Dandelion
Christie
of dandelions. The relaxed mood expressed at this point in the poem is akin to that of when
we Deaf folk are among our tribe, in a community setting, just comfortably chatting and
shooting the breeze in our language.
Videoclip #2
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQP_kNzCT2c)
Suddenly, our pastoral scene is violently interrupted. The intruder judges the
dandelions as undesirable, and worse, worthy of complete destruction. Traditionally,
dandelions have been used as natural sources of medicine and vitamins. They are often
used in salads as well as in the creation of teas, fermented wines, and honey. They are an
important part of our ecosystem. Dandelions only become undesirable weeds in the quest
for a perfect lawn.
Given that the eye gaze from the dandelion to the “man” is upward to a place of
power, the “man” is perhaps, more specifically, “The Man.” As a slang phrase, “The Man”
can refer to the dominant establishment in power, those who authorize oppression. Thus,
“The Man” in the poem has the power to define dandelions as WEEDS rather than flowers.
Some believe that “The Man” in the poem, who uses speech and not sign, refers to
Alexander Graham Bell. Because of his wealth, power, and status as an inventor, his ideas
about Deaf people and our language were extremely influential. And his ideas were
eugenically-minded---that Deaf people should not use sign language, should not attend
Deaf schools, should not become teachers, should not pass on Deaf genes---as all would
lead to “a defective variety of the human race… a Deaf variety of the human race.” (Bell,
1884, pp. 3-4). Bell defined Deaf humans as DEFECTIVE rather than contributing
members of the human race.
In 1920, another man, Frank W. Booth, a pure oralist and superintendent of
Nebraska School for the Deaf, described ASL a “weed language.” Specifically, he said,
“The sign language is a weed language; it grows naturally and, if allowed to do so, it crowds
out any and every other desirable growth. Now, we properly keep weeds out of the farm or
garden when we plant and cultivate things that we wish to grow. And that is what we must
do in our schoolrooms where we are cultivating, developing the English language; we
simply must keep the sign language out…” (American Instructors of the Deaf, 1921, p.
SASLJ, Vol. 2, No.1 – Spring/Summer 2018
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