Stereotyping – …And the Truth Shall Set You Free.

The Future of Library: Can We End Stereotyping?

June 21, 2019June 21, 2019 The Last HiccupLeave a comment

Can we turn the pages on stereotypes? What would library meet the quality of knowledge and positive attitude would it be more powerful come of Deaf community?

We need more Deaf-centered writers more than ever. Their contributions are valuable. Their stories alongside the life experiences all year long, sharing the knowledge resources to keep Deaf community humanely challenging the deficit writers by hearing people who exploits Deaf community for the benefit of hearing privileges, wealth, and class.

By turning the pages on stereotypes in Deaf community, no one takes away from our fundamental freedoms and ownership. The library should look at quality of books whose published by DEAF writers and DEAF-owned publishing–in the critical time for Deaf community not to feel their Deaf identity being served in the severe jeopardy.

We need more Deaf-centered writers. We must stop hearing writers with no experience in Deaf world, exploiting and labeling us, Deaf people what would call: stereotypes–attempting to process of eliminating identical qualities from Deaf own experience around the Earth equation to define who Deaf people are.

Today, Deaf community is being defined and “interpreted” completion and hearing restoration very differently from far truth. Library cardholders, makes all the difference in Deaf community more than ever.

Whenever library holders enters and search for the QUALITY (POWER) of knowledge which DEAF community offers a much simpler method of what DEAF as a human being than the misinformation by hearing writers, it is what quality is all about.

We need more Deaf library cardholders because they set a good example of legacy for generations to come and the numbers that run the society we breathe, learn, and read.

For example, showing 12,000+ DEAF books at a local library in Tennessee gives a lot of false hope. When it comes to library, it should be prevailing wisdom for library cardholders that would seek go home with books published by DEAF writers, it is a festival of hope, knowledge, and appreciation, don’t you notice that part?

The library is like a cruise ship, and the library cardholders whenever checking out books written by DEAF writers, is no longer outsider when they read and re-creating their lives to their own time and makes clear how much Deaf community needs more DEAF WRITERS more than ever are to our daily lives.

ASL Video:

-JT

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Open Letter for Nyle DiMarco

February 19, 2019February 19, 2019 The Last HiccupLeave a comment

This post is written for Nyle DiMarco:

First, I admire Nyle for defying the mathematical odds in Hollywood industry. That was really big. Math is your best friend but it can be your enemy where it can define your life overnight. Just like that.

Second, this is not about Deaf versus Deaf. It is about educating what Native Americans had been gone through. It can also apply to Deaf community whom they suffer as well what Native Americans do. I hope it would be learning experience for Nyle.

Please no harassing or bullying Nyle about this. Either should I be not harassed or bullied about this. Sometimes we have to remind each other and understand the stigma with open mind.

I was cheering for him on Dancing with the Stars show. That night, Mirror ball on a huge TV with full house of Deaf people were jumping joyfully when Nyle won the show. I was there and jumped joyfully because Nyle defied odds. And not only that, he had spread the message in Hollywood about language deprivation in Deaf community.

It is a huge thing.

And I appreciate his advocacy work in Deaf community. Not all I agree with, but winning two shows in Hollywood, as Deaf person understands the adversity and roadblocks matter the most. Especially the continuation of criminalizing Native Americans to be mock, marginalizes, and judges in Hollywood industry.

For years and years, Native Americans struggles with their lives, it is an unbearable journey. Go back to 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed The Indian Removal Act into law, where the law has targeted Native Americans for their skin and heritage to be bullied and removed from American society.

By 1890s, around 95%, less or more in 90th percentage, had shown that Native Americans were murdered, cut off their hair and such. The language deprivation also applies in Native Americans. It is no brainer.

Today, Native Americans suffer from unemployment, cruel and unusual punishment, one of the highest rates of fetal alcohol syndrome, and think about those Native American women being murdered at highest rate than ever as you can find the source to read online: Police in Many U.S. Cities Fail to Track Murdered, Missing Indigenous Women. It is still going on in 2019. The last two years has been worst, highest. Trump’s America.

Native Americans had also been mocked plenty of times in Hollywood. For example, Adam Sandler, sometimes funny, sometimes not funny, few years ago, there were dozen Native American actors walked off the set of his movie called, The Ridiculous Six because the actors felt offended that the portrayals of Native Americans continues to be mocked and degraded.

Few months ago, there was an article showing that hate crimes against Native Americans increased 63 percent in the first year of Trump’s policy. It has been dully noted in FBI’s data report. We should not ignore that 63 percent is nothing?

Often, Native Americans ends up invisible…and wonder why? “…Especially the hate crime data is notoriously flawed as a result of public under reporting of criminal victimization.” [Silent Victims: Hate Crimes Against Native Americans by Barbara Perry.] When Nyle as a Deaf white man pressed the button “LIKE” on Twitter that Elder Native American man by the name of Nate Phillips who got mocked by White Catholic Boys with MAGA “Make American Great Again” hats has shown the powerful image of mocking Native Americans.

Nate was struggling with alcohol addiction where he was charged with possession of alcohol at very young age, and we should not judge him on that. That was four and half decades ago and we should not judge him. Nate’s childhood life was hard enough.

Nyle was not even born during that time either.

“Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be Kind. Always.”

We must understand that in 1960s and 1970s era was really rough time for Native Americans. Especially for Nate Phillips. The society that time and today in 2019 continues to criminalize Native Americans.

There are some things we all need to reflect the history and the stigmatization of Native Americans cannot be ignored. Like in 1960s, Native Americans were the nation’s poorest minority group, and that was bad enough, imagine the painful journey, and in 1970, the unemployment rate were TEN times the national level.

The math when we know that TEN TIMES is powerful and bigger number like an exponent than we really understand, and what is more, 40 percent of the Native American population below the poverty line, and we know that Deaf community is also below the poverty line, too. No?

Native Americans with criminal record even if its 30, 40, 50, 60 years ago, continue to face several problems related to employment, income, education, media, and Hollywood industry. Why do we have to dig out old past about Nate Phillips? He is now 64 years old. That is a cheap shot. It is really a shame.

After taking Native American Literature, Environmental Education through Native American Lenses, and Native Studies had opened my eyes and understand why media continues to mock Native Americans.

Devon Mihesuah in 1996, American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities showing that Hollywood continues to frame popular perceptions of Native Americans. Hate crime against Native Americans is really a BIG problem. We cannot let haters bring Native Americans down.

Police brutality against Native Americans are really high and heart wrenching. I mean, high, high, high that is not even funny. Native Americans are most likely to be killed by law enforcement than any other racial or ethnic groups and they are most overlooked group of all. Like Daniel Sheehan, general counsel for the Lakota People’s Law Project: “Native American people are basically invisible to most of the people in the country.”

We cannot forget Deaf Native Americans, too. Remember John T. Williams? When Nyle was featured on show called Full Frontal with Samantha Bee few weeks ago and it was good and I was very much glad that it has shared with the public eye to understand about Deaf people suffering in the hands of law enforcement. However, he signed: “your training has barely covered the importance of how to interact with America’s one million Deaf citizens.”

There is most likely a Deaf Native American might be as well as killed any time, any day in White America.

There are a lot of White teens and early 20s got away with it. We cannot deny that. No way. Please stop criminalizing Native Americans.

-JT

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Are We Racists?

February 11, 2019 The Last HiccupLeave a comment

Can White Deaf Community admit that they are racists? Does Racism overwhelm you? Do you see enemies all around? Racism is a lifetime habit that is hard to break and it starts with us.

The Daily Moth: Stop Profiling Pit Bulls

January 2, 2017January 2, 2017 The Last HiccupLeave a comment

A Perfect Mask of Benevolence: Vinton Cerf’s Ideology

May 16, 2015February 28, 2017 The Last Hiccup1 Comment

The image is what exactly happened yesterday. Click the image. Go ahead.

Today is the day after shock wave in the Deaf community—Vinton Cerf joins the ranks of all-time hate bigots along with Karl White, Dimity Dornan, Alexander Graham Bell and many more. Hate is a reasonable to many discriminatory interactions with Deaf people, so one must be prepared to forestall or deal with such a reaction. Realizing hate bigots are the problem, Cerf tries to stay in control and handle eugenics-oppression style by making it clear to those Deaf people who would mistreat Cerf that doing so carries with a significant cost for them.

“Whether anxiety over societal change preceded or even gave birth to anxiety over intellectual change, or whether the opposite is true, is less important than the fact that, during Culture Wars, these two anxieties become grafted onto each other—to such an extent that it is in general impossible to define the point where one type of anxiety ends and another begins.” –Joan DeJean, Ancients against Moderns: Cultural Wars and the Making of a Fin de Siele

The graduation at Gallaudet University is a historical ceremony for each graduates—no consequences are allowed. Cerf was attempting to propose a cochlear implant wave in which those Deaf-ASL users are encouraged to act like hearing people for his own intrinsic satisfaction of higher learning. In the other words, within with university, throwing eugenics-theme speech is of a central importance. With high technology activities to make a final decision to support the eugenics of Deaf people, Cerf began the hate speech cycle right there. I got attacked being called a liar and asked to see the proof of his transcript. One of them who own a writing service asked for it rather believing the person who threw eugenics in our face instead of reading it from Deaf author like myself. Just because Cerf is the father of Internet and it would be impossible for a celebrity to say that. What does that tell you? IT WAS ACTUALLY HAPPENED WHAT VINTON CERF SAID!

Those who wrote trash have acted in direct contravention of values that we, as DEAF people who love this world, hold dear. It has been absolutely astounding how they have committed the most horrendous acts, causing needless tragedy in the lives of Deaf people, yet they wear their so-called I-am-better-than-you nonsense. Their hypocrisy is mind-boggling — and disgraceful.

Gallaudet University happens because Deaf people exist. Cerf knew about the success that needs to change to help cochlear implant makers rich and make Cerf getting some commission profit for implementing in his presentation. It is no seldom accident, folks! It is easy to recognize product of strained leadership. A skilled Sociologist would understand the propaganda what it would be like.

For example, Cerf is well-known Alexander Graham Bell donor, and he went ahead and used hate speech that become necessary because it is fun to deliberately confound Deaf people with the unknown and keep Gallaudet University to maintain the status quo, ensuring Deaf people remain disempowered while Vinton Cerf entertain a hate speech.

Some people would say that it is a degree of freedom of speech, but within certain demographics it has overwhelmed the old Gallaudet politics, before cochlear implant center set up there on the same building where ASL/Deaf Studies department is. I think that hate speech should be pretty much extinct at Gallaudet University, in the sense that Gallaudet is quite welcoming to anyone Deaf. That has not always been true. Audism and hate speech exists in the term of higher education at Gallaudet University.

I became highly disturbed by his presentation about restoring Deaf people to hearing people. It has been ongoing ill-advised and misleading term. No human being can restore anyone’s hearing; they can only amplify it. When batteries expire, Deaf people merges as an inevitable—a reality and Cerf refuses to accept the fact that the high technology is not always a reality. Clearly, everyday hate speech especially stereotyping and prejudice—makes little or no sense, in terms of either reason ore religion.

With the EPHPHATHA official seal of Gallaudet University on the podium before Cerf stood and spoke, is the best example of mask of benevolence that it is attributable to implicit efforts in restoring Deaf people to the hearing society. He may be the father of Internet, but promoting hate speech like the big jellyfish just the same as Internet is. No Deaf graduating students deserve the knot with fear in their stomach.

It does seem to me a circle of people, (strong oralists) and some other like-minded folks, like to have Vinton around them and recognize his habit of badgering and intimidating smaller or weaker people.

Does Vinton Cerf dare to play G-O-D with new tricks front of Deaf people on their very special day? It makes a sad case study for hate speech and oppression. The same guy who invented Internet, of course, generates, with no intention to censor, the greatest noise that yields no information that Deaf people exist.

-JT

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