X-Envelope-to: DEAF-L@SIUCVMB.BITNET
X-VMS-To: IN%"DEAF-L%SIUCVMB.BITNET@vaxf.colorado.edu"
X-VMS-Cc: CAREY_B
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.deaf-l
Date:         Wed, 2 Sep 1992 17:08:00 -0700
From:         "Bryce Carey, CNS,
              Admin. Sys. Group" <CAREY_B@CUBLDR.COLORADO.EDU>
Subject:      Re: D/deaf

From:   carey_b@cubldr.colorado.edu

Annie says:

>Hmmm.. my undergrad professor John Walter, then faculty in the Afro-Am
>department at Smith, seemed to use the B/b distinction, so I have
>followed suit.  .... stuff deleted...

There is nothing wrong with following the protocols that
various people use to refer to themselves when speaking of them.
In fact, it is mere courtesy. But it is an error to assume that
a cultural usage is universal.

>As I understand it, "black" and "African-American" mean different
>things.  There are plenty of black people who are not
>African-American.  Among them are Atlantic coast Nicaraguans and black
>South Africans, for example.  At any rate, this is all tangential to
>my main point that the Deaf/deaf distinction exists beyond deaf-l and
>has meaning for many people.  My understanding is that this is not
>limited to pretentious ones.

Likewise, there are MANY different levels of education and language/
cultural sophistication among people who do not hear well. But you
are correct, deaf-l is not the only place this distinction is made.
(Heavy Sigh)

>"Christian," "Jew," and "Methodist" are all capitalized.  Yet "pagan"
>is not.  If that doesn't imply that some religions are recognized, and
>others not recognized, by somebody who is writing grammar books
>somewhere, what explains the difference?  It is not just old
>holdover-- Unitarian Universalists are pretty new on the scene, and
>they get capitalized.


Well, correct me if I am wrong, but 'pagan' is about as distinctive
and denominational a term as 'gentile'. I'm not aware one
goes around capitalizing 'Gentile' and attributing a creed to it.
All the examples you gave definitely identify a particular set of
beliefs, yet 'paganism' can range from no belief in god all the way
to the people next door who happen not to go to one's own church  and
are therefore suspect heathens. The term 'heathen' is not normally
capitalized.

Indeed, the intent of the D/deaf distinction is an attempt to
identify people who belong to a select (and I might add, socially
insular) cultural group that communicates mainly thru sign language.
It seems to me that the proper nomenclature for such a group SHOULD
denominate their most distinctive marking, namely the use of
sign as a primary mode of communication.

It is ridiculous for people such as David Windley to call himself
'Deaf' but he has no trouble calling himself a 'Sign Language
Interpreter'.

>Anyway, here's another good cap/nocap distinction, which is an
>unpronounceable distinction: the difference between "catholic" and
>"Catholic."  Maybe I should have just mentioned that one at the
>beginning of this whole business instead!

Actually, the way some people carry on about vetting people for their
lineage purity as deaf users of ASL, the distinction between D/deaf
does take on a certain resemblance to an inquisition.

>Cheers,
>Annie :^)
>(annie@psyche.mit.edu)

Hip-Hip HOOORAAYYYY!

:-)  -Bryce
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU