Sign for Cuban (Cuba)...offensive

AquaBlue

AquaBlue

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Last Monday night, during my ASL class, the teacher was reviewing the last chapter of the ABC book. In that final chapter signs for countries were listed. The class went over the signs and as we practiced I noticed that the sign for Cuba was not in the chapter. I asked the teacher to please make the sign for Cuba. He gave me two signs: The b-hand on the forehead and another sign that made me uneasy. This is the sign:

998853cubaSign.gif


The sign represents Cuban rafters at sea. When he first signed it I thought that it was the sign for sea turtle. I was wrong. When he told me what it represented I was shocked. To have a sign that depicts the life and death plight of the Cuban people is questionable. It would be like having a sign that depicts people dying in the Holocost for Jewish, or having a sign depicting slave workers for Africans, or having a sign depicting the 911 victims for Americans.

The sign for Cuban (Cuba) that depicts rafters is just plain wrong and offensive. Please stop using it. Such a sign will draw people away from each other instead of bringing them closer. The former sign (b-hand to forehead) is fine; the latter must be removed, in the view of this Cuban American.

Thank you for your attention and comments.
 
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No i dont like it...kinda offensive. I prefer the sign of C on forehead or fingerspell it...
 
i agree AquaBlue -- i dont like that sign either -- i sign Cuba the way u had mentioned iwth a "B" sign on the forehead or just spell it out -- that sign u have posted, i agree does look like a sign for sea turtle
 
Actually, I've never seen this sign before. I've never even seen any interpreters or teachers use this sign. It's probably something that your teacher made up since no one else has ever seen it. I do know that some people make up signs as a joke. Maybe, this was your teacher's joke.
 
That's really strange then.

I learned that sign in Elementary School for a mainstreamed class.... the teacher used that sign for a sea turtle.
 
Working at the ASL Lab, I never saw this sign for Cuba, except for the open B on the forehead. I agree with you that it seems kind of offensive.
 
That is an quite interesting sign.

I better stick with the sign of using B on the forehead.

Thank you for sharing this with us.. I learn something everyday! :fruit:
 
AquaBlue said:
The sign represents Cuban rafters at sea
Click to expand...

Then tell them to either come to america legaly, or stop coming and the sign may change.
 
Megladon: How many Cubans do you assume arrive to this country legally?

Are you Cuban?

When you think of a Cuban do you picture rafters entering the USA illegally?

Do you think that people dying at sea is a clear and positive sign for that country?

Are the Cuban people worth a more positive and accurate sign?

Should this offensive sign even exist?

Please note that I am a member of a few Deaf forums online and I have posted the same identical post on all of them. Every reply has been the kind that agrees that this sign is just plain wrong. Your comments isolate you Megladon.

Can you describe, with accuracy, the reality of Cuba today? The sign I have noted has nothing to do with US policy or those who come here illegally. Such a sign should (must) represent the whole of a country. Don't you agree?
 
Hmm...to be honest, I've never seen that sign depicted before for Cuba. Nor heard of it as well. In that picture -- that sign looks like a sign for a turtle. That's the sign for it in Australia. I'm not kidding. I'm sure RedRum will reply in agreement....will wait til she sees this and posts. :D
 
AquaBlue said:
Megladon: How many Cubans do you assume arrive to this country legally?

Are you Cuban?

When you think of a Cuban do you picture rafters entering the USA illegally?

Do you think that people dying at sea is a clear and positive sign for that country?

Are the Cuban people worth a more positive and accurate sign?

Should this offensive sign even exist?

Please note that I am a member of a few Deaf forums online and I have posted the same identical post on all of them. Every reply has been the kind that agrees that this sign is just plain wrong. Your comments isolate you Megladon.

Can you describe, with accuracy, the reality of Cuba today? The sign I have noted has nothing to do with US policy or those who come here illegally. Such a sign should (must) represent the whole of a country. Don't you agree?
Click to expand...

How many arive legaly, i would guess to many. I am not from cuba. You honestly dont want to know what i think about when i think about cuba. I think that if hundereds or thousands a year try to sneak into my country by sea then yes its an accurate dipiction of what their countrys sign should be. Can i think of a better sign, hell yea, try this 1 ---> :madfawk: Regardless if my comments isolate me, they are my own, and if that really is the sign, then someone was really on the ball when they made it. Whats the one for mexico? (if cuba is that on, mexico has gotta be good too)
 
I have a friend who's Cuban. I asked him about that sign and he's like, "wtf?" It wasn't because he was offended. It was because it looked stupid.
 
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