Colorado Springs – I received an email the other night from a friend asking me what I thought of Shane Feldman’s blog, which discusses fiscal spending inequalities with regard to public accommodations and policy between the Deaf and hard of hearing (HOH) communities. It also leans heavily towards promoting oligarchy.

Feldman promotes the idea that oligarchy – rule by the few over the majority – is the form of government that Deaf people ought to support and encourage. He further tries to justify the point of his article by declaring that fiscal inequalities should be viewed with the excuse that, “… it overlooks the unequal amount of access and opportunities for both groups.” He means that all people with hearing loss are created equally, but they have “unequal” needs.

In New Mexico, the state government there decided that Deaf people did not participate in democratic functions enough, and this alarming fact necessitated a state Senate memorial (no. 2, 2007 Regular Session) being passed to investigate the social problem. Turns out the underlying causes are directly attributed to sign language interpreters and closed captioning. So, if Deaf people just need sign language interpreters and improved closed captioning for advertisements on TV, then what’s the problem in New Mexico?

They’re too stupid, too dumb, and too needy. Feldman contends this is because the needs of the Deaf are so terribly cumbersome that there is no conceivable way to compare HOH needs to Deaf needs. He goes further by suggesting that if there are 27 million HOH people with one need, then there are 1 million Deaf idiots with 27 needs (or more) to make things equitable between both groups.

Stupid.

The Deaf community needs fewer idiots like Feldman, and more people willing to accept the reality for what it is: there are far more HOH people than Deaf people in the United States, and part of the American democratic way requires that no unequal distribution of resources shall become part of the American way of life. That is why the civil rights’ movements existed and gave birth to future generations of civil rights passages, including the ADA.

To call for an oligarchy simply because you’re too needy is stupid. Only an idiot would try that – “Oh, I am too needy. I must be named king because I have more needs than you do.”

Interestingly enough, it is Feldman who is painting a picture that Deaf people are woefully incompetent people, saddled with overwhelming and expensive needs – especially compared to HOH people, who seem to, in Feldman’s eyes, need little more than the occasional enunciation of a repeated word. If HOH are that resourceful, then Deaf people are the neediest of all minority groups according to Feldman.

Ironically, Feldman also tells us that Deaf people do not like to be compared to other disability groups because there is nothing “worse” than a Deaf person being labeled as such, or as, of course, one with “special needs.” Naturally, the ADA was created, ratified and enforced entirely by Feldman, his buddies, Deaf residential schools, RIT, and of course, the holy of holy of Deaf holies: Gallaudet University – which once had illiterate graduate students teaching (most presumably English) classes. The disabled community, Feldman proudly suggests, should be so lucky that Deaf people titled the ADA “Americans with Disabilities Act” and not, “Americans with Deafness Act.”

And he doesn’t stop there: if you’re Deaf and have another disability – and the statistics show that a large number of Deaf people do have multiple disabilities – sorry, you’re out of luck. You will not be part of the oligarchy. You are the weakest link – goodbye! Your kind is not appreciated ‘round those parts. You are imperfect! Heil Hitler! The weak must be eliminated from our group! Heil Hitler!

Anyway, democracy, in which the people rule together and collectively, tries to distribute resources (goods, money, education, housing, etc.) equally amongst its citizens. Over time, civil rights challenges have further defined democracy to include the ideal that all men are created equal.

A terrible civil war was fought over the very statement, “All Men Are Created Equal,” and remains a poignant moment in American politics today. The civil rights crusades of the 1960’s and ‘70’s were borne out of a need to remove the “Equal But Separate” mantra that had become segregation.

Racism is to oligarchy as freedom is to democracy.

We don’t need oligarchy. We need more Deaf people actively participating in democratic processes, such as Feldman himself. He is entitled to his views, however idiotic they may be, because he is still utilizing the best and safest form of government in human history – democracy.

The more inclusive the Deaf community is, the more powerful and strong it can become when it unites. Until then, we don’t need more people proclaiming “separate but equal” status among the deaf and hard of hearing communities – we need a collective effort to eradicate barriers between the two groups. In the end, as Feldman admits himself, we all – deaf or hard of hearing – understand the difficulties of being denied public accommodations and access.

In the meantime, the Deaf community can learn to embrace the evolution of the HOH community and support its eventual ascension as a major political and economical player for people with hearing loss – even if that means acknowledging and admitting that inequalities exist AND must be corrected accordingly and proportionately so.

Let Feldman have his oligarchy. Of one.

Paotie