Davis, Lennard J. “Deafness and the Riddle of Identity.” The Chronicle of Higher Education 53.19 (Jan 12, 2007): NA. Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. East Lansing Public Library. 3 Dec. 2007 http://0-find.galegroup.com.opac.elpl.org:80/itx/start.do?prodld=EAIM.
Deafness and the Riddle of Identity discusses the importance of using American Sign Language while being deaf. This article is about a situation where Jane K. Fernandes, president of the event at Gallaudet University, was describing and informing society about deafness and the deaf community. Jane Fernandes was criticized for being the president because faculty members as well as deaf students classified her as “not deaf enough.”
One of my favorite quotes within the article is:
“But the ‘not deaf enough’ issues is alive and well among deaf scholars, students, and activists.”
“Many hearing people would deem any prejudice against someone because of his or her accent shocking and unethical. To understand the issue, you have to know that ASL has become the armature on which to figure of deaf identity has been built. Until relatively recently, deafness was seen as simply a physical impairment: the absence of hearing. In the past, much discrimination against deaf people was based on the assumption that they were in fact people without language – that is, dumb. And ‘dumb’ carried the sense of being not only mute but also stupid, as in a ‘dumb’ animal.”
This scholarly article captures an issue that the deaf community deals with on a daily basis. In thinking about this issue, does this strike you as a question about diverse literature? Would understanding about the deaf community help in understanding some diverse literature? Is the deaf community discriminating against deaf individuals by classifying individuals as “not deaf enough?” Is encouraging communication between the hearing and deaf citizens creating a gap between individuals of the deaf community and if so should the hearing individuals just not talk to the deaf individuals?
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