OK, all that "Children of a Lesser God" stuff.
But when I see someone who is demonstrably different, I don't say, gesture, or do anything to draw attention to their differentness. Common courtesy, IMHO.
But there is a P.C. quality to the nonnegotiable demand that deaf people are different and apart, and prefer it that way.
Here's a story, in 1919, at the worst of the "Black Sox" baseball scandal, as a lighter tale emerged:
Boston had a deaf-mute pitcher named Dummy Taylor, who thought it was perfectly safe to tell the umpire exactly what he thought of him, using his fingers.
But the umpire, whose wife was deaf, understood sign language too, and had Taylor tossed out of the game.
Have the deaf always been this airtight closed community?
You said -- "But when I see someone who is demonstrably different, I don't say, gesture, or do anything to draw attention to their differentness. Common courtesy, IMHO."
Well, I would say that's true for most handicaps. It's respectful to have that kind of attitude. However, the way some people handle it with handicaps, it can be embarassing for the handicapped person. It's like something doesn't exist -- even though it does.
But -- for the deaf -- it's different. This is something that puts them into a completely different culture. It produces different ways of even thinking about their *very existence*. They perceive their environment around them in completely different ways that the hearing person does. It's a *different world* for them -- than it is for you, a hearing person. That produces the *different culture* for them.
Deaf people do not think the way that you do. They do not perceive things the way you do. They do not react to things the way you do. They filter everything through different mechanisms than you do. They co-exist in this culture, but they are not of it.
You also said -- "But there is a P.C. quality to the nonnegotiable demand that deaf people are different and apart, and prefer it that way."
Perhaps it seems that way to you. However, this *difference* and the fact that they exist in a different culture -- predates anything having to do with "political correctness." It's not the same thing.
It's simply a recognition of things being different and thus -- we realize that we're dealing with a *different group* of people. They're still "people" of course -- but they are not going to think the same way you do or comprehend things in the same manner as you do.
You also ask -- "Have the deaf always been this airtight closed community?"
I would say yes, whenever they've had a chance to function together, as a group. Yes, they've always been "this airtight closed community".
If you're a hearing person, you're always "suspect" to them. There's a general distrust of hearing people. However, if you've ever grown up in a deaf family -- there is no distrust of you, even if you are hearing. It's an odd thing.
Regards,
Star Traveler