UPDATE: What Role do Hearing Allies Have?

Wow. Tonight I went to a Deaf gathering, and someone else brought up DeafRead.com's decision to allow hearing blog posts to be syndicated as well as Deaf blog posts. Most of the people were not aware of what DeafRead.com is, so it was briefly explained. Once they understood, they all loved the idea of all these blogs being gathered in one place, screened, and summarized, all easily clickable. Then they reacted with shock and dismay at the idea of hearing people being included. Many of what they said has already been said in the comments section of the post announcing the decision. They said things like, "We need our space," "We need a safe place," "We pah have this and now hearing involved? No!" "I love CODAs, and other hearing people, but they need to stay out of some things," and (ASL transcription) "Deaf will back off, stop involve there DeafRead.com if hearing involve there. Leave alone. Leave Deaf there only." Wow. It was a loud and clear consensus, with one suggesting that there be a separate blog for hearing allies, with a chorus of yeas. Another person suggested that instead of hearing posts, Deaf people could read one hearing blog post, then write a critical analysis of it from a Deaf perspective, providing a link so readers can refer to the original post. I love this idea.

This, again, begs the question: What role do hearing allies have in our community? This was touched upon tonight, with most of the people agreeing that hearing allies have a place in our community, but we have yet to achieve self-actualization, acceptance and pride, and self-determination. And for this reason, hearing allies can only play a supporting role. That's one perspective, and it's something to mull over for all of us. What do you, the Teeming Millions, think?