Op-ed: ‘Let’s be respectful’
July 7th, 2008Writing in the Idaho Statesman, Sara Mitton takes issue with the casual and derogatory use of the word “retarded.”
It indicates a lack of respect and is as degrading as the word “nigger.”
… It’s time for this to stop — now more than ever. Idaho will open our doors next year to 60,000 people from all over the world for the 2009 Special Olympics Winter World Games. People will travel to Idaho expecting the welcoming environment we promised. Our state will be on a worldwide stage. How will our guests feel if they hear us use “retard” in casual conversation?
… Please join me and others across the world in reinforcing the message that it’s not acceptable to laugh at the expense of others who are different, ever. It’s time to accept them as part of our society and remove the word “retard” from our vocabulary. Period.
Mitton is a board member for the Treasure Valley Down Syndrome Association.
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August 15th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Its’ a world where it is still okay to publicly degrade people who are fat and people who have mental retardation. TBI or ABI are, although cognitive disabilities, different in that the world at large does not typically view folks who have either TBI or ABI as okay to make fun of.
While your points are valid insofar as people should develop tougher skin and so on … the reality is that people with mental retardation have endured so many abuses (please research the history of mental retardation before assuming you know anything about it) that the continued, albeit subliminal, endorsement of degrading people with mental retardation perpetuates dehumanization of same. Dehumanization leads to a range of abusive actions.
Do you know, not just to say hello to, but really know anyone with mental retardation? Do you know what many folks who lived in institutions endured? Do you know what people go through on a day to day basis? On the bus? At work? In their neighborhoods?
August 8th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
There are many words that, in a perfect world, would be removed from the popular vocabulary. These include “slang” in all groups that make up the population of our Nation. No matter what “group” or “category” you identify with there are words that are used by members of that group, that are “accepted” by the group. God forbid that someone outside of that group use the word, then there is hell to pay. I guess I am doomed, being a gay man with a disability, and having many friends who are Jewish, Black, who have differing physical and cognative abilities than I do, a sister with CP, a mother with a TBI, a deceased fater who had a prosthetic leg, WOW- I had better never leave my home in fear that someone might say “crip”, “Fag”, or some other “bad word” in front of me, Please….. get a tougher skin and fight for what is important. Educate those around you. When you hear a word you don’t like, address it then and there with the person. For God’s sake, don’t keep quiet, then go back to your computer and bitch about it to people that can not make a difference in the thinking of the person who first used the offensive word in your presence.
Life as an adult in America (no matter what your precieved ability level) is not going to be like grade school. Not all of us will be liked by our coworkers, not all of us will receive a Valentines Day card from a neighbor, not all of us will get a ribbon just for participating. There are going to be times that a person is singled out, left out, in the minority, that’s life. If we were all the same, life would be boring as hell. Let’s focus and “be the change you want to see in the world”.