17/spt_khall.rtf.html. Irgens, H. C. F., & Wood, S. K. (1999). Through the eyes of deaf Navajos. In D. G. Paris &
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Americans (2nd ed.). Rochester, NY: Deaf Life Press. Morales, M. (1991). Mexico-USA. ASL storytime (Vol. 8). Washington, DC: Gallaudet University School of Communication, Department of Sign Communication. National Technical Assistance Center for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. (2004). An interview with John Yeh: Success stories on persons with disabilities. University of Hawaii, Retrieved September 17, 2004, from www.ntac.hawaii.edu/employ_success_ stories/success.htm. Reyes, K. W. (1992, June–July). The fabric of a nation. Modern Maturity, pp. 23–24. Rodriguez becomes nation’s first Hispanic deaf woman to earn doctorate in deaf education. (2002). Silent News, 34(2), 28–29.
Sass-Lehrer, M., Gerner de Garcia, B., & Rovins, M. (1995). Creating a multicultural school climate for deaf children and their families. Perspectives in Education and Deafness, 14(1), 2–4. Shettle, A. (1995). Seeds of success: Fat Lam, China’s first deaf Ph.D.: Education is the key to growth. Gallaudet Today, 25(3), 21–23. Wheeler, L. (2004, May 15). Hall in a league of his own. Cincinnati Post. Retrieved September 1, 2004, from www.cincypost .com/2004/05/15/wheeler05-15-2004.html. Willard, T. (1997). C. J. stars in short film, “The Ride.” Newwaves for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People, 1(8), 25–26. Young deaf golfer shows prowess. (1996). Silent News, 28(10), 12.
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