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I think it's really cool that Black American Sign Language is in some ways more conservative than the kind of #ASL you learn at Gallaudet University.
Other ASL varieties use a lot of handshapes influenced by English spelling. But black ASL has kept more of the original handshapes, because black #deaf schools didn't get hit so hard by the oralist reformers who made war on ASL.
You can see BASL in action at http://www.csdhh.org/black-asl
If you'd like to see how ASL has changed over time, here's an excerpt from "Preservation of the Sign Language", a historic speech given in 1913 by George W. Veditz, the president of the National Association of the Deaf, in response to the oralist movement.
BTW, I am neither deaf nor American. If anyone can point me to accounts that educate people about ASL or deaf culture here on Fedi, I would be grateful. This is something I miss from Twitter.
Also, apologies for not being able to supply a reference to back up what I said about BASL. It is common knowledge among ASL researchers and they were the ones who told me.