Manos, Historia e Identidad: La Historia Detr谩s de la Lengua de Signos Americana para Personas Negras y la Indemnizaci贸n
Campus y Cultura
Por: Daniel Espinosa Santillana
Foto: @sou.spanish on Instagram
A primera vista, podr铆a parecer solo una noche cultural m谩s en el campus. Pero en realidad, este encuentro abre la puerta a una historia compleja donde se cruzan el amor, la discriminaci贸n, el lenguaje y la resistencia. Para entenderlo mejor, hay que mirar tanto la pel铆cula como el contexto hist贸rico que la rodea.
Compensation, dirigida por Zeinabu Irene Davis, es una obra pionera del cine independiente estadounidense que retrata con sensibilidad la vida de personas afroamericanas sordas a lo largo del siglo XX. La pel铆cula presenta dos historias paralelas ambientadas en Chicago: una en la d茅cada de 1910 y otra ochenta a帽os despu茅s. En ambas, Michelle A. Banks y John Earl Jelks interpretan a parejas que viven distintas formas de amor y lucha: una costurera educada y un migrante analfabeta en la primera 茅poca, y una artista gr谩fica y un bibliotecario en la segunda.
M谩s all谩 de sus historias rom谩nticas, la pel铆cula se destaca por su forma de contar. Davis combina fotograf铆a de archivo, una banda sonora original que mezcla ragtime con percusi贸n africana, y una edici贸n po茅tica que entrelaza ambas l铆neas temporales. El resultado es una narrativa visual que explora c贸mo las fuerzas sociales y los prejuicios afectan el amor, la identidad y la posibilidad de ser visto y comprendido.
Pero detr谩s de estas historias tambi茅n hay una realidad hist贸rica m谩s amplia: la evoluci贸n del lenguaje de se帽as y el impacto del racismo y la segregaci贸n en la educaci贸n de personas sordas.
Durante los siglos XVIII y XIX, existi贸 lo que muchos consideran la 鈥淓dad de Oro鈥 de la educaci贸n para personas sordas, cuando el lenguaje de se帽as era ampliamente utilizado en las escuelas. Sin embargo, todo cambi贸 con el Congreso de Mil谩n de 1880, un evento que redefini贸 la educaci贸n sorda a nivel mundial.
El Congreso de Mil谩n, oficialmente el Segundo Congreso Internacional sobre la Educaci贸n de los Sordos, fue celebrado del 6 al 11 de septiembre de 1880 en Italia. A pesar de su nombre, fue el primer gran encuentro internacional de educadores de personas sordas. Sus resoluciones marcaron un antes y un despu茅s: se declar贸 la superioridad del m茅todo oral sobre el uso de la lengua de se帽as, promoviendo su prohibici贸n en las escuelas. Entre sus resoluciones principales se afirmaba que la articulaci贸n oral era superior a los signos para integrar a las personas sordas a la sociedad, y que el uso del lenguaje de se帽as da帽aba el desarrollo del habla y la claridad del pensamiento. Como resultado, muchas escuelas en Europa y Estados Unidos adoptaron el oralismo como 煤nico m茅todo educativo, eliminando el lenguaje de se帽as de las aulas.
Las consecuencias fueron profundas. Muchos estudiantes sordos perdieron acceso a su lengua natural, y al mismo tiempo disminuy贸 la presencia de maestros, escritores, artistas y profesionales sordos dentro de sus propias comunidades. Este periodo es frecuentemente recordado como una etapa de p茅rdida cultural y exclusi贸n educativa.
Sin embargo, en medio de este cambio, otro fen贸meno ocurri贸 en Estados Unidos: la segregaci贸n racial tambi茅n moldeaba el sistema educativo. Mientras las escuelas para estudiantes blancos sordos prohib铆an el uso de se帽as, muchas escuelas residenciales para estudiantes negros sordos, frecuentemente con menos recursos y poca supervisi贸n, se convirtieron en espacios donde el lenguaje de se帽as sobrevivi贸 y se transmiti贸 de generaci贸n en generaci贸n.
De esta realidad naci贸 lo que hoy se conoce como Black ASL. M谩s que una variante ling眉铆stica, es una expresi贸n cultural que refleja la historia de comunidades afroamericanas sordas que, enfrentando discriminaci贸n doble por raza y por discapacidad, preservaron y desarrollaron su propia forma de comunicaci贸n dentro de sistemas que intentaban uniformar o eliminar su lenguaje.
Con el paso del tiempo, el impacto del Congreso de Mil谩n fue ampliamente cuestionado. En 2010, durante el 21st International Congress on Education of the Deaf en Vancouver, Canad谩, se emiti贸 una disculpa formal reconociendo que la prohibici贸n del lenguaje de se帽as represent贸 una forma de discriminaci贸n y una violaci贸n de derechos humanos.
Hoy, eventos como el de 91视频 permiten volver a abrir estas conversaciones desde una perspectiva m谩s consciente. Bajo la coordinaci贸n de Raquel Am茅zquita, encargada del Club de ASL, este encuentro busca no solo educar sobre una variante ling眉铆stica, sino honrar la historia de la comunidad sorda afroamericana. Compensation no solo cuenta historias de amor entre personas sordas afroamericanas; tambi茅n muestra c贸mo el lenguaje, la clase social, la educaci贸n y la raza se entrelazan en experiencias humanas profundamente complejas.
“El lenguaje nunca es solo comunicaci贸n: es memoria, identidad y supervivencia”
Al final, esta noche de cine y di谩logo no se trata 煤nicamente de ver una pel铆cula. Se trata de reconocer que detr谩s del lenguaje de se帽as hay una historia de resistencia cultural, de comunidades que preservaron su identidad en medio de pol铆ticas qu intentaron borrarla, y de un lenguaje que sigue siendo, hasta hoy, una forma viva de historia.
Hands, History, and Identity: The Story Behind Black ASL and Compensation
Campus & Culture
By: Daniel Espinosa
Photo: @sou.spanish on Instagram
At first glance, it might seem like just another cultural event on campus. But in reality, this gathering opens the door to a complex story where love, discrimination, language, and resistance intersect. To better understand it, one must consider both the film and the historical context surrounding it.
Compensation, directed by Zeinabu Irene Davis, is a pioneering work of American independent cinema that sensitively portrays the lives of deaf African Americans throughout the 20th century. The film presents two parallel stories set in Chicago: one in the 1910s and another eighty years later. In both, Michelle A. Banks and John Earl Jelks play couples experiencing different forms of love and struggle: an educated seamstress and an illiterate migrant in the first era, and a graphic artist and a librarian in the second. Beyond its romantic stories, the film stands out for its storytelling style. Davis combines archival footage, an original soundtrack that blends ragtime with African percussion, and poetic editing that interweaves the two timelines. The result is a visual narrative that explores how social forces and prejudice affect love, identity, and the possibility of being seen and understood. But behind these stories lies a broader historical reality: the evolution of sign language and the impact of racism and segregation on the education of deaf people.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, there was what many consider the 鈥淕olden Age鈥 of education for the deaf, when sign language was widely used in schools. However, everything changed with the 1880 Milan Congress, an event that redefined deaf education worldwide.
The Milan Congress, officially the Second International Congress on the Education of the Deaf, was held from September 6 to 11, 1880, in Italy. Despite its name, it was the first major international gathering of educators of the deaf. Its resolutions marked a turning point: the superiority of the oral method over the use of sign language was declared, promoting its prohibition in schools. Among its main resolutions, it was asserted that oral articulation was superior to signs for integrating deaf people into society, and that the use of sign language hindered speech development and clarity of thought. As a result, many schools in Europe and the United States adopted oralism as the sole educational method, eliminating sign language from classrooms.
The consequences were profound. Many deaf students lost access to their natural language, and at the same time, the presence of deaf teachers, writers, artists, and professionals within their own communities declined. This period is often remembered as a time of cultural loss and educational exclusion.
However, amid this shift, another phenomenon occurred in the United States: racial segregation was also shaping the educational system. While schools for white deaf students prohibited the use of sign language, many residential schools for Black deaf students often with fewer resources and little supervision became spaces where sign language survived and was passed down from generation to generation.
From this reality emerged what is now known as Black ASL. More than a linguistic variant, it is a cultural expression that reflects the history of African American Deaf communities who, facing double discrimination based on race and disability, preserved and developed their own form of communication within systems that sought to standardize or eliminate their language.
Over time, the impact of the Milan Congress came under widespread scrutiny. In 2010, during the 21st International Congress on Education of the Deaf in Vancouver, Canada, a formal apology was issued acknowledging that the ban on sign language constituted a form of discrimination and a violation of human rights.
Today, events like the one at 91视频 allow us to reopen these conversations from a more informed perspective. Coordinated by Raquel Am茅zquita, head of the ASL Club, this gathering aims not only to educate about a linguistic variant but also to honor the history of the African American Deaf community. Compensation not only tells stories of love among African American Deaf people; it also shows how language, social class, education, and race intertwine in deeply complex human experiences.
鈥淟anguage is never just communication; it is memory, identity, and survival.鈥
Ultimately, this evening of film and dialogue is not just about watching a movie. It is about recognizing that behind sign language lies a history of cultural resistance, of communities that preserved their identity amid policies that sought to erase it, and of a language that remains, to this day, a living form of history.
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