5a Train Go Sorry

I am a hearing student assigned the book "Train Go Sorry" in my Introduction to Humanities Class. Other readings assigned in this class include several essays from the book "My California". In both books, we examined the cultures of California that form a microcosm of the U. S. In this essay, I will incorporate 4 required questions.



In the book one of the deaf students that the author follows is James. One day he ventures to Rikers Island Prison to visit his brother. The journey begins with a bus ride, once at the prison complex James takes his cue as to what to do next by watching the other visitors. After many procedural nuances, i.e. first check in, waiting, second check in, more waiting, James is finally told that his brother is not at the prison that particular day, he is in court. What goes through James' mind is the phrase "train go sorry". When deaf people miss out on an opportunity or have connections that have been missed i.e. a bus, this is their phrase. In American Sign Language (ASL), it is the equivalent of the English language phrase "you missed the boat". James knew what days and hours he could visit the prison, what he was not aware of, were court dates. James will eventually connect with his brother on another day.



The author of the book is part of the hearing community, however, she has deep ties to the Lexington School for the Deaf. Her grandfather attended the school, both parents worked there, her father eventually became superintendent and for the first seven years of her life her family lived at the school. The many staff members were her extended family. She feels a deep connection and understanding of the deaf culture as well as the realization that it was not the community she could be a member of even though she desired to be. As she states "cultural identity is fixed" (pg 17) and this was not the culture she was part of.



James came to Lexington as a fourteen year old pre-freshman. It is now his graduation day. He has gone from a truant student to the honor roll. He was co-captain of the wrestling team, and the President of the Black Culture Club. He lived a life on the edge with a single struggling mother trying to survive, he knows he could have fallen off the edge anytime, yet his own pride and Lexington kept him on track. In the last chapter of the book, as he accepts his diploma he takes a bow and a flash from a camera allows him to see his family cheering and he smiles.

The five facts that I feel everyone should know regarding the Deaf Culture or American Sign Language are that sign language was not accepted as a legitimate language until the 1950's. Prior to that it was considered an inferior language and a sloppy english language substitute, and people who promoted oralism, felt that signing actually brought people to the level of animals. There is more to sign language than the hand movements, grammer is included in body language as well, this includes but is not limited to, eye contact, pacing, facial movements, lips, brows and the placement of the hands on the body. The equivalent of clapping hands is to raise the arms, with fingers splayed, and oscillate the wrists. There is one passage in the book that sum's up ASL beautifully "Its very existence is a testament to people's will to communicate. It pays tribute to our determination to make connections in the face of incredible odds" (page 274), last Deafness is a cultural identity not a disease and while over two million Americans have hearing impairments of those only two hundred thousand are culturally deaf (at the time the book was written in 1994).