A civil rights milestone

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Friday, May 16th.

We’re glad you’ve joined us for WORLD Radio. Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: a new documentary out today on Apple TV+. It tells the story of a civil rights moment you might not have heard of. WORLD Arts and Culture Editor Collin Garbarino has more on Deaf President Now!.

REPORTER: We’re going live to Gallaudet University where students are protesting because they want a say in their school’s future. A new president is about to be named and the students want one of their own at the top.

COLLIN GARBARINO: Deaf President Now! tells the story of one turbulent week at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. Gallaudet is the only institution of higher education in the world that specifically serves deaf and hard of hearing students. And the events that took place there in the spring of 1988 helped pave the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act two years later.

The story started on a Sunday evening. The board of trustees was debating who they should choose to be the university’s seventh president.

REPORTER: Gallaudet is the only university for the deaf in the world and has never had a non-hearing president in its 124-year history.

The student body expected the board to choose a deaf person. So did much of the faculty. It seemed like the right time for Gallaudet to get its first deaf president. After all, two of the three finalists for the job were deaf.

But the board of trustees, led by Jane Spilman, opted for the hearing candidate. The shocked students erupted in anger.

REPORTER: There’s a firestorm this evening at Gallaudet University. The school’s board of trustees bypassed two deaf candidates for the school’s presidency.

That Sunday night the students marched through the streets of Washington to Spilman’s hotel, demanding she explain herself. After some delay, Spilman came downstairs and spoke to the crowd. Her condescension only made matters worse.

TIM: So I asked. Why? Why did you appoint Zinser? And then she said, “Deaf people are not ready to function in a hearing world.”

The next day, students locked the gates to the campus. That started a standoff with administrators and authorities. The students were determined that the campus would not reopen until they got the deaf president they demanded. With the help of sympathetic faculty, the students organized. They selected leaders to speak on their behalf. And they came up with a list of demands that included Spilman’s resignation from the board.

As the week progressed and news coverage intensified, the Gallaudet students found that the American people were sympathetic to their cause. With momentum building and the nation’s attention fixed on the school, the board backed down.

SPILMAN: The board was not simply called upon to select a president, but to aid in the consummation of a dream.

Gallaudet would have its first deaf president.

The documentary features plenty of news footage from 1988, with a few brief reenactments to fill in the gaps. It focuses on the four student ringleaders of the protest, each of whom gives extensive interviews. The film communicates their passion, but viewers will find some participants more sympathetic than others. There are a few instances of coarse language and gesturing.

Deaf President Now! isn’t just the story of this single moment. It uses the events of that one week at Gallaudet as a window into the deaf world.

BRIGETTA: They view deaf people as something bad.

JERRY: As a defect. An error. As hearing impaired.

Each of the student leaders share their own family stories. Many involve other deaf family members being ostracized… Or deaf parents encouraging their deaf children to hide their disability. These students describe a generational shift in which they start to question their parents’ instructions and overall approach to being deaf.

TIM: He would say, “It’s very important that you fit into the hearing world.” I was thinking, “Why?” I shouldn’t have to fit into the hearing world. I have my own world.

There’s a strong sense of communal identity that comes through in this documentary. The interviewees express their love of sign language. But they sometimes reveal a distrust of hearing people as well. We even see startling prejudice within the deaf community. Some deaf people accuse others of not being deaf enough. Some feel ashamed of using hearing aids.

This particular type of solidarity among the deaf sometimes shows a hard edge, as interviewees proclaim that their lack of hearing is not a problem to be fixed.

JERRY: We are not impaired.

Deaf President Now! might recount an overlooked moment in civil rights history, but it also reminds us that our lives and experiences can cause us to view the world very differently.

I’m Collin Garbarino.

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