Being Deaf African American Research Paper

Is Being a Deaf African American Hard?

The reason why I chose to do my paper on Black Deaf Americans was because of my Granddad and my cousin. My Granddad lost his hearing later in life, and my cousin was born deaf. When my granddad lost his hearing, I wasn’t born. He did not lose his hearing totally, so he was able to use hearing aids to help him hear, and he never connected with the Deaf Society. Many years later my aunt first child a girl was born deaf, but the family really did not know she was deaf until the baby was two years. Twelve years later, due to family problems, my mom ended up temporary custody. While my cousin was in my care, I had no idea what the Deaf Culture consist of, how many problems, confusion and conflict these individuals go through just because of their deafness. I focus on Black Deaf Americans because they are faced with two obstacles: 1: being Black Americans and the historically oppressions that the majority of them had gone through for generations and still are going through; 2: being Deaf in a hearing world. These individuals faced twice as much prejudices, discrimination, and stereotyped as “Deaf and Dumb.” Other problems Black Deaf individuals face is that unemployment rates is much higher for them than any other Deaf individuals. The dropped out

There is no such thing as Black Sign Language, but there is a Black way of signing used by Black Deaf people in their own culture, among families, friends, at gatherings, at the Deaf Clubs, and at the residential school for the Deaf. “1996 a new controversy arose when the Oakland, California school district became the first school system in the United States to recognize Black English, or Ebonics, as a language” (Jankowski, 1997, p.