like many of you, i've been digesting the concept of "Deaf elitism". this is a WHOLE dialogue and what i'm offering here is just a small piece of it. there's a bunch of stuff that i didn't address here, namely how "Deaf elitism" is rooted in white privilege.
this dialogue is heavy, but necessary for our community health. feel free to further this dialogue ❤️
white deaf privilege by david player: whitedeafprivilege.wordpress....
nyle dimarco's interview on what "Deaf elitism" means: / 1315058432622223360
elena ruiz's blog/vlog on "Deaf elitism": www.elenamfruiz.com/2020/10/05...
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[TRANSCRIPT 1/2]
I've been thinking a lot about "Deaf Elitism", which is a hot topic currently. I want to recognize that the topic is incredibly complex, layered, and goes deep. I think we're really just scratching the surface of it right now. What does elitism mean? All those questions. I've been thinking-I've been quiet, but now I have something I'd like to offer to this overall discussion.
And what I'm offering is from my own limited perspective and experiences. And my experiences come with my own privileges. I'm sure that I'm going to get some things wrong. I'll overlook some perspectives, I'm sure. This is just my addition to the overall discussion.
I feel like the root to the topic of "Deaf Elitism", which is so very layered and messy, but the fundamental issue here is, to me... Who had access to language and community their own lives? I don't believe in dividing this in two groups. It's a spectrum. Everything is a spectrum. So, to me, looking at the spectrum- I feel like on one end is the group of deaf people who had access to language-ASL and English. Grew up in the Deaf community and had a sense of belonging. On the other end of this spectrum is deaf people who didn't have the same access growing up. I also recognize that I'm part of this end of the spectrum where I had this access. Which means, in this specific area, I'm very privileged. Very fortunate. And it hurts me to think about, because no one deserves to experience the opposite end of this specific spectrum.
No one- and it's not really about being deaf. It's about being a human being. No human being deserves to grow up feeling like, "I struggle with my own language." "I don't have a sense of community." And then when they grow up and finally find the Deaf community. And they think, "I found MY people..." Well, I know it's complicated because being deaf is just ONE identity. But in that sense, when it comes to your own language. And yet, when those deaf people find a community that they want to belong to- And they feel like they're not welcome, they're excluded, they feel like they're "not Deaf enough"... And they feel like, "Where do I go?" That... is wrong. No one deserves to feel that way. Everyone deserves to feel a sense of belonging. And to have a community. Everyone.
So, really, back to the point-the spectrum between those who had access to language and community and those who didn't... The thing is, that's just one spectrum "line". There are other spectrum "lines". I had this thought of when you take a picture, there are different features, such as brightness, darkness, contrast... Saturation, and so on forth. So when you want to discuss a specific area of privilege, it's like you're moving the contrast "line"up and down. That doesn't affect the other things, just the contrast. You go line by line and adjust according to that specific area of privilege. Altogether that makes the whole picture.
I don't know if that makes sense, but to me, it makes it easier to process this, because... We are complex people. I'm thinking of my own identity, what makes me who I am? If my identity was a picture and I looked at specifically the spectrum of access to language and community, I see that I'm very privileged in that area. I swipe that switch to the far end. In other areas, not so much. The settings are different for each "line".
I'm thinking about the term, "community health", which is what I took away from Elena Ruiz's blog/vlog on this topic. She talked about "community health", and I've been thinking about that a lot, because.. my intention here, where I'm coming from is- I'm part of that tiny population of deaf people who were fortunate enough to have language and community from birth... and that's just WITHIN our community. But when you pull me out of this context and put me in the hearing world, my privileges in that area is gone. Can I communicate and function in the hearing world? Not really. I would be behind, miss things, and be lost. So that's if you place me outside of the community, and within the Deaf community, that's where I have this privilege. But that's a small group of people.
And I do wonder... Is our people a dying group? With today's technology, CRISPR gene editing... What's the future of deaf people? I don't know.
(Transcript continued in comments)