This painting is inspired by Dr. Laurence Fleisher and Dr. Genie Gertz's Stone Deaf Play Act One:
Social Darwinism.

See two vlogs:  
http://youtu.be/KdfT2ngo1ZQ?list=UU7J5ZEnjHOWNbWX3DLZqbFg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVq7E2KSIKA

This is about the man named Charles Darwin who wrote the book "The Origins of Species" in 1859. He believed that we Deaf people are from the monkeys in evolution. Monkeys communicate their language "monkey language." That means their signs are the same as our Deaf sign language. And that had totally changed people's view on Deaf natural signed language. This impacted the entire society. This happened before Milan 1880 ICED. This could be why there were more favor in oralism. In the painting shows two monkeys signing their language and an ASL hand cut off signing "NO" on the table. This means, we do not agree with Charles Darwin's theory on his theory trying to explain social change and to justify social and racial inequality. Reflecting the language of Social Darwinism, oralists used such words as uncivilized, barbaric, and savage to describe sign language and derided it as a "monkey language." The hand that is cut off, means it has already been abused and laying on the table. There's a hidden message on the background.