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Mariann Crossman

Professor Amy Gibson

ASL 1111.2RO

30 September 2020

Deaf Ethnicity and Standing in Our World

Deaf people have been discriminated against since the beginning of time. As far back as

recorded history, it has been thought that they were unintelligent and unable to learn. Deaf

people do not want to be put into the “disabled” category. They wish to be looked upon as a

minor or an ethnic group. They wish for the world to view them as they see themselves; a world

within our world. To be an ethnic group certain criterion must be met and the Deaf community

meets these

The first criterion is to have a Collective name which the deaf do. They call themselves

“the Deaf-World.” The next is to have customs and the Deaf community is rich in these. The

feeling of community is one and the Deaf are a community, as they are often are the only family

many of them have. Proof of this is in the estimation that 90% of Deaf people marry other Deaf

people (Schein, 1989). The Deaf community has social, political, athletics, social, and many

other organizations showing they have a social structure. Language, they most certainly have,

even if it is not a spoken one. Just like any culture they also have norms for behavior, even if not

all members follow them all the time. The values of the Deaf culture are held very high, as is

their support of one another in their world. Knowledge is something they hold dear not only

through their language but also with their history and the preservation of it. The Deaf have a

truly rich history. It is a story of many hardships, but it shows people who deserve to be called an

ethnicity. Art is a big part of their culture and they have may claims to fame from different
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outstanding members of their community. Kinship, well while they may not have a “land” to call

their own; they see their schools as such and plan whole trips around these locations.

In showing that they meet the requirements to be a people we must also see why they do

not see themselves as disabled. If we look back on our history at one time being gay was

considered a mental illness. Being too short, too tall, or a woman was looked at with scorn. The

color of your skin used to and still at times can cause you to be put in a different category in the

way people see you. Deaf people see being thought of as disabled in the same light. I. King

Jordan, Gaulldent’s President sums it up perfectly when he was asked if he would like to hear.

He says ‘‘That’s almost like asking a black person if he would rather be white ... I don’t think of

myself as missing something or as incomplete. ... It’s a common fallacy if you don’t know Deaf

people or Deaf issues. You think it’s a limitation’’ (Fine & Fine, 1990).

Another way to look at the topic of disability is to ask a question to a disabled person

who is in a wheelchair, mentally handicapped, has palsy, blind, or any true disability. Ask them

if they were to have a child would them want them the same disability as their parent. In

veritable, none of the above mention disabilities would be wanted to transfer to your child. Yet,

if you ask a Deaf person, most would be overjoyed to have a Deaf child. In their eyes, it is just

bringing another member into the family of the Deaf world. Summed up disabled people want to

be valued for who they are, but they don’t wish their disability on anyone else nor do they hang

out with other disabled. Deaf people actively see out other Deaf people, marry them, and build

their lives around their Deaf “brothers and sisters.”

Deaf people often only receive the benefits they need, such as a translator under the

umbrella of being disabled. Congress has made it a law for people of a minority language to be

given access to the ability to have English lowered and the aid they need to make it in school.
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Due to the Deaf not following under this category they are not granted access to the aid this law

provided minority people.

The Deaf communities’ thoughts on cochlear implants are connected to their idea of

deafness not being a disability. If deafness is not a handicap why then are babies or children

before they are of an age to decide, give cochlear implants? The normal path a child born into a

non-Deaf family follows who receives implants is to be taught oralism and have the learning of

sign language discouraged. This isolates them from the Deaf world they could be part of. The

other downfall is that they may not receive complete hearing from the implant causing their

progress in school to be slowed down. Implants also fail at times, and without a backup system,

they have no language to fall back on. Studies done to comparing children with cochlear

implants to those without show they never truly master any language (see, for example, the

literature review in Geers, Nicholas, & Sedey, 2003).

The topic of cochlear implants is a sensitive one. Cochlear implants can be seen to the

Deaf world, as just one more way of taking away their community. On the one hand, parents who

are not Deaf can’t imagine a world in which their Deaf child would not want to hear. To not give

their child this advantage in life would almost seem like neglect. It doesn’t help that most doctors

would recommend the surgery and go with the parent's decision for their child. A Deaf parent

who is communicating with their Deaf or non-Deaf child from infanthood does not see the need

to make their child part of a world in which they are not part of. Especially when within their

community they are given all that they need.

Language is at the core of our cultures whether it is spoken or not. Through our language,

our past roots are shown, and we can pass it on to future generations. If the Deaf are not given

the right to be an ethnicity we are continuing to deprive them of their rights. They desire the right
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to stand with other minorities and be given the same rights these minorities are slowly being

granted. I believe they have met the criterion to be their own ethnicity.
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Work Cite

Harlan Lane, Ethnicity, Ethics, and the Deaf-World, The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf

Education, Volume 10, Issue 3, Summer 2005, Pages 291–

310, https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/eni030
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eni030 (1).pdf (C om m and Line)