Writing in Salon.com, Lynn Harris says the campaign by the Little People of America against the word “midget” is not an attempt at censorship but rather a bid for public sensitivity and respect.

Prompting the group’s effort was an episode of Donald Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” last April in which contestants created “Jesse James Dirty With Midgets,” a detergent commercial featuring little people.

On the show, celebrity contestant Jesse James assured the audience that actors with dwarfism would not mind being the butt of the joke. “[Little people] know that people point and laugh at them and they are comfortable within themselves and they have fun right back,” he said.

LPA advocates say mockery and bias against people with dwarfism will not disappear until dwarfs are portrayed realistically and respectfully in pop culture.

Earlier posts here and here.

See earlier story: We wish to welcome you to Munchkin Land — USA Today. Some of the original Munchkins from the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” said they didn’t mind being called midgets.

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