Boston Globe

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The first quote deals tremendously with the concept of ethnocentrism; ethnocentrism is the belief in the inherent superiority of one's own culture. This idea is solely responsible for fueling the system of hierarchy engrained in ones head. If one is exposed to a certain way of living, over time, he/she will begin to think that their views on the world are correct, therefore, everyone else should be willing to comply and adhere. Futhermore, this leads to Ethnophobia. Those who are represented by “we” in quote on have taken the autitory difference and used it as a negative way to generalize the whole group. They do not believe they are properly able to be self sufficient on their own due to being deaf. In history, many acts/ procedures have been done in order to “help” them, regardless of their willingness. The attempt to eliminate sign language in American schools for the deaf is perhaps the pivotal event in Deaf history, the controversy has became the topic of many books such Susan Burch's new book Signs of Resistance: American Deaf Cultural History 1900 to 1942. She writes to describe the time when advocates of oral methods, led by Alexander Graham Bell, reached their peak of influence. Alexander Grahm Bell sought to bring “normalization” to everyone; He felt that the deaf needed humanization. He became petitioner of eugenics. In order to help society, he urged for laws “restricting the intermarriage of such persons [deaf]”. Those made laws, defined the definition of normal. They then had the power to set standards and create systems to correct those who weren’t seen as worthy.

Quote 2 offsets the first quote. it awknowledges the difference between the deaf and hearing, however, it is made clear that the systems put in place need change, not the deaf. In history, there have been many misdiagnosis for the deaf. This has caused many of them to endure the suffereing of mental hospitals and islylums. However, with the correct systems in place, deaf people would be placed on equal footing and not be forced to conform to societies wishes. Alfredo Binet (1905) is a prime example of this system put in place. He made a test thats pupose served to “ measure the intellectual capacity of a child who is brought to us in order to know whether he is normal or retarded. We should therefore, study his condition at the time and that only.” However, when deaf took this test, there competence was low, considering it required English. There were no proctors fluent in ASL, therefore, these deaf children were not on an equal playing field and could very well compete if they were.

All in all, these quotes counterbalance one another. Both have switched the cause and effect . Quote 1 believes the deaf need help in order to be able to not disrupt the flow of the system while quote 2 believes the system needs to provide equality and find a place for all, regardless of the difference.

References:

http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=7364

http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Binet/binet1.htm

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