Writing in the [Toronto] Canada Free Press, Diane Grover explains why she wishes people would stop using the ‘R-word’ as an insult. An excerpt:

You see, it is personal. I spent many dark nights, crying over the words they are laughing about. They haunted me by day, and put fear into me by night. I had to learn their true meaning, and push forward to accept them. And I did! And so, when they use them so casually, to describe how they feel about people they do not respect, well, truly, it hurts my mama’s heart. It took me a long time to understand what these words would mean to my daughter. Yes, she is slow to learn. But she is more than that. She is a champion. She is a star. She is my daughter. If they want to know why those words hurt me, all they have to do is meet her, and they would understand. She is more than her diagnosis.

… My daughter is my hero! Please, think of her the next time you almost say those words. And on her behalf, don’t!

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 13th, 2010 at 11:41 pm and is filed under language, Obama administration, public attitudes, R-word. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.