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At Gallaudet University, there rests a bronze statue of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet cradling Alice Cogswell in his lap. Take a moment to consider what story is told when a young deaf female student sits on her male teacher’s lap, gazing adoringly at him. What door did that key open?

The interplay of power between majority and minority groups is a multilayered and complex issue. While it is not possible to fully explore this in one article, such conversations must begin to take place. If we do not, oppressive behaviors that we, too, are accountable for will continue.

Here, we present some background on the topic of privilege and oppression prior to engaging in further exploration of ways that such dynamics are woven into the infrastructure—or caste—of our communities.

In cross-cultural discourse, “privilege” is generally understood to be about “unearned advantages” (McIntosh, 2005). In an article exploring McIntosh’s writings, Santini (2011) states, “The world is structured, and it’s often against us. The first step, maybe, is seeing the world for what it is. And that, too, is a privilege.”

Privileges are certain entitlements that we all take for granted. One such example would be the expectation that one will have unrestricted access to language on daily basis. When one group is granted more entitlements (full access) and another group is left with little or no access, this becomes an unearned advantage for the former group, leading to better access to opportunities.

The following chart illustrates general groupings involving privilege:

Examples:

When a man fails at a task or does poorly, no one attributes that failure to his gender.

When a hearing person is in school no one questions his ability to learn and lowers expectations based on his hearing status.

A heterosexual person feels free to openly display intimacy and to reveal those relationships to family, friends, co-workers, and community members.

Privilege is not necessarily intentional or something that leads to conscious acts of oppression. However, it does play a role in oppressive behavior in that oppression is an act of holding and/or asserting power. When an individual does not want to lose privileges (power), he or she may behave in ways that are oppressive. And this practice of holding power is not limited to “haves.”

There is another group, one that is less often discussed:

“The have-a-little, want mores” (Alinsky, 1971). He writes, “Torn between wanting to uphold the status quo to protect the little they have, yet wanting to change so that they can have more. . .these do-nothings profess a commitment to social change for ideals of justice, equality, and opportunity, and then abstain from and discourage all effective action for change” (p. 19).

Below, we examine groups of Deaf individuals who have a little, but want more privileges, and ways that this group sometimes denies a more just society.

ii.

What does it feel like to be oppressed? Words alone cannot describe that soul-deep suffocation, and the realization of the state of being oppressed is just as damning.

Frederick Douglass, in My Bondage and My Freedom writes:

“Light had penetrated the moral dungeon where I dwelt; and behold! there lay the bloody whip, for my back, and here was the iron chain; and my good kind master, he was the author of my situation. This revelation haunted me, stung me, and made me gloomy and miserable.” (p. 127).

Rather than facing such a state, many of us ignore the reality, instead turning our cheeks away from “the way the world is.” We pretend that it does not affect us, and we close our eyes to the fact that our actions are driven by the very dynamic that we attempting to disregard.

However, when the oppressed does fight to release himself from that sense of powerlessness, what does he do? Here, we look to Paulo Freire:

“But almost always, during the initial stage of the struggle, the oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors. . .Their ideal is to be men; but for them, to be men is to be oppressors. This is their model of humanity (p. 45).”

In fighting for liberation from Audism, what happens? Perhaps something like this (based on the privilege chart above):

Hearing person oppresses Deaf person (Audism)

Deaf man oppresses Deaf woman (Sexism)

White Deaf woman oppresses Black Deaf woman (Racism)

Many Deaf leaders, for instance, will advocate for social liberation of Deaf individuals only to a point. They may, for instance, push for more captioning and rights to interpreting services, but turn stoic when asked to invest in reforming Deaf education. When Deaf activists “rock the boat,” our own deaf have-a-little-want-mores are the individuals that the hearing oppressor usually sends to placate or shut down those who are pushing for change. And they do step in to put out fires, in part because they are afraid of losing the little power that the oppressor has granted them.

Another example, one that’s more often discussed in our community, would be the Deaf person who oppresses deaf individuals. This subjugation is often thrown into the discussion, like a disabling wrench, when Deaf individuals attempt to liberate themselves from the hearing agenda.

Though not all deaf individuals are alike, a significant number experience what Roger Carver, in an address during the 12th Annual Mental Health & Deafness Conference (Ontario, Canada, May 12, 2009) shares:

“I bear a lot of emotional scars as I was the subject of ridicule by my hearing peers who made fun of my deafness and imperfect speech. When I made the transition from the hearing world back to the deaf world, it was not a smooth one. I was also the subject of ridicule due to my inadequate signing skills, oral mode of communication and “hearing” cultural background. In looking back, I realized I was socially and emotionally delayed; I still wince over the numerous social faux pas I committed in both hearing and deaf settings.”

Whether a refusal to allow hearing ways of being in Deaf spaces, or a means of redirecting the powerlessness that is undeniably a result of being oppressed, Deaf people do oppress deaf people.

Interestingly, Freire addresses this dynamic, “It is a rare peasant who, once “promoted” to overseer, does not become more of a tyrant towards his former comrades than the owner himself” (p. 46).

Clearly, there are many layers to explore in each example, and this validates the need for more conversations on the topic. The scenarios in this section are not shared with the intent of justifying such acts of oppression. Instead, we strive to unearth ways in which we, too, oppress.

iii.

“The oppressed must be their own example

in the struggle for their redemption.” (Freire, p. 54)

We cannot fight audism while we rationalize other forms of oppression. We should not ask the hearing oppressor to stop stepping on our hands while we are standing on the arms of the less privileged. Whether racism or heterosexism; allowing one form of oppression simply allows for the ground to remain fertile and in its manure, oppressors rise everywhere.

Some write that the light of love is perhaps the most powerful tool we have in combating darkness of any kind. Collectively, unified, with compassionate acceptance we become that loving light that shines a beam on inhumane practices everywhere.

It is essential that we do not emulate the oppressor in the struggle to celebrate our humanity. It is important to reject the drive to silence our hands and mechanize our ears. We have every right to refuse the technological warfare that is waged on our bodies and termed “progress.”

More than that, though, we must eradicate the attempted colonization of our souls, the ways in which we are twisted into negative, angry, oppressive, violent beasts who claw their way viciously through doorways. . . only to fall into that yawning chasm that is ego.

Saul Alinsky (1971). Rules for Radicals.

Roger J. Carver, M. Ed. “Deaf Community: Deaf Youth’s Missing Link” 12th Annual Mental Health & Deafness Conference, Toronto, Ontario, Canada- May 12, 1992.

John Lee Clark (2009). Deaf American Poetry

Frederick Douglass (2005). My Bondage and My Freedom

Paulo Freire (1993) Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

Peggy McIntosh in Paula Rothenberg (2005). White Privilege.

Joseph Santini (2011). Deaf Echo: A Cross-Cultural Riff: Privilege and Differences. (www.deafecho.com)