Source of book: Audiobook from the library.
One of the primary targets of the reactionary neo-fascist movement known as MAGA is so-called “DEI.” Which has apparently become the newest iteration of the epithet “woke,” which was preceded by “politically correct” and a host of others.
This is a recurring euphemism for an idea that is rarely said out loud. MAGA’s goal - from the beginning - was always white male ableist supremacy. And other supremacies, honestly. The idea is that the healthy, white, male, “christian,” native-born, heterosexual, wealthy…and the list goes on. Basically, privilege for rich white fucks like Trump and Musk and jack-all for the rest of us.
But in particular, the attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are about a certain kind of social darwinism, in the context of systemic advantages for white males.
I mention this, because this particular book is a great example of DEI in action, and why it actually benefits all of us.
We live, not as isolated individuals, but in an incredibly complex society, one that literally has become global. As John Donne put it:
No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
When we fail to care for one, we diminish all. This is a complete contrast to the MAGA ethos, which sees all of us in competition with each other, and helping those who need it as “fraud” and “waste” to be eliminated. As I said, straight up social darwinism by those who believe they are more fit than anyone else.
Ann Lezotte is deaf, and, as she notes, bilingual. She can communicate in both English and ASL.
This is an incredibly important truth, that I think people do not always appreciate. You know that emphasis on “phonics” that seems to recur regularly? That is all about sounds, and how letters are associated with sounds.
But if you are deaf, sounds are essentially meaningless. So phonics doesn’t work. Instead, you have to memorize how words work independent of sounds - something that is not as easy as those of us who were born into an auditory world realize. It literally is a foreign language as daunting as an English speaker learning how to read Japanese. (Like kid #2 has done.)
Lezotte therefore knows what she writes about in this book.
The story itself is fascinating to me, because it is based on a real court case. Lezotte says that she changed enough details to protect the privacy of the family, but the basics are enough to make a story that almost sounds too horrible to be true. But it is.
Twelve year old Effie is deaf, and lives in a family that is not. Her parents are divorced, with her mom remarried to a man that molests Effie. Her dad is a neglectful drunk.
But even more than that - a sadly common scenario - Effie is profoundly isolated by language deprivation. None of her birth family members have bothered to learn ASL, and Effie’s written English skills have lagged due to a lack of bilingual people for her to engage with. Basically, Miss Kathy, her ASL interpreter at school, is her only full connection.
Thus, when the unspeakable happens, Effie has no way to communicate her needs. Even her older sister, who makes the effort to communicate in writing, is torn between love and resentment of having to take primary responsibility for a disabled sibling.
This eventually results in Kathy realizing that Effie is being neglected, and getting CPS involved.
This court case is the one that happened in real life, where the court ruled that, in addition to the other neglect issues, the child’s parents’ refusal to learn ASL so they can communicate with their child put the child at risk.
As an attorney who does juvenile dependency cases pretty regularly, (As counsel for a couple of Indian Tribes for cases involving the Indian Child Welfare Act) this was all very interesting to me. The courtroom stuff was definitely oversimplified - this is a kids book that is less than two hours long - but it was fairly accurate. The author did her research to understand the legal issues well.
The book is told from Effie’s point of view, and she withholds a lot of things until close to the end. She has dissociated in an attempt to protect herself, and cannot really imagine a better life until Kathy takes her in. (Again, this part is based directly on the real life case.)
The title is actually based on a subplot: suburban encroachment has led to increasing encounters between humans - and their cars - and deer. Effie wants to find ways of minimizing the problems, and her new friend Kate (also disabled with cerebral palsy and facing her own challenges - but willing to learn ASL so she and Effie can talk) becomes part of that movement.
This book really does illustrate the importance of DEI, and the horror of what Trump and Musk are doing to gut the federal government.
Why does Effie have a school interpreter? That is because of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and funding from the Department of Education so that schools can afford to give disabled students the assistance they need. Trump/Musk, of course, are trying to eliminate the DoE, and have already cut off grant money.
The result of this will be devastating, but particularly to students like Effie and Kate.
Here is the thing: One of our larger local school districts has about 29,000 students in K-8. Given that about 15% of all students in the US have IEPs, that means somewhat over 4000 students in that district need assistance in various ways. In a big district, this isn’t as hard to do.
Here in California, 1 in 2000 students is completely deaf, 1 in 500 are hard of hearing. So, in BCSD, it is reasonable to expect that 58 students will need assistance with hearing issues. A handful of interpreters and assistance could conceivably cover this.
Now imagine a small district like the Florida one in the story. You have a single school, maybe 500 students? And one deaf kid. Who will need her own dedicated interpreter. That’s a lot of money for a small district, right?
This is why we created these grants in the first place: to ensure equal access for rural and small town students to the assistance they need. Without this, these students will likely have nothing.
Now imagine Effie without the help. She is from an impoverished family who could never afford private lessons. She would be non-verbal, unable to read, unable to even communicate with her family - or anyone really. She will never learn ASL, never learn to read and write, never be able to communicate with anyone. Might as well just lock her in an institution, like we used to…
But, that is the MAGA ethos. People who need extra assistance to thrive are disposable. They are “DEI” and should be left to fend for themselves.
Likewise, Kate, an intelligent and motivated kid, could well have been excluded from regular classes, and left to flounder.
What is the point of this? Why waste these lives? Why should these children not get what they need? So that billionaires can have even lower taxes? Seriously? Yet here we are.
I’ll end with the other side of this. The Trump administration and others of the right wing are pressuring publishers to end “DEI.” Meaning stop publishing books by people who aren’t…well, what exactly? Presumably they mean seeking out the voices of women, minorities, LGBTQ people, and….people with disabilities.
I am glad this book was in fact published, and I worry that voices like her will have reduced opportunities to be heard.
In the world we live in, we are all connected. When one of us fails to thrive, all of us fail to thrive. We are our brother’s keeper, and we are surrounded by neighbors we should love as ourselves - if for no other reason than that we make a better world for all of us, ourselves included, when we care for each other.
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