February 27, 2006
Gallaudet University Suffers Series of Robberies
This post was written by Bobby Cox, who blogs at Deaf DC.
Gallaudet University is located on Florida Avenue in Northeast. When I first visited D.C. in 1997, an earnest young man described Gallaudet this way: "It's an Oreo! You have the mixed, predominantly black population around the University and a creamy mass of white, deaf people in the middle!"
Unfortunately for some, that creamy mass in the middle is ripe for the taking.
Among the deaf community at Gallaudet University, stories of being robbed are as prevalent as the latest gossip about Nick and Jessica. Ask any fourth-year deaf student at Gallaudet about this topic, and you will get a litany of stories about friends, friends of friends, and visitors getting robbed, mugged, assaulted, raped, and killed.
One of the biggest dilemmas of a deaf student's tenure at Gallaudet is the decision whether to live safely on campus in the creaky, mold-ridden dorms or fend for themselves in the D.C. wilderness beyond the iron fences. A friend of mine, a fifth year graduate student at Gallaudet, always counsels her friends against living anywhere near Gallaudet, if they can avoid it. "Either live on campus, or somewhere else like further south in Capitol Hill. Once you're past the front gates [of Gallaudet], you're in trouble."
Recently, the Post reported that a trio robbed a deaf man using sign language. That robbers are now using sign language, while novel, is hardly a welcome development for the community -- but it also could possibly be a good thing.
Think about it this way: a miscommunication or misunderstanding between a robber and its victim could lead to a fatal conclusion. At least, by signing, some of the situational risk could be decreased and the victim could at least understand what the robber wanted. It's every deaf person's fear -- that a person will shout behind them, "Give me your wallet or I'll shoot!" and the deaf victim walks on...only to be shot.
But is that really a silver lining? The increasing sophistication of robbers can hardly be greeted with open arms. This recent attack near Gallaudet has reverberated through the community in unexpected ways -- there has been a report of an interpreter not coming to work today due to being afraid for her safety. The Gallaudet Interpreting Service, when reached for comment, gave none.
|
Your friend is an idiot.
"A friend of mine, a fifth year graduate student at Gallaudet, always counsels her friends against living anywhere near Gallaudet, if they can avoid it. "Either live on campus, or somewhere else like further south in Capitol Hill. Once you're past the front gates [of Gallaudet], you're in trouble.""
That area is rapidly changing and will be the new "hot spot" before this year's freshamn graduate. From light rail to "The Arts District" and all the new pubs that area is great.
Under your friends logic we should all avoid Adams Morgan and U Street due to the recent violence. Or does that logic only apply to black neighboorhoods?
I think this post is a bit histrionic at best. I don't know about the friends & family of Gallaudet students, but the last student (or rather students) I heard about being murdered were not only killed by a fellow Gallaudet student, but were also killed on campus (at least one of them was actually murdered in one of the dorms). I think Mr. Cox should stick to the facts if he is going deal with serious topics like this. I've lived a few blocks from Gallaudet for almost 5 years & I really haven't had any problems. While I've no doubt that certain people may view Gallaudet students as easier targets for muggings, but I think this post really distorts the facts & smears the neighborhood unfairly.
Brian D and inked78, I had a different perspective of this article.
I don't think the main point of the article was to criticize the neighborhood surrounding Gallaudet. My take away from this article was the ingenuity of the robbers to use sign language in making their demands. How ironic is that! The author made the following statement which I found stimulating - "a miscommunication or misunderstanding between a robber and its victim could lead to a fatal conclusion."
The author did his job well in writing a thought- provoking piece.
I completely accept that deaf individuals have legitimate concerns about personal security, but I'm always a little bit dubious when someone's argument is based so completely on hearsay and the "conventional wisdom." This whole post seems to be based on one real incident and a whole lot of "everyone says" and "I heard that" and "a report of" someone doing something. It almost seems like it would have fit better as an Opinionist item.
As far as the headline goes, last week we had a single carjacking incident in Takoma Park referred to as a "rash of carjackings" and today we have a single robbery described as a "series." Does DCist really need a refresher course in the difference between "one" and "more than one"?
I understand the point about the mugger. I'm just saying that it is unwise to take rumors & common knowledge and treat them as fact (especially if they are completely untrue). When you do that, it really detracts from the entire piece. Further, I think it's a serious problem because so many people already act like anything outside of certain parts of northwest is basically some ghetto hell hole (forget what some suburb dwellers think). When someone rights a piece like this, it serves to reinforce these stereotypes. Is it worth mentioning that a mugger robbed a deaf student using sign language? Absolutely. But I can do without the fiction as fact bit (particularly since some less familiar with the area might not recognize these as fictions).
i did some work at gallaudet about 8 years ago. i was in and out of the gates and picked up lunch at the farmers market.
at that time the drugs dealers on the corners all seemed proficient in sign language.
even galluadet students need their weed ya know.
so, this novel increased sophistication is at least that old.
I live just across the street from Gallaudet. The author has obviously have not spent time in the area recently if at all.
The link below can give you a sense of what is happening in the area at the moment. The massive amount of development here is the real story.
While it ain’t pretty, take a trip to A Litteri for Italian wholesale and wine. Yummy subs too. There is nothing like it.
www.livejournal.com/~thom202