My Presentation
at
the October 18, 2009 Meeting
of
Northwest Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf
(NWRAD)

McMenamins Kennedy School
Portland, Oregon

Loosely translated from American Sign Language
 

Good morning, President.

My name is Carl Schroeder. Yes, I'm Deaf. Our general society expects that if I am different, I must tell about it. I'm different because I am first Deaf, anything beyond my being Deaf is of little import.

Two weeks ago I was elected president of the Oregon Association of the Deaf (OAD), an organization founded in 1921. During my term, I have committed to building a working relationship with various agencies and organization serving the Deaf. I have viewed my election as a call for change within OAD. John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the U.S., once said: Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. As OAD president, I am here to reflect this change for the future of the Deaf in Oregon.

I believe firmly that OAD and NWRAD do have four aspects in common: cultural, political, legal, and philosophical. I would like to elaborate each of them here.
Cultural aspect:

American Sign Language (ASL) is what actually draws us together. We are gathering together today to share information, knowledge and communication. Our culture is embedded in ASL, and vice versa.

Political aspect:

We have democratically elected officers. Casey Rider is your elected officer; I am the elected officer of OAD. Our votes mean voice that represents our communities. I represent Deaf Oregon. Casey represents deaf gay and lesbians in the Northwest. We are all part of the whole.

Legal aspect:

Both OAD and NWRAD are 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations. We are organized for not only elimination of prejudice and discrimination and defense of human and civil rights secured by law, but also for publicly-supported charities. People can donate money to our organizations, and we can write for grants from different foundations.

Philosophical aspect:

The term philosophy means more than guiding values or ideals. I want to try to work out the many ways in which our organizations are related. I believe that philosophical practice can be of service to our communities but the nature of philosophy needs to be understood first. I am going to learn everything there is about NWRAD. I shall try to give an outline account of OAD philosophy as I perceived thus far.

This philosophy will enable me to see the possible points of building a working relationship with your organization. My account of the OAD philosophy will be very sketchy and directed rather to get rid of misconceptions than to give any positive information.

When I represent OAD, I find that much of my time is taken up with getting acquainted with the opinions of the past about Deaf people. This seems surprising to me because high technologies like video messaging seem only of incidental interest. The use of ASL through video technologies does not arise from the fact that Laurent Clerc or William C. Stokoe first stated and proved the existence of our language at a certain stage in the history of the Deaf. By questioning or denying ASL, we suffer deficit thinking. This skeptical attitude results from misunderstanding the significance of the use of ASL, the first stage of a language revolution that is still in progress.

Our general society needs to understand that ASL is as precious as a priceless blown glass vase. For Deaf people, both using ASL and giving shape to the vase take many years to learn, and lots of practice is required to create some amazing results. OAD and NWRAD can work together to preserve and promote ASL.

We can make a difference. Our communities may be a big challenge, but there are many agencies and organization serving the Deaf we can meet and make friends. If we try, most of us can use ASL or an interpreter to make a difference. As we have learned, our use of ASL actually makes the Earth Deaf-friendly. The same truth is for our world to become gay-friendly if and only if we are proactive in our activities.

OAD needs your help. For the next few months I plan to visit different cities in Oregon to meet Deaf people of all walks of life. I would like to enlist your assistance and support. I really enjoyed talking to you and appreciated all attention you gave to me this morning.

Thank you.