Progressives using the "R" word

[tpsbmam]

I HATE the use of the word "retard" or "retarded" on here. I've never stated my position eloquently enough to get my point across. I guess none of us who object to the word since the word since it appears to be a too often accepted put-down around here. This word should be banned on DU just as any other hateful term used against minority groups is banned when it's used to spew hate and venom.

Then my neighbor brought up tonight in a phone call that she had watched The Bonnie Hunt Show this morning and Scrubs actor John McGinley was on talking about his son who has Down's syndrome and she thought what he had to say was so powerful. So I Googled a couple of statements she reported he made today and here is what I found. I hope that those of you who choose to put down a whole group of wonderful people will get what McGinley says so well and at least one or two will finally get how wrong the use of this term is.

Interview with McGinley:
http://tmhfo.blogspot.com/2008/12/that-guy-from-scrubs.html

that guy from Scrubs

Y'all know Dr. Cox, aka John C McGinley, has a son with Down syndrome. No? Well, you do now. He did an interview with Exceptional Parent, a mag for pros and families to the special needs community. Here's my favorite part.


EP: As someone with years of experience and great success in the entertainment industry, how do you feel about the portrayal of individuals with disabilities in television and film?

JCM: Well, I have a pretty strong feeling about that. Mostly as it pertains to kids with Down syndrome because kids with Down syndrome have the physical markers of a person with challenges. I mean, you see some kids with autism, and you wouldn’t know until you saw either their behavior – or something. Well, kids with Down syndrome have markers and so when you see cowards like the “Ben Stillers of the world” producing profoundly mediocre films like Tropic Thunder and dropping the word “retard” 17 times in five minutes… well, I’ll tell you something, when I see Ben, that just makes me want to pick on HIM now. Because there’s no militant arm of the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) that’s going to respond to a transgression—like there is in the Jewish community with the Anti Defamation League. Or, God forbid, you go and say something against African Americans; you’re going to have the NAACP in your kitchen. We don’t have the militant arm at NDSS. We have kids who when THEY go to a protest, it looks funny because they ARE so nice, and you know damn well they would rather have a hug than hold a placard. So it really cuts me to the core. And it feels to me like the perfect storm of cowardice when you pick on people who can’t return serve. So for Ben Stiller—who directed Tropic Thunder—he is just such a punk coward.

EP: So Ben Stiller is not a friend of yours?

JCM: He couldn’t possibly be a friend of mine. Because he worked with the Farrelly brothers—doing Something About Mary—and the Farrelly brothers have championed a lot of special needs causes. So there is no way that you’re not—if you’re Ben stiller—aware that you’re perpetuating a negative stigma and that you’re doing something hurtful. And so while I don’t want to be another actor who’s going to tell somebody how to talk and what’s politically correct and what’s not, if you are aware that you’re hurting either caregivers or the people with Down syndrome, what’s the upside? I don’t like any exclusionary language. I hate it. Because all it does it perpetuate negative stigmas about different groups. And where’s the upside? The upside, I assume, is when people use language like that is that someone is trying to elevate themselves by denigrating whoever the subject is. And it doesn’t work that way. It just makes you a jackass. And I loathe it. I hate bullies and that, to me, is like bully language. I loathe it.

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Kids who advocate for those with intellectual challenges & kids with intellectual challenges were at a Global Youth Activation Summit this past February when Dick Morris said on the O'Reilly Factor: "...what he didn't quite explain to me, and maybe I'm a little retarded about this...." Well, they got active and made a video explaining how the use of that word as a putdown hurts them. And they got an apology out of O'Reilly.

http://community.specialolympics.org/_Youth-Delegates-respond-to-R-Word-used-on-The-Oreilly-Factor/video/518116/82244.html

Youth Delegates respond to "R" Word used on The O'reilly Factor

This video is a representation of the strong feelings presented by the delegates of the Global Youth Activation Summit who are advocating for those people with intellectual disabilities. This video was created in the reaction to the use of the "R" word in Bill O'Reilly's show airing February 9. Since the use of the "R" word was used in a derogatory way without a retaliation of O'Reilly these delegates wanted to voice their sadness in the effort to make their voices heard about ending the use of the "R" word.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-p-shriver/oreilly-and-the-r-word-fa_b_168271.html

There's one mystery that seems common to religions: real love, real truth, real goodness are often revealed by the least among us.

That's the lesson that was very much on display last week in Idaho where the Special Olympics World Games drew over 2,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from almost 100 countries to join together in sport like it ought to be. As always with these games, the astonishing honesty of being that pours out of the athletes changes everything.

One of the most amazing changes of the week took place when a group of young leaders found their power, took on the O'Reilly Factor, and won!

First a little background. Over 120 high school and college-age young people from 22 countries attended the World Games, not to compete but rather to learn from the athletes and then develop their own strategies for fighting intolerance and discrimination. They came in pairs -- one a person with special needs, the other not. And they came because they're fed up with labeling and name calling and the resultant pain and exclusion they see in their schools and communities.

They were inspired by Jenny Newbury and her brother Jason who was born with Down Syndrome. Jenny created the largest volunteer organization at Princeton University where she is a junior. The group organizes an annual Down Syndrome awareness day that draws over 400 volunteers. Jenny wants to expose her classmates who are obsessed with the power of intelligence to the diversity of power. She's spent her whole life watching her brother be humiliated -- to his face and behind his back. At Special Olympics, she and Jason were inspiring others to join her in fighting back.

For days, Jenny and her peers saw athletes shatter expectations with skill and bravery. They met Harun Harun from Afghanistan and watched him and his teammates use agility and enthusiasm to sneak a victory in floor hockey from Team USA. They heard Florence Nabayinda from Uganda describe being treated "like trash" as a child and yet somehow find the guts to not back down. And they met Alexander Rogoff from Russia, who fell and severed his Achilles tendon in his speed skating race, but miraculously got up to finish. Why? "I wanted to do it for my team."

Together, they exuded a spiritual power that was unmistakable. It was as though all of us could identify in some way with them -- could feel a different form of energy, an authenticity that is missing in so much of life. For any of us who might have wondered about our own journey -- wondered if the difficulty of our own lives is too great or if our bravery too limited, the athletes' answer was tangible. Get in the game. Give the race all the energy God has given you. Don't be afraid. Be brave.

In the midst of all this, the young leaders heard that an analyst on Fox's The O'Reilly Factor had once again used language that put all of them down. In a comment about the economic stimulus package, Dick Morris scoffed at Obama saying, "What he didn't quite explain to me -- and maybe I'm a little retarded about this -- is how are you going to get banks to give people car loans when the government is elbowing them aside?"

Actor John C. McGinley from the TV show Scrubs was at the games when all this happened. His son was born with Down Syndrome so he's no stranger to the twin experiences of inspiration at home and rejection in other places. Like the young people, he was disgusted by the casual use of "retarded." The wisdom of the humble was once again ridiculed.

McGinley met with the young leaders to strategize how to respond. And together, they worked through the night, wrote their own press releases, and even made their own video.

Two nights later, Bill O'Reilly -- the fighting tough guy who loathes liberals and their pet causes -- addressed the issue on his show: "Actor John McGinley of the hit show Scrubs and the Special Olympics people contacted us objecting to the word 'retarded...' We understand that word stigmatizes millions of people... we are sensitive to the point. Shouldn't use that word."

Watching O'Reilly may fall short of a divine experience, but to see Jenny and Jason, and all those young people realize their power was an astounding experience. It had begun from below -- from Harun and Florence and Alexander. They came to the Games with no influence or prestige or spin. They had only the raw power of honesty, of bravery, of being real.

But these young people felt that power and they couldn't let it go trampled. The mighty O'Reilly, unlike so many others, got it: stigmatizing people stinks. Words matter. People don't need to scoff at others to make a point. Everyone has a gift and the world would be better off if we recognized it.

Sometimes, the world needs the weak to teach the strong. Sometimes, God hides from the wise what God reveals to the weak.

I wish sometimes were a lot more often.

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Please stop. Please just stop. McGinley said it better than I could -- please take his words to heart and just stop.

[grantcart]

1. Well said and please keep reminding us

[Lost in CT]

2. Why is he picking on Ben Stiller... Tropic Thunder made fun

of Hollywood actors playing retarded charecters...


If he is going to attack anyone it should be Sean Penn, Tom Hanks or Rosie O'Donnell

[leftstreet]

3. The term 'developmentally disabled' was meant to remove the stigma

I don't know anyone in the rehab field who uses the term 'retarded.'

Not that it matters.
If disabled people don't like the term 'retarded' then it shouldn't be used.

[pnwmom]

10. No, people in the field stopped using the term because of all the

negative stigma that it carried.

But hundreds of millions of Americans still remember when the "correct" term was "mentally retarded."

[leftstreet]

12. That's what I mean

That's why they adopted new terms

[Chulanowa]

4. There's a big difference...

Mental handicaps and conditions like Down's Syndrome are just that - medical and psychological conditions caused by various things (some of which we don't know) that are in no way, shape, or form the fault of the person so afflicted.

"Retarded" is, as far as I know, never used as a medical term. Instead it means someone who is so willfully stupid as to boggle the mind. When the term is applied to someone with one of those conditions, it's definitely bigoted and hurtful, as its meaning is, well, an insult implying that the lack of mental functions if the fault of the person so called. But when applied to someone like Boehner or Glenn Beck... it's perfectly appropriate.

I don't use the term myself, because, well, I am uncomfortable with the double association. It's certainly not one to use in polite company. But I don't regard it as an attack on people with mental difficulties, unless spoken directly in reference to them.

[pnwmom]

7. "Mentally retarded" was a term in common use that did NOT mean willfully stupid.

It was more or less used in the same context that "developmentally disabled" is today.

Using the word "retarded" or "retard" as a slap to Boehner is an insult to the developmentally disabled -- just as saying something negative is "gay" is an insult to gay people.

[Chulanowa]

15. Was; But I can see your point

Liek I said, I don't use it either way.

Of course, "idiot" and "moron" uses to both mean the same thing. So how long does a word have to be out of use before considered "okay"?

[pnwmom]

16. I have been wondering exactly the same question.

Because there obviously must be acceptable ways to indicate that an idea is incredibly stupid. How do you know where to draw the line? Personally, I draw it at "retarded" since I remember well when the word denoted a particular group, the "mentally retarded." But that's my own personal opinion.

[jwirr]

14. Doctors still talk about degrees of retardation as a diagnosis.

[pnwmom]

17. Thank you for pointing that out. n/t

[tpsbmam]

27. Mental retardation continues to be used as a diagnostic term.

In the DSM-IV (the diagnostic & statistical manual of mental disorders -- used by everyone in medical, psychiatric, psychology & other professions), for example, the diagnosis is mental retardation and subcategories of mild, moderate, severe, & profound. There is nothing inherently wrong with the terms used in the codes, what becomes obscene are people who take that medical & behavioral diagnosis (it's now broken down into cognitive & behavioral components) and make it a commonly used word in the everyday vernacular that is used as a putdown, one which hurts the group of "retards" who are the unintended recipients of the hurt and damage to their sense of worthiness. And when I see progressives doing it, a group of people who are reportedly more caring & compassionate than the dreaded Republicans, it makes me ill. It puts those who use it into my diminished respect pile and makes them no better than freepers who do this. And, no, I don't have any close relatives with intellectual challenges (well, I do, but that's just called stupidity) but I did work with this population for many years and I've witnessed the hurt. When all of this started (with the introduction of IQ tests) the designations were moron, imbecile & idiot -- we still use those as putdowns but its not offensive to anyone because those words are no longer used as diagnoses.

These people have much to offer us if we'd take the time to get quiet, slow down and listen. I had one young woman sobbing in my office because she just felt that the world moves on around her and doesn't have time for her -- she's too slow and people want to move at a pace she can't keep up with. I realized something after meeting with her once -- I was in a fast-paced, high stress job and got through my day racing from one appointment to the next while also being called to numerous consultations throughout the hospital (level 1 trauma hospital). I realized after meeting with her one say that I was calmer and less stressed out all afternoon. Meeting with her for an hour had forced me to slow down, meet her at a pace that would work for her, and I adjusted my pace. It freaking relaxed me for the entire afternoon! So she most definitely had something very important to give this high-stress, fast paced person. I suspect if I'd taken by BP at those times, it may well have been lowered. She most definitely had something critically important to offer those around her if they'd take the time to slow down and listen and just be with her. I told her all of this and reiterated it a number of times during her hospitalization so she could remember it when she went home (about 2 hours away from the hospital) and so she had a new sense of worthiness.

[Warpy]

5. I don't particularly like the word, but it's far less objectionable

than the language police. Those have ruined more than one discussion board by hijacking the discussion and turning it to which pejoratives were to be approved and which were not and by discouraging posters with good ideas who happened to offend some group or other.

There are a lot of words that offend me on this board. However, I'd rather read the ideas and risk the occasional offense than have it all sanitized into blandness.

[pnwmom]

8. Oh, yeah, it's far less objectionable to insult other DUers or their families

with slurs than to -- horrors -- ask them to reconsider the language they use. Because that makes you a member of the "language police" and that is far more objectionable than any name-calling could be.

:sarcasm:

[Warpy]

9. Nobody has a right to go through life unoffended.

Sorry about that.

[pnwmom]

13. And no thoughtful, caring person would hurl insults mocking innocent people.n/t

[Confusious]

24. That all depends

No thoughtful, caring person would do it INTENTIONALLY. I remember a story about a person in California who thought the reference of "master disk" and "slave disk" was racist. I thought it was stupid. I'm not going to through life walking on glass. I spent my childhood and 3 years of adulthood doing that. I'm not going to spend my life enslaved to your oversensitivity. If you can't handle it, seek help. I know I did.

[Tunkamerica]

21. so you're just asking people to reconsider?

and if they don't?

Retard and retardation are words. People use them. Perhaps they use them in ways that are personally offensive to you. I have been offended by things people say on here as well but never once thought that they should be banned because of it. Raise awareness, sure. Ask people to reconsider, sure. But ban a word?

[Idealism]

6. The "R" word should be stricken from the books.

It is nothing but hurtful and the article is right, there is no one to stick up for these disadvantaged members of society- no national foundation to combat the hurtful musings of actors or entertainers.

[Confusious]

22. What other words does your highness think we should ban?

Slavery? Black? Homo? cracker? yellow? indian?

Where do you stop? when we all start babbling?

[Idealism]

29. Any word used in a highly derogatory manner to demean oneself should not be used.

Homo is a word I would also like to never hear again, there are plenty others.

To make fun of someone for the way they were born is disgusting, no matter who it is and what it is.

[jwirr]

11. Sometimes the world needs the weak to teach the strong. When I

was in college we had a visiting professor from Germany who had lived through WWII and the Hitler years and we were discussing the role of disabled persons in society. I have a child who is developmentally disabled and he knew it so during the discussion he sat beside me for some reason. When I tried to say that my daughter had real value to those around her he added that in the type of society that the Nazis were trying to create the lose of this group of people meant the lose of compassion because they force us to examine their needs in light of their existence. They teach us true compassion.

I also have been disturbed by the use of the word retard as a derogatory insult but I have not responded because I did not think it would do any good. I love DU but in some ways we do not live up to our beliefs.

[pnwmom]

18. Thank you, jwirr, for speaking up this time. I think your post could change a mind or two.

Even if you never know it.

Using the word "retard" as a derogatory insult is the same as using "gay" as a derogatory insult -- those who use the slurs try to pretend that the terms have nothing to do with the developmentally disabled or with gay people. But they're wrong, and the terms (used as a slur) ARE hurtful.

[Confusious]

23. I am sorry about your daughter

but no word is dangerous. Its our actions and how we use them that makes it bad. You can't protect everyone from everything.

[pacalo]

19. Gladly giving a 5th recomend.

[eridani]

20. Agreed. I know some are going to invoke the Language Police specter

--but what is the point of heaping public abuse on people for situations over which they have no control? It's been quite a few years since I found out what "gyp" meant, and so stopped using it. There are lots of other words. Really.

[elocs]

25. As someone with a 30 year old niece with DS, thank you for this OP.

Thank you for also giving me the opportunity to add some posters to my ignore list since by my perspective they certainly deserve to be there and have nothing to say that I would want to read anyways.

[Senator]

26. K&R

[lightningandsnow]

28. Thank you.

:hug: