disdain

Dear Fellow Classmates,
A few of us walked out of Soc. Class last week. The following letter
details why.
If, in reading this letter, you agree with our reasons for the walk out
and my 2 requests to Lisa George at the end of the letter please email
her with the 2 requests and if you have the desire & time your thoughts
as well.
You can also email me if you want to have any dialog about this.
xxx@gmail.com
Thanks and see? you next week.
Sincerely
CHACH?

Lisa Carol George <lisa.george1@pcc.edu>
show details Jun 1 (1 day ago)
Hi

I'm sending this email to let you know that since you missed over half
the class last night (Thursday May 31st) it will be counted as an
unexcused absence.

See you Thursday
Lisa

Dear Lisa George,
I was emancipated by the state at 17 so I will write my own note
excusing my absence for missing half of class on Thursday May 31st.
I excused myself from class on Thursday because you were going to be
showing another subtitled film. After the first film, Control Room,
you told me that the information in the subtitles wasnt important.
You
said it was just news room banter.? I responded by informing you
that
it is really hard to concentrate on something when half of it is not
accessible to me. Like if half of the time you taught your class in a
language all but one student understood and then you told that one
student it wasnt important anyways it was just class room banter.
Regardless of the content being just banter? if it is important
for
the rest of your students to have access to it is important for me to
have access to it as well. You cannot expect a student to fully engage
with the material if half of it is missing.
On the occasions that we have had discussions about the subtitled films
and I state that I cant read the subtitles you contend that they are
not important. As a disabled student I have teachers tell me this, as
it relates to course materials that are not made accessible to me, all
of the time. I will say you are by far the friendliest when you do it.
Your friendliness doesnt make it any less alienating. The act of
creating a syllabus that details course materials i.e.: books, films,
websites and then to tell one student that part of it isnt important
seems counter to course development, theories of pedagogy and popular
education techniques.
I want to quote Sarah McNeils Q&A as it is to the point and follows
the same stream of questioning I would.
If a film's subtitles are not important, why are they there?
I think they might be important.
If a film's subtitles are not important to one visually impaired
student, why should that one student be there?
I think, maybe, she shouldn't waste her time.
If a film is not important for that one student, why is it important
for the others?
I think it might not be so important.?
As this class is about social institutions and social change I am sure
that you are well aware of the institution of able-ism and that our
education institutions are still not fully accessible to disabled
students. I am also sure that you recognize the inherent power and
authority you have as a teacher. I want you to acknowledge that there
is something grossly unequal about suggesting I engage with a whole
film that I have only partial access to while my fellow students have
full access to it. After you showed Control Room a few of my fellow
students recognized the inherent inequality in the access to
information and suggested a walk out if another subtitled film was
shown: a practice of civil disobedience. During our brief discussion
on Thursday before we went on break and before you showed the subtitled
film you again told me the subtitles were not important. Two class
mates overheard the conversation and found your statements egregious:
affirming their solidarity and commitment to walking out of class.
Additionally I find great irony in reading a book about the inequality
in education as it relates to race, class and subsequently geographical
location and have a Sociology teacher utilize able-ist education
practices. I understand that not every sociologist will encounter
research about disabled peoples access to education, but I would
expect that you as a Sociologist who has a stated interest in the
Sociology of education to have some insight that informs your teaching
practices as it relates to disabled students.
I am requesting that you return all points or credit not given for
attendance to myself and the other students who walked out of class. I
am also requesting that you challenge yourself by watching two
partially subtitled documentaries blindfolded and see how much
information you get out of them.
Sincerely
Michelle CHACH? Hart