Unkept weeds gently whip each of your fingers as you stroke the grounds’ dusk lit mane. Snap. The wind vibrates through your hair elegantly stimulating stray strands to stir with exhilarating purpose. Snap. Fresh fragrance of oak and pine fill your nostrils with each inhale bringing forth a delightful tingle at the tip of your tongue. Snap. You are not alone. Several feet ahead, another sits restless under the apricot glow of twilight. Aware of the endless trail of crimson insects dangerously marching toward an ominous lump, they are reluctant to manipulate the field beneath them. Snap. The chilling breeze haphazardly heaves chunks of unwanted fringe into their eyes as they aimlessly swat toward the unsolicited attention of a hornet. Snap. An unpleasant stench invades their nose instantly igniting recollection of a distressing memory. Snap. Both of you have expertly captured each experience as if you are a limited-edition Kodak ready to snapshot the headlining image to your personal magazine of existence. Each picture represents a truth, but neither truth explains the whole. “Intersectionality can be understood as a camera lens approach to the world because identities are contextual, complex, both deeply rooted and emerging, layered, and intermeshed. A camera lens moves across the landscape of our experiences, zooming in, zooming out, panning, becoming still, rapidly moving forward, slowly recollecting the past” (Ruiz-Williams, Burke, Chong, & Chainarong, 2016, p. 264).

Ruiz-Williams, Burke, Chong, and Chainarong beautifully illustrate four different realities sustained while attending Gallaudet University–each shown through a different lens of oppression. Each contributor demonstrates the uniqueness of one’s experience as they are inherently forced to assimilate toward the ‘normalized’ Deaf way. A constant battle between tradition, morality and the recognition of intersectionality leaves the reader in question of their own innate privileges. As I vulnerably analyze my long list of fundamental advantages, I aim to construct my ultimate intentions as an agency of change.

As a woman, I myself have been a constant victim of subservience. However, Trina Grillo, author of “Anti-Essentialism and Intersectionality: Tools to Dismantle the Master’s House,” expertly protests that “In every set of categories there is not only subordination, but also its counterpart, privilege” (1995, p. 18). It would be impossible to temporarily strip away fragments of one’s identity in an effort to accurately depict any seemingly synonymous experience. I am not just a woman. I am a pansexual, middle-class, white, American, hearing (with an addition of nearly an infinite more identities) woman who experiences a unique perspective of reality. To compare my understanding of a ‘woman’s oppression’ with that of any other woman who automatically has had a different lens of perception, could very well question the legitimacy of my truth. However, similar to popularized stigma stating that life should focus on the journey not the destination – so should the truth. There is no solid destination leading to truth– only a collection of experiences meant to enlighten the journey.

While my understanding of any d/Deaf experience is significantly limited, my journey to appreciate it has led me to recognize the privilege I share with many in the dominant society. Moreover, that privilege has clouded my perspective on the value of equity over equality and the significant role it plays in the ultimate paradigm of imbalance. Prior to my education and experience within Deaf communities, I often ignorantly assumed that oralistic practices were helpful adaptations that equally assisted both hearing and deaf communities. After further research and self-realization, I have become more aware that the blatant injustice society has expertly masked as ‘equality,’ has merely been a one-sided benefit that further reinforces an ‘acceptable’ normalcy. Writer of “Deaf-Blindness: An Emerging Culture,” Roderick J. Macdonald, explains that “…for centuries deaf people were forced to read lips and learn speech, thus adapting their communication to the needs of hearing people rather than the needs of deaf people” (1996, p. 502). While I once would have praised the invention of specialized gloves that interpret signed language into an oral equivalent, I now recognize the discriminatory effort of hearing culture wishing to reinforce their own privilege.

While I continue to explore the forever expanding archive of cultures within Deaf communities, I have taken a keen interest regarding the structure of educational institutions – the ultimate war between equity and equality. As, I, myself, have plans of involvement within such establishments, I yield it essential to obtain a better understanding of the expectations meant to be achieved; furthermore, how those expectations have the potential to limit those without proper equity. “…institutions may provide “reasonable accommodations,” but … students must put in unreasonable effort” (Clark, H. D., 2007). Undoubtably, the push for equality in many aspects of society has warped the understanding of what that prospect truly entails. While I once preached in equal opportunity, I now recognize the disproportion. Yes, a single human given two-thousand dollars a month to pay their bills would survive, but a family of six given an equal amount would not last two weeks. If all students are given the same exam written in a dominant language, the student fluent in that language would most likely pass – but what about the one who is not? Applying ‘unreasonable effort’ toward an opportunity deemed ‘equal’ is the norm for many, if not most, marginalized communities in educational environments.

Circling back to the recognition of intersectionality as it relates to privilege and equity, it is concerning to discover the segregation and lack of acceptance regarding multiple identities within the diverse communities of Deaf individuals. After meeting an African American Deaf woman in Hollywood, California– I came to understand that she had hatred toward Deaf communities (as a whole) and much preferred to associate with hearing people. She explained that the Deaf communities she encountered had all previously discriminated against her due to the color of her skin. Due to my lack of fluency in ASL (at that time), I was not able to properly ask her to elaborate her experience; however, my curiosity has always been peeked. After coming across an article written by Heather D. Clark, named “Signing and Signifyin’: Negotiating Deaf and African American Identities,” I was captivated by the experience of some Deaf African Americans and their struggle to fit into a community/culture that outwardly segregates them. Interestingly enough, Clark states, “while in the mainstream Deaf community language may be accessible…there are other intangible yet vital aspects of the life experiences of African Americans that are not being expressed,” (2007, p. 122). At a crossroads, some Deaf African American’s feel trapped between two cultures unwilling to provide them with the proper tools to fully find and accept an identity. On one side, they are deprived access to involuntary information (capital) from an inaccessible language that help establish sets of beliefs (and ultimately, a culture), and on the other, they lack the ability to express beliefs (and a culture) without access to the appropriate jargon their accessible language provides.

Furthermore, educational environments are deliberately depriving deaf students understanding of cultural roots by not providing proper access to lingual backgrounds. “For example, programs for Hispanic deaf students still do not include an opportunity for them to develop basic literacy in Spanish. For these students, despite skill in ASL and English, not knowing Spanish can create linguistic and cultural barriers at home and among extended family members and can contribute to estrangement from cultural and family heritages,” reports Mathew Call in his article entry named “See Me Through the Triplicity of My World” (2011, p. 17). As I recognize the privilege I have in relation to my language and culture, it is next to impossible to imagine my identity (or lack thereof) without those essential snaps of reality that have formed a crucial part of my existence.

“The single story creates stereotypes” (TED, 2009). The overwhelming information that encompasses the multiple truths of life is a massive and everlasting journey. The understanding of an individual/communities’ struggles comes from the recognition of intersectionality as it relates to multiple perceptions of reality. Singularly defining an experience seen through a limited lens, results in an illegitimate truth that reinforces the privileges of a dominant culture and society.  Without a critical understanding of one’s own advantages and its contrasting yang of injustice, the line between equity and equality will never be forged. Snap.

 

 

 

References

Call, M. (2011). See me through the triplicity of my world ethical considerations in            language choices. In K. Christensen (Ed.), Ethical consideration in educating children who are deaf or hard of hearing (1^st ed., pp. 14-37). Gallaudet University          Press.

Clark, H. D. (2007). Signing and signifyin’: Negotiating deaf and african american             identities. Ethnic Studies Review, 30(1/2), 115-124.

Clark, J. L. (2010). Deaf, blind, and certainly deserving of a college degree. The   Chronicle of Higher Education, 56(30).

Gertz, G. (2008). Dysconscious audism: A theoretical proposition. In H-D. L.         Bauman (Ed.), Open your eyes: Deaf studies talking (pp. 219-234).

University of Minnesota Press.      https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csun/detail.action?docID=346040

Grillo, T. (1995). Anti-essentialism and intersectionality: Tools to dismantle the master’s house. Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, 10(1), 16-30.       https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38MC6W

Macdonald, R. J. (1996). Deaf-blindness: An emerging culture?. In C. J. Erting, R. C.      Johnson, D. L. Smith, & B. D. Snider (Eds.), The deaf way: Perspectives from the     international conference on deaf culture (pp. 496-503). Gallaudet University      Press.

Ruiz-Williams, E., Burke, M., Chong, V. Y., & Chainarong, N. (2016). “My deaf is not       your deaf”: Realizing intersectional realities at gallaudet university. In M. Friedner         & A. Kusters (Eds.), It’s a small world: International deaf spaces and encounters.           (pp. 262-273). Gallaudet University Press. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com

TED. (2009, October 07). The danger of a single story | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie       [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg

Articles