February 6th, 2021
On Wednesday, January 20th, at 12:00 P.M. our country of the United States of America experienced a monumental shift in leadership. As many American’s know, that day was the day of Joe Biden’s inauguration. It was the day he was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. Not only was Biden’s induction as president the mark of a new beginning, but it marked the end of the hateful and dividing presidency of Donald Trump. That day was the day democracy prevailed. It was the day of firsts and a day that signified a united future as Vice President Kamala Harris became the first woman, first African American, and first South Asian American to hold the title. It was the first time the “Pledge of Allegiance” was spoken and signed using ASL at the presidential inauguration. It is this event, that I will be discussing today.
The individual who recited the “Pledge of Allegiance” was Andrea M Hall, the first black woman to become a Fire Captain in the City of South Fulton Fire-Rescue Department, in Georgia. She is also the president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 3920, an association that had endorsed Biden in his early stages of the presidential companion. As such, the Biden inaugural committee reached out to her to see if she wanted to participate in the inauguration on behalf of the firefighters, which she agreed to do. Following the stunning performance of the National anthem by Lady Gaga, Hall approached the podium and recited the pledge while also signing it were her hands. A link to this video is below.
Let us discuss a bit more about Andrea Hall. Why does she know ASL? Why did she use ASL during the inauguration? Well, Hall identifies herself as a CODA, an acronym that is equivalent to “Child of Deaf adults/parents”. (Side note: In comparisons, if a deaf child is born to deaf parents, the term is “DODA” ). Her father, Russell “Bubba” William’s was born hearing but soon was plagued with an illness that took his hearing away. As a result, Williams went to Georgia school for the deaf starting at 6-yers-old where he began to learn Black American sign language. During his time at GSD, segregation between white and black schooling was still present. Much like hearing white and hearing black schools, the white school received better funding and greater opportunities for the students. The white students went on field trips, had sports teams, and received better supplies than their black counterparts.
When watching an interview regarding the segregation of GSD through the Deaf Moth and an interview with Hall herself, on Sign1News, I learned that ASL was distinctly broken into two languages during segregation– Black and White ASL. I had heard about the difference in signs between communities and I am aware that ASL has grown and evolved with time; however, It never crossed my mind that during segregation in America, there would be two languages of ASL based solely on race and not location.
Furthermore, drawing back to Hall’s speech, she used ASL at the inauguration speech because she has felt the deaf community has always been supportive of her. She wanted deaf people to feel as though they were part of this new, unified America. She hoped to make the deaf community, family, and friends proud.
https://www.facebook.com/sign1news/posts/1143118802825102
https://www.dailymoth.com/blog/captain-andrea-m-hall-a-coda
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