Part of the sign for ‘Coronavirus’ in British Sign Language. Photo: NCDHHS.
‘The deaf community has a long, painful history of persecution.’
Breaking the sound barrier: Kate Kernoff on equality for the deaf community
Has anyone noticed? When we watch the Covid-19 updates on the news there is a sign language interpreter in the room when the first ministers of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are speaking. (This is also the case in New Zealand, Australia, and a number of US states; at the memorial of George Floyd there was an interpreter who provided access to all the tributes and prayers – she also brilliantly signed all the hymns and songs.) So why oh why does Boris Johnson not consider it appropriate for his updates? Such exposure would provide easy, clear access to information for the 151,000 people of Britain who use sign language – the majority of whom use it as their first (and sometimes only) language. It would also create a greater awareness of the needs and existence of a large and generally misunderstood minority community.
When viewed as a minority, it is possible to draw parallels between the deaf rights movement and those led by other minorities. The deaf community has a long, painful history of persecution – of being sidelined, prevented from expressing views on how they wish to live; of being discouraged in having pride in their own culture; and of being isolated and different in an environment where another culture is dominant. There have also been historical examples of multiple slaughter. Few people know about deaf history – perhaps because ninety-five per cent of deaf people have hearing parents, so it cannot be passed on through the generations. Suggestions that deaf children should learn their own language, be taught deaf history, or told about deaf heroes, are often met with active discouragement by medical ‘experts’, and many parents follow their guidance.
There are members of the (powerful, hearing) medical fraternity who perceive their goal as the complete eradication of deafness (thus also eradicating its multi-national culture, along with its many sign-languages). This creates a possibility that the deaf community could well be totally obliterated within a generation. Understandably, deaf people feel powerless and unable to control their own destinies. Such an oppressive approach can be likened to other historical periods where members of certain communities were considered worthless and expendable.
Please please, during this time of unrest and uncertainty, when we are grappling with moral problems relating to the inequalities in our society, can you hold in the light members of all minority groups, perhaps particularly those who are not nearly as far ahead along the path to achieving equality, understanding and appreciation within our unequal world.
