Thursday, February 07, 2008

Break Out the Popcorn. It is NAD vs. AGBell.

On my way home today, I got word that the NAD had sent a "scathing" letter to AGBell in regard to their deplorable letter to Pepsi. And to think it all started with a television commercial....

The NAD letter is professionally written with carefully chosen words, but when you look at specific language you can tell the depth of anger that the writer(s) felt. For example:
  • "obvious lack of respect for deaf people who use ASL."
  • "deplorable that AGBell continues to perpetuate the myth that the use of ASL isolates deaf people from mainstream society"
  • "We expect the same respect from AGBell"
Until AG Bell wrote that letter to Pepsi, I thought that AG Bell was a professional membership organization that respected deaf people who chose to use ASL, while promoting oral communication and education. Well, that letter to Pepsi changed everything for me. For the first time, AG Bell publicly revealed its true colors.

Perhaps this brouhaha will lead to the birth of a new AG Bell, a more tolerant AG Bell (or perhaps this is just wishful thinking). As far as I know, the media has not yet reported on the conflict that has arisen out of the AG Bell letter to Pepsi, but as awareness grows, it is only a matter of time before someone does report on it in the mainstream media. Or maybe one of the deaf columnists whose columns are published in regular papers (Right now, I can't remember the name of one columnist, whose name starts with H).

Does anyone plan to contact the mainstream media if AG Bell does not publicly apologize to the deaf community?

14 comments:

Aslpride said...

For 128 years, AGBell has oppress ASL. You think it will be easy for them to apology the deaf community who use ASL in public? I will be surprise if they did apology to us in public.

Buttery popcorn said...

you go girl!

I too, hope this friction can bring changes for AGBell. True deaf unity will occur when such powerful political entities can actually be a mainstreamed ideal.

hmm... why does this reminds me of the civil war conflict between the north and the south?

A Deaf Pundit said...

The media wouldn't care. Not unless there was a mass blackout on cell phones, pagers and relays or something like that.

mishkazena said...

I guess since you were mainstreamed in hearing schools all your life, you were never exposed to AGBell Association's mentality toward ASL and Deaf people. This attitude was and still is pervasive in oral deaf programs. I know because I was indoctrinated with that mentality the first five years I was in oral deaf school.

After I graduated from high school, I periodically encountered that mentality through the years.I could understand the reasons for the anger Deaf people felt toward AGBell Association.


So when I saw the letter, my first thought was... so what's new? Sad, isn't it?

However, unlike before, they were publicly condemned by many Deaf and Hearing people... which isn't surprising, considering that bigotry toward a cultural group is politically incorrect nowadays.

cuong aka buzz said...

a deaf pundit,

i don't see how mass blackout on cell phones, pagers and relays will help to get media's attention?

fyi, i am not nad member. my wife and i decide to join this weekend and become nad membership in order to become nad's one voice since nad stood up to speak for all of us in diversity.

maybe you can help to organize the idea of increasing the nad members. maybe hold candles and stand tall together on same day at night near deaf club or media? use your creative where more nad members speak loud as one voice? what you think?

the reason i say this because i am not nad yet therefore i am not bias to encourage someone to join in nad membership. if you catch my drift?

buzz

Jean Boutcher said...

It was in the late 1800s when AGB showed his true darl (evil) colours. He wanted to sterlise all deaf people so as to end a variety of human race as well as to have all deaf teachers fired.

I applaud NAD President Scoggins to Zeus for her courage to speak out. She is the FEMALE George
Veditz.

OCDAC said...

NAD is acting like CAD (California) under Russ Bye's leadership right now. Somebody is gonna sack NAD easy like what happened to CAD.

Anonymous said...

As long AGbell operates with this kind of mentality, I will be...

eating a lot of popcorn!

Joseph said...

And to think...Alexander Bell has stolen the phone patent...according to the new book out.

So how embarrassing is it that an organization would rally around a theft?

Anonymous said...

Jean, don't give Bobbie Beth Scoggins all the credit. The board wrote this letter. In fact, BBS didn't even do one thing with the letter. So give credit to the board, not Bobbie Beth Scoggins.

A Deaf Pundit said...

Buzz,

I've been encouraging people to join NAD on my blog.

If we send out a press release to the media and say we are holding one day boycott of pagers, relay services and cell phones because of AG Bell... that will get their attention.

The companies can keep track of people's usage, so it will be documented. If enough people do it, we can hit those companies' wallets HARD!

And that will be reported in the media, showing that we are NOT isolated from society. :D

Anonymous said...

Do you mean Leonard Hall, the columnist of Olathe News?

Anonymous said...

I'm really confused Jamie. You have a CI yourself and you support NAD? Please elaborate as I may have been informed incorrectly or you are just unique

3ric said...

For us, this is but another strike in a long-running boxing match. But for mainstream society, it would seem to be pretty esoteric. It's not likely the mainstream media is going to pick up on it. A broader topic, such as the general animosity between the two organizations' philosophies may be more likely to catch the eye of an editor somewhere.

Jamie, I think you would be the perfect person to pen the story. I'm sure many would agree! It's just a question of which media outlet would pick it up.