Ethnic Minorities in America
In the United States the term "minority" often infers membership within an ethnic or cultural minority group. However, this term also encompasses other groups that lack equality, such as women, homosexuals and people with disabilities. By definition, the hearing majority classifies Deaf people as minorities because of their inability to hear. Yet linguists and social scientists argue that the basis of Deaf people's status as a minority group is not one of disability, but as a cultural and linguistic minority (Lane, Hoffmeister and Bahan: 1996: 335-6). In order to assert that Deaf people are a linguistic and cultural minority in America the characteristics of a minority group must first be defined.
According to Schaeffer, members of a minority group share the following five characteristics:
Members of a minority group experience unequal treatment and have less power over their lives than members of a dominant group.
Members of a minority group share physical and cultural characteristics that distinguish them such as skin color or language. Each society has its own arbitrary standard for determining which characteristics are most important in defining dominant and minority groups.
Membership in a dominant or majority group is often involuntary
Minority group members have a strong sense of group solidarity.
Members of a minority group generally marry others from the same group. (Schaffer, 1998: 6)
Furthermore, ethnic minorities have other characteristics that set them apart from the majority such as language, national origin and cultural differences. (Schaffer, 1998: 7)
Audism is defined as an attitude based on pathological thinking which results in a negative stigma toward anyon...
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In the following chapters, there is an extensive amount of knowledge to learn about how Deaf culture is involved in our modern world. The pages assigned give us an outlook of how Deaf people are treated in our daily life, and how we should learn from it. Its gives a clear line between what are myths and what are facts, to those who are curious about the Deaf community or have specific questions. This book has definitely taught me new things that I could put to good use in the near future. In specific chapters, my mind really opened up to new ideas and made me think hard about questions, like “why don’t some Deaf people trust hearing people,” or “do we need another ‘Deaf president now’ revolution?” I realized many new things in the course of reading this book, and have recommended this to my family.
Just like members of other minorities, such as Hispanics and African-Americans, Deaf people experience some of the same oppression and hardships. Although the attempts to "fix" members of and obliterate the DEAF-WORLD are not as highly publicized as problems with other minorities, they still exist. Throughout time, hearing people have been trying to destroy the DEAF-WORLD with the eugenics movement, the mainstreaming of Deaf children into public hearing schools, and cochlear implants.
At this time in history, those who were deaf were tried at best to be converted into hearing people. Doctors, speech therapists, and audiologists all recommended the use of speaking and lip reading instead of sign language. Since Mark’s grandparents were hearing, they were closer to the parental position instead of his deaf parents. His grandparents provided him with the best possible education he could get, startin...
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Minorities are groups distinct compared to the rest of the population whether by politics, ethnic background, and religious practices, or matters alike. Often, minorities in America are described by race or income. People with lower income usually called a minority or people with little knowledge or subsidiary occupation classification. Many rights activists cover most of the concerns of racial discrimination. Moreover, equal rights, whether in the place of employment, access to efficient education or healthcare, or the rights to vote, are all issues of racial discrimination. Throughout time, minorities are primarily affected.
While reading Mark Drolsbaugh’s Deaf Again where he wrote about his experiences with becoming postlingually deaf, I realized that I was able to relate to some of the situations he encountered, especially when he spoke of his frustrating childhood due to his disability. As he grew older, he needed to find new ways to cope with and accept his deafness. Because of his unique viewpoint with deaf parents who were not allowed to sign around him, the book gave readers a different perspective to look at deafness with. Drolsbaugh’s personal account of his life was inspirational as he grew up with a truly exceptional situation, yet was able to overcome his obstacles and become successful after he quit denying who he really was.
Deaf and hearing impaired individuals are know longer an out cast group. They now have there own deaf community. Deaf individuals do not consider themselves having an impairment, handicap, or any type of disability. They believe that through the use of sign language, other communication skills, and technology that there deafness is the way they are supposed to be. Many people who have perfect hearing can not understand deaf people and why they embrace there deafness instead of trying to receive hearing and get rid of there handicap. However not all deaf people have th...
There are some interesting similarities between the Deaf and Gay communities. They both share the same important characteristic and that makes them a minority that is not passed down through families like other minorities. Members of the Deaf and Gay communities tend to lack structure and common ground as minority groups supported by families and communities. Both groups have struggled for civil rights and have had similar paths as the communities fought to develop their own history, culture, and mobilize their individual populations (Healy). Both the Deaf and Gay communities have their own obstacles and stigmas, and the people in the middle of the two groups, like being deaf or gay, inherited the challenges of both communities.
Walker, L. A. (1986). A Loss for Words: The Story of Deafness in a Family. New York: Harper
The deaf community does not see their hearing impairment as a disability but as a culture which includes a history of discrimination, racial prejudice, and segregation. According to an online transcript,“Through Deaf Eyes” (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc., 2007) there are thirty-five million Americans that are hard of hearing. Out of the thirty-five million an estimated 300,000 people are completely deaf. There are ninety percent of deaf people who have hearing parents (Halpern, C., 1996). Also, most deaf parents have hearing children. With this being the exemplification, deaf people communicate on a more intimate and significant level with hearing people all their lives. “Deaf people can be found in every ethnic group, every region, and every economic class” (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc., 2007). The deaf culture and hard of hearing have plenty of arguments and divisions with living in a hearing world without sound however, that absence will be a starting point of an identity within their culture as well as the hearing culture (Weta and Florentine films/Hott productions Inc., 2007).
Provided with the viewpoints on both the medical model and social model of disability, it is clear that these two concepts differ in terms of the definition of disability as well as the attitude of society towards people with disabilities. It is evident that people with disabilities veer towards the social model rather than the medical model. It is essential to acknowledge that Deafness is categorised as a medical disability within the individual as well as a societal disability, as society is not equipped enough to deal with the communication barriers that stem from hearing impairments.