Deaf culture is associated to the behaviors, history, art, social beliefs, literary traditions, and shared institutions of people in the community, who use sign language as the main means of communication, due to the effect of deafness. The deaf people have their own habits, common experience, thought pattern, customs, values, and language that identify them as a unique cultural group (Yvette, Vincent, Elaine, 1996). Deafness is viewed by the members of the deaf community as a difference in human experience, but not a disability. The deaf people acquire their culture within the deaf social clubs and schools in which the deaf are united into identifiable communities. Culturally, becoming a deaf can occur to a person at different times. This is because it depends on the circumstances that the person is passing through in life. Deaf individuals can acquire the deaf culture and sign language through attendance at schools, from deaf parents, or acquisition in colleges. The members of the deaf cultural communities do not acquire their cultural identities from their parents. This makes the deaf community to be unusual among the cultural groups.
The deaf culture has different values and beliefs. The deaf communities have positive attitudes towards the deaf and oppose discrimination against the deaf people strongly. Referring to their culture, the deaf people value the use of sign language to exhibit their grammatical conventions. According to the deaf culture, the use of sign language is critical. The culture of the deaf people gives space for rules of etiquette such as when getting information, leave-taking, and getting through signed conversations. The deaf people value their culture. Example; in the U.S the deaf culture is portrayed as collectivist and not individualist. The networking sites and the social media enable the deaf people to find one another and remain intact. Through the social media, the deaf people worldwide have met and interacted. The deaf people have enhanced their communication through the application of technology. This is evident in the United States where the deaf people use video ray services.
Whiteness refers to the sociological, cultural, and historical aspects of the white people. However, critics have dismissed the culture, asserting that the white race is not a cultural or biological formation. White is a strategy that has been used as a way of acquiring an added advantage over other cultures in the society. The whites use whiteness to acquire more advantages than the blacks in the society do. The whites believe that according to their culture, all the whites are entitled to safe neighborhoods, economic security, good schools, and healthy communities. Discrimination is evident in the white culture because they enjoy the privileges at the expense of the color of their skins. In the white culture, they praise freedom, whereas the system that they support favors the rich, regardless of the poor whites and blacks (Stephen Archer, 2010).
The white culture has a misconception of superiority, where they view their issues on universal grounds while the issues of the other communities are viewed as specific. The white community believes that their diversity is their strength. Through this believe, the whites have placed their interests at the center though they claim that the culture is open to all members. Whiteness is considered as the invisible setting of the American life that is unspoken. The white community believes that the non-white communities, especially the non-white Americans want to be like them.
African-American culture refers to the cultural contributions of the African Americans to the culture of the people of America. Ceremonies and rituals were significant in the African culture because the Africans believed that spirits dwelled in the surrounding nature. In the African culture, Africans believed that the spiritual life source existed after death. The ancestors were believed to have a power that would enable them meditate between the living, and the creator. Because of discrimination and slavery in America, the African-American culture developed separately from the European-American culture. The African-American culture is rooted in music, especially the music from West Africa. The Africans had oral traditions that encouraged the use of music in order to teach lessons, relay messages, ease suffering, and pass on messages (Sally, Deborah 2013). This is because; this was the era of slavery in America. The African-American music entered the mainstream American society in the 19th century due to blackface minstrel show. Because of technological innovations, jazz, blues, swing, and ragtime became popular.
Members from other communities need to learn the sign language in order to fit in the deaf culture, and enhance communication between them. The deaf communities rely on the sign language for their communication. Anybody is accepted in the deaf community. Throughout the life cycle of people, many are transformed and join the deaf community. Some people learn the sign language from their parents, friends, schools, and others from the colleges they join. It is crucial to learn about the cultures of different communities in the society. This is because, by learning their cultures, interaction between different members of the society and communities will be enhanced. Every community has its culture that needs to be respected. It is important to learn about different cultures in order to promote respect among different members of the society.
References
Sally Riad, Deborah Jones, (2013) "Invoking Black Athena and its debates: Insights for organization on diversity, race and culture", Journal of Management History, Vol. 19 Iss: 3, pp.394 – 415. Retrieved; http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=1751-1348&volume=19&issue=3&articleid=17091029&show=abstract
Stephen Archer, (2010) "Is leadership doomed to fail?: The white-knuckle ride to a better organizational culture", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 18 Iss: 6, pp.32 – 34. Retrieved; http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0967-0734&volume=18&issue=6&articleid=1876666&show=abstract
Yvette Jeal, Vincent de Paul Roper, Elaine Ansell, (1996) "Deaf people and libraries - should there be special considerations? Part 1: traditional services", New Library World, Vol. 97 Iss: 1, pp.12 – 21. Retrieved; http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0307-4803&volume=97&issue=1&articleid=859926&show=abstract
