Comments on: DPN Remembered

By: DeafDC Blog » WeekStart Roundup: The Deaf Also Rises

DeafDC Blog » WeekStart Roundup: The Deaf Also Rises — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 15:05:55 +0000

[…] David Evans commemorated DPN’s 18th anniversary by recounting his own experience during that inauspicious week of March 1988. It is this writer’s opinion that that blog is required reading for every deaf person. Read it. […]

By: Jenny

Jenny — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 20:50:43 +0000

I loved this post, Dave! I’m finding the same about my own DPN experience as a CSD Fremont student and being one of the student spokespeople (signspeople? heh). It’s fading from memory.

I just had to respond to the impact of DPN. Adam is right - a Deaf president is a “duh” proposition. However, I question the statement that students in 1988 accomplished their goal. I am seeing so many situations where a Deaf administrator is NOT a “duh” proposition to many Deaf people.

For example, at the school where I work now, a high-ranking administrator in charge of the academic division is going to retire. A group made the demand that the next administrator be a qualified Deaf individual. In the chaos that ensued, I was stunned by what occurred. So many Deaf people accused the group of discrimination, of being too radical, of not thinking about how hearing people would feel, and a lot more. And how DID the hearing people feel? One said to me, “Why is this even an issue? I expect the next one to be Deaf, of course.” Everyone else was in full support and did not have any qualms or issues about the movement and about having a Deaf administrator.

Similar stories abound across the country in the past five years. Yes, FIVE years.

So it is necessary to posit the idea that yes, DPN succeeded in a limited sense, but it has not freed us from dysconscious audism. We are a divided community because the system of oppression has succeeded in dividing us.

By: David Evans

David Evans — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 05:22:56 +0000

Thanks for linking it! As for the “impact,” it depends on how you look at it. If your perception depends on direct results, the only visible direct result is the fulfillment of the four conditions set during DPN; ancillary changes include the re-establishment of Deaf identity and awareness on campus at Gallaudet (in this sense, you’re correct, Adam: the feeling that a deaf president will succeed Jordan is definitely a result of DPN!). Deaf people worldwide did not suddenly experience positive changes in all aspects of their lives; new laws and regulations beneficial to the Deaf community didn’t suddenly appear.

But I think in the long run, DPN contributed to a sea change– heightened awareness in the population at large has filtered down to some degree, I think. Perhaps readers have a different opinion/perspective?

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 14:29:58 +0000

Sometimes, I think the legend only grows as time goes on. I was just 6 when DPN occured. Children who were born during that year are now high school graduates (hopefully). It’s history. 18 years later, I’m still unable to judge just exactly how much impact DPN had on the deaf community.

What I do know is this: A deaf president of a deaf university strikes me as a “duh” proposition.

But in retrospect, that is exactly the impact the Gallaudet students of 1988 wanted to have on the deaf community of the future. DPN accomplished its goal.

By: joseph rainmound

joseph rainmound — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 12:53:34 +0000

great essay. i’ve linked to it on my blog.