"How did Alexander Grahm Bell almost succeed in wiping out Deaf Culture?"
Ummm.. WOW! I always thought that Alexander Grahm Bell was an advocate for the deaf, and I just assumed he was all in favor of Sign Language! Even today I have heard about the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf. If he is a leading advocate for this association, why would he think that "deafness was a terrible curse... a pathological aberration [that] perpetuated negative genetic traits."
I always assumed that because Alexander Grahm Bell was such an advocate for the Deaf, that he also loved and embraced Sign Language. It is sad that he tried to ban marriage between two Deaf people, and in addition to this he also tried to take away their only comfortable means of communication.
This chapter was a real eye opener, I am so surprised and saddened that someone with so much esteem and power could try to use their power to pretty much wipe out ASL and the Deaf community.
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