‘Double Whammy’?! Historical Glimpses of Black Deaf Americans

Abstract

Discrimination on account of both one’s hearing status and skin color can be disabling—but it can also be enabling, as I will show in this historical overview on Black deaf Americans. I examine Black deaf Americans as a minority group within a minority past and present, their changing relationship with signed language, and their activism especially with regard to desegregating education. I argue that Black deaf persons have significantly contributed to American culture, although their contributions have gone largely unacknowledged.