Black Deaf Community Essay

he Black Deaf Community is basically formed by two cultures and communities: Deaf and African-American. 87% of Black Deaf adolescents identified as Black first while the remaining 13% identified at Deaf first; those who identify as Black first do so because their color is more visible and the deafness is not noticed until they speak or use their hands to communicate. Otherwise some Black Deaf persons view themselves as members of both communities.
With Black Deaf people identifying more strongly with their ethnic identity, we can see that they have their own separate ASL known as Black ASL. They had to teach their hearing teachers sign language, and in doing so created their own dialect known as “Black Signs”, this happened because Black Deaf persons often experience double prejudice against them in terms of racial discrimination and communication barriers. The Deaf communities and association segregated the Black Deaf people during the 17th to mid 20th centuries. The National Association of the Deaf (NAD), prohibited Black membership for 40 years until 1965 (a year after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), also

from its founding in 1864 until 1950, Gallaudet College (now Gallaudet University), did not admit and graduate Black Deaf students. The college had its first Black graduate, Andrew J. Foster, in 1954. Black Deaf individuals was not accepted in either the Deaf or the African-American community, they were prohibited from joining Deaf organizations and clubs.
After World War II Black Deaf people found themselves in need of a place to meet so they began to form their own clubs, congregations, and organizations.

Because of the denied acceptance and membership in Deaf organizations and clubs that were exclusively for white Deaf persons, Black Deaf organizations arose during the 1950s and 1960s in the urban cities with large numbers of Black Deaf residents such as Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC. The course of history for the Black Deaf community began to take on a new direction in 1981 when National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA) was established and sponsoring a variety of programs such as leadership training programs for high school and college students, leadership opportunities at the local and national levels and a scholarship program for deserving Black Deaf college

students.
In conclusion, Black Deaf people have had to endure many more obstacles than their White Deaf people. Black Deaf people more closely identify with their ethnic background; that there is a cultural variation of ASL known as Black ASL, or Black Signs; that racism has had a profound effect on the Deaf African American/Black experience; and the differences in performance expectations in the education of African American/Black Deaf students.