The plaque reads:
“The Alexander Graham Bell Building
Only six years before his death, Alexander Graham Bell looked back over his amazing life and wrote: “Recognition of my work for and interest in the education of the deaf has always been more pleasing to me than even recognition of my work with the telephone.”
A brillant and innovative teacher of the deaf, Bell dedicated a great portion of his life to help deaf children develop their potential for listening, speaking, and lipreading.
Today, NTID emulates the ideals for which Alexander Graham Bell worked.”
I wrote an opinion piece which was published in RIT’s student publication. Its last sentence reads:
“Should there be a plaque pledging that NTID not only honors this man but also seeks to emulate his ideals as stated in the bronze?”
See why I wrote the piece? To summarize its point:
- Alexander Graham Bell believed Oralism was the ONLY way to teach deaf students
Whether or not you are a supporter of oralism, you very well know oralism is NOT the only way to teach deaf students.
And NTID emulates this ideal? Do you see the contradiction?
Getting this far strongly warrants a new plaque christened with re-wordings to reflect NTID’s communication diversity in today’s time and age.
But is that all Bell was about? He stood before the United States legislatures and proposed a law that, if passed, would have prevented you from having children! Yes, you too, who speak …orally. Bell wanted to wipe off the earth of oral people. He so firmly believed in the ideal that he was head of the Eugenics Section at American Breeders Association. Bell’s name is a permanent part of the Wikipedia definition for Eugenics. Delete his name, and it will be put back promptly.
If Bell had succeed in passing the sterilization law, there would be no deaf students for who NTID is founded. The irony.
Alexander Graham Bell did not believe deaf people were equal to those who could hear. He wanted to take away your rights. You could then not choose. He wanted to forcefully invade your body. On par with Adolf Hitler’s concentration camp experiments, Bell wanted to modify you so that you could not create what is one of the most beautiful creations on Earth–new life.
NTID emulates this? An organization bearing his name still exists?