Are the Black Experience and Deaf Experience that Relatable?

                                   Are the Black Experience and Deaf Experience that Relatable?

http://poormagazine.org/node/1537
            The Black experience in America is extremely complex, for there are a myriad of institutions set in place that actively work together to create an outlook of inferiority onto blacks. However, this phenomena is not exclusive to the Black community, but also parallels towards the Deaf community. The Deaf Community face similar obstacles in everyday life such job discrimination, prejudices, and other obstacles. So really, the Deaf experience and the Black experience are more similar then one would think because of the similar challenges they face.

   In the Black community, judgements against blacks are made based on skin color while, judgements against those who are deaf are based on the fact that they are unable to hear. In the Black community, today, an increasing amount of blacks do not view themselves as inferior as or less than whites but instead having more obstacles set in the way of life because of factors such as institutionalized racism. Likewise, among the Deaf community, most people who are deaf do not view themselves as inferior to those who are hearing, instead they see obstacles in their way in society that they have to overcome. That allows them to be a part of a separate empowering culture.  In both cases, popular opinion of society makes it harder for people who are a part of these communities to feel empowered and not less than those who are white or those who are hearing.

The prejudices against Deaf communities are often institutionalized and at times, even hard to recognize. For example, discrimination against those who are deaf are often shown in subtle stereotypes or job refusal. However, in Black communities, racism, although often institutionalized and subtle as well, is extremely obvious, more so than in the Deaf communities. Many people blatantly show prejudice and racism  by calling blacks “nigger” or other discriminatory words. In the Deaf community, there is not one word that carries as much weight or blatant discrimination as those used against blacks. In the novel Passing written by Nella Larsen, the main character Irene Redfield experienced blatant racism with her friend Clare’s husband when asking if her husband knew any black people. “Nothing like that at all, I don’t dislike them. I hate them. And so does Nig, for all she’s trying to turn into one. She wouldn’t have a nigger maid around her for love nor money. Not that I’d want her to. They give me the creeps. The black scrimy devils” (Redfield, 42). Unlike being deaf, quick judgements are based purely on what people see at a first glance, the color of skin. One cannot make a judgement of someone being deaf purely based on appearance alone.

The communal judgement amongst society against these two communities can have harmful effects on the psyche of those who are black or those who are deaf.  Although there is a strong sense of pride in the Deaf community, many people are starting to receive cochlear implants, a surgically implanted electronic device that enables one to hear. In the Black community there are many examples where one who is black wishes they weren’t because of the hardships and prejudices that come with being black. In the novel Passing written by Nella Larsen, main character Irene Redfield experiences a moment where she wishes she were not black because of the hardships and prejudices that accompanied it. “Sitting alone in the quiet living-room in the pleasant fire-light, Irene Redfield wished, for the first time in her life, that she had not been born a Negro. For the first time she suffered and rebelled because she was unable to disregard the burden of race” (Larsen, 105). Similar to Irene Redfield’s experience, the Deaf community’s increase in cochlear implant surgeries exemplifies the effects society’s outlook can have.

Prejudices from society both effect Black and Deaf communities dramatically. Institutionalized obstacles and preconceptions are both things these communities face often, however, there is still the force of empowerment and pride that travels through this community. It brings one back to that concept that those who are “oppressed” or often looked down upon by society and seem to have disadvantages do not want to suddenly become the norm.