…And the Truth Shall Set You Free.

The whitewashing of an American history is dehumanizing enough for the minorities.

ENGLISH TRANSCRIPT:

Apologies for not adding who the White privileges have practiced the code of silence, enduring verbal attacks, physical attacks and harassment targeting Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Deaf communities.

In response to Dominic “Dom” N. Lacy, Gallaudet University’s Chief Operating Officer’s (COO)’s video: Creating a New Paradigm for Public Safety on Campus: 

I wrote this morning, and decided to use this to translate in American Sign Language (ASL) to share important message. It is very rare of me to use the script, I typically “express” on my own without script. Meaning my eyes would be bit distracted at times. Raw message.

I watched Dom’s message on a video, I find this video very soft, where is the real COMPASSION, UNDERSTANDING, LISTENING, EXPERIENCE? You know why? Dom was a product of Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD), transferring to a university setting, but Communication Service for the Deaf is business setting. Completely different models.

As for the University, must be honesty, responsibility, to recognize racial bias, systemic racism, deep-rooted university experience. It seems that Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD) makes executive decision on the Gallaudet campus, you decide whether Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD) is in control of Gallaudet University affairs. This message by Dom is very soft language. Not strong enough.

Dom might be a former student at Gallaudet University, but in the administration ranks, MUST have lots of experience, honesty, no gimmicks or political bullshit. Two responses from COO’s video that needs to be challenged:

Dom’s words:

“How can members of the university community trust the Department of Public Safety to keep them safe at Gallaudet when they do not feel secure in their relationship with DPS?”

Dom signed “not so great”—how did he know? Did he really in touch with members of the Gallaudet University? Where is honesty in that language? No bullshit.

Trust, which denotes language-based prejudice and discrimination, is also an acceptable way to term White privilege’s misguided ideology of centralizing the minority into power-majority society at large on a so-called equal basis.

In such interactions, fear becomes invisible but makes no mistake. It is also, truthfully, “keeping them safe” is invisible. How did Dom know? Lack of trust is sweeping under the rug and not to be penalized. DPS is predominately White.

This is a COO who misses the whole point of DPS’s invisible ‘power-hunger’ and fails to acknowledge systemic racism at every level. His response lacks the merit of judgment and ignores the real problem by holding White privilege responsible for systemic racism. Honesty is the best policy.

In Dom’s words: “With this, we will not tolerate police brutality on our campus or in our community and beyond…such excessive force by police is particularly reprehensible given its disproportionate impact on the black community and people of color.”

The DPS system is built on the consequences of crime and punishment. Yet, DPS and Ted Baran, DPS Chief disseminates sensationalized news reports, but what if everything we thought we knew sent out the same message: that it is OK to dehumanize the trust of members of the university community.

Can we hold Ted Baran fully accountable for crime and punishment?

Dom’s words:

“It is also clear to me that we have work to do to continue to unpack the power and privilege that comes with a badge and uniform.”

This is the reason to defund the DPS. Two strikes. This is the second time in many days that a Gallaudet employee did not use “white” privilege. Laurene Simms who is Chief Bilingual Officer (CBO), and Dominic Lacy, Chief Operating Officer (COO). A powerful argument for the White privilege is the evidence of white guilt who were given free pass instead of naming it “White privilege”

There are drawbacks to all forms of White privilege, which have practiced the code of silence, enduring verbal attacks, physical attacks, and harassment of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Deaf community.

Those who have reported such crimes have found the DPS lacking interest and failing to take such attacks seriously. As a result, DPS brutality is largely under-reported. Lack of reporting and holding DPS accountable could be a fear of being misunderstood and mistreated. Facing stigma daily.

The power of a badge is about ignorance characterized by a constant suspicion, in the time of crisis, it is the DPS who hold out, by our very nature, denying academic freedom and constitutional rights, for three critical reasons:

1) It is necessary for the DPS to be defunded.
2) It is necessary for Gallaudet University.
3) It is necessary for the quality of trust and removing all biases.

#gallaudetuniversity #presidentcordano #systemicracism

Sharing my reflection from what I saw “Sit Down With Laurene Simms: A candid conversation with President Cordano on systemic racism and creating a path forward”

#gallaudetuniversity #robertacordano #tedbaran #nbda

As a White and Indigenous Deaf Alumnus at Gallaudet University, I am writing on my behalf to support National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA) to call for designated President Roberta Cordano to resign from Gallaudet University.

BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) students, faculty, and staff throughout history, globally and in the United States, have been stigmatized and discriminated against for generations and generations. The social position of BIPOC at Gallaudet University has been on shaky ground for ignoring Racism, and then it is a good time to clean up the corruption and white silencing.

How different history might have been if systemic racism reflects the country’s constitutional painful lessons and community accountability? The systemic racism provides a comfortable supply to all White people, Deaf or Hearing. Everyone gets a trophy, and everyone deserves to be praised for his or her White privileges.

That should evaluate the use of force under the Eighth Amendment, which governs “cruel and unusual punishment” — the attitude of how systemic racism came to be, and the history of practicing racial profiling and oppression.

We can debate how much truth is here. White privileges turn into a comfortable zone, a sense of human entitlement—lacking any basis in reality. The incidence of racial profiling has been in the White system for years and years at Gallaudet University who has a deep and profound impact on Black Deaf Community, making them fearful and vulnerable.

Something should be examined on how hard they’ve avoided the full responsibility and how well they’ve mastered the White denial.

The inability to merge these forgotten identities is difficult to understand how they did not realize when the melting pot was still as simmer as opposed to roiling boil mixing American population today. In any situation with stereotypes at its center, the question becomes how the disillusioned can identify with the majority for survival.

In the wake of the practice of systemic racism at Gallaudet University and the “nadir of American race relations” better to keep the status quo than be subject to violence while harboring “the hope of a higher synthesis of civilization and humanity.”

What happens to the true value that originates from authenticity? The nonchalant disregard of culture was pandemic as is evident in the history of Gallaudet and its interactions. Even all-former Gallaudet presidents were comfortable sharing their prejudices but not learning from them in public. Their effective social bungling consistently affected the lives of the BIPOC Deaf Community.

While Gallaudet University, unlike other minority arenas, waxed with social change and devoid of violence, the practice of Racism was admitted at the request of White privileges. This effectively orphaned them. While inappropriate today, this has been uncontested the whole time. Distinctions were made between White privileges and racial hatred. Again, the politically correct values of today are not reflected.

When that happens, one thing becomes clear: White supremacy does not match the reality of their performance and can draw classic denial into annoying confrontations—or ignore the mechanics of unpacking White privileges. Fear becomes invisible but makes no mistake. It is also, truthfully, that White supremacy is made invisible. Hate crime is invisible to the population of the Deaf community.

Gallaudet University is being reviewed by the Middle States Commission of Higher Education (MSCHE)—with recent campus upheavals that dismantled not only systemic racism and oppression of the BIPOC Deaf community, President Roberta Cordano attempted to do strategic plans that ignore the growing pains of systemic racism, its “diversity, and inclusiveness” farce.

Not only just President Cordano, but as for Mr. Theodore Baran as Director for Department of Public Safety (DPS) raises a big concern, creating a series of false images, by failing to provide a haven for BIPOC Deaf community, consists of cruelty, psychological as well as physical, and teach DPS to humiliate, so injured to actual human-to-human cruelty by the graphic and White ignorance.

President Cordano and DPS Director Baran were wrong to think whether or not history forgives us. They do not understand their history, but do we understand ourselves? Mr. Baran also needs to resign or terminate immediately.

Those who seek to understand systemic racism should consider that the knowledge of BIPOC Deaf community is not lost, but by working together we can preserve of the past and move together into a future where there are still learning and healing for the society to experience, where we can have a more meaningful experience, knowing both the land of their home place and the BIPOC Deaf people who have brought them into being.

How deadly silent the stories have been for decades and decades, considering the lack of society’s accountability and the values of the BIPOC Deaf community, no matter the cost to the public’s trust?

With probing intelligence and humanist concern, it is without question, a systemic failure that the BIPOC Deaf community continues to be at the forefront of the struggle to bring the voices of past and present within seeing and learning distance of the rest of the Deaf community.

As the only hate crime researcher in the Deaf community, I would unequivocally recommend agreeing without any reservation whatsoever that President Roberta Cordano and DPS Director Theodore Baran is no longer trustworthy. DPS needs a major clean-up.

The system failed all of us. It is an epic failure.

In Solidarity.

Respectfully,

Jason “JT” Tozier

The systemic racism in business world is real. Does it happen in Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD) sponsoring WHITE skinned social fund venture businesses? What about BiPOC Deaf-owned, Black Deaf-owned, POC Deaf-owned businesses?

DIVERSITY. I support the diversity all the way. For example, minority owned business, for example, BiPOC, POC, Black owned business, I support their business. They are huge part of the contribution to the community, world, society, everywhere. The food is amazing! Artwork is champ! Books written are even awesome! Plenty of ideas are out there that would be huge part of the contribution to the society.

But the reality is that they are underprivileged and oppressed by the White owned businesses. The reason? Systemic Racism. It’s humanely wrong. I’ve seen some of their work that are even better than White people’s ideas. Seriously! White people does not like that. Too bad!

Once, I took a class years ago, there was a white hearing man who was eating peanut butter sandwich for lunch, I asked the interpreter to go with me, and asked him if its peanut butter, asking him if it’s delicious and the name of the peanut butter. Then, I asked him if he knows the person’s name: George Washington Carver. He have not heard that name before. I informed him that he was a Black person who invented peanut butter and the student took that food out of his mouth with disgust. Showing true colors. That’s a good example of White shaming, systemic racism.

Today, I continue to eat peanut butter. It’s good for you! The innovations by Black, BiPOC, POC are even more awesome than you can imagine. Champ! What is cooler that there are PLENTY of ideas out there! That’s too bad that White people do not see the talents. Only themselves.

For example, Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD), a place filled with White Deaf people, there is a good example of Social Fund Venture (SFV), the money goes to support Deaf owned businesses, the majority are White owned. Is that a good example of systemic racism?

There are plenty of Black Deaf-owned businesses, BiPOC Deaf-owned , and POC Deaf-owned out there, they should not be invisible anymore. They need more support than ever. Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD) practices systemic racism?

By the way, it is a good example of monopoly making Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD) richer at the expense of White Deaf owned businesses, richer and richer while Black Deaf-owned businesses, BiPOC Deaf-owned businesses, and POC Deaf-owned businesses should not suffer anymore. It is clearly and obviously that the Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD) practicing system racism. No?

Check the link:

csdsvf.com