[nfbwatlk] Activists want world to stop using the 'R' word; Campaign deems term offensive and derogatory

[Kaye Kipp]

I agree with you 100 percent.  Changing the word isn't going to change an 
attitude.  No matter what one calls a disability, the attitude comes across.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mary Ellen" <gabias at telus.net>
To: <gasbedard at videotron.ca>; <list at cfb.ca>; "'NFB of Washington Talk 
Mailing List'" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2011 5:39 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Activists want world to stop using the 'R' 
word;Campaign deems term offensive and derogatory


> Thanks to Gaston for forwarding the following article.  Though it doesn't
> deal directly with blindness, you can see from my comments following the
> article why I think it's relevant to this list.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gaston Bedard [mailto:gasbedard at videotron.ca]
> Sent: May 26, 2011 1:43 PM
> Subject: Activists want world to stop using the 'R' word; Campaign deems
> term offensive and derogatory
>
>
>
> Activists want world to stop using the 'R' word; Campaign deems term
> offensive and derogatory
>
> Frank Appleyard
> Ottawa Citizen , May 26, 2011
>
> Activists calling for the eradication of a word that they call "hurtful" 
> and
> "dehumanizing" may have little love for it -but they would prefer if you
> refrain from calling it "retarded."
>
> "Retard" -an epithet common to schoolyards and workplaces across North
> America -is being targeted for eradication by the Special Olympics in a
> campaign called Spread the Word to End the Word.
>
> The campaign seeks to remove the R-word from English vernacular, calling 
> it
> offensive and derogatory to people with intellectual disabilities. Some
> describe "retard" as a lazy but innocent substitute for "stupid" or 
> "dumb,"
> but advocates for the disabled say that the word is as hurtful as any 
> racial
> slur.
>
> "There's so much negative meaning and stereotyping at-tached to the word,
> that we basically need to eradicate its use," said Michael Bach, the
> executive vice-president of the Canadian Association for Community Living.
>
> Bach said the word has been under fire for decades, since it was 
> established
> as a medical term. Today, the phrase "retarded" has fallen out of favour
> with the medical community, which tends to refer instead to intellectual 
> or
> developmental disabilities.
>
> "What the word says is that these people are somehow less than human or 
> that
> they're a group to be targeted and to be demeaned," Bach said. "When you 
> use
> that word it defines so clearly a boundary between people with 
> intellectual
> disabilities and the rest of humanity."
>
> Bach said that plans are in the works for a made-in-Canada campaign
> mirroring the efforts of the Special Olympics, targeting the use of word
> among youth, media and government.
>
> The U.S. campaign to strike the word from our collective vocabulary is
> backed by the NBA and some of its most prominent players, as well as 
> Lauren
> Potter, star of the hit TV show Glee.
>
> Shana Poplack, the Canada Research Chair in Linguistics and a professor at
> the University of Ottawa, said this attempt at rewriting the English
> language holds promise.
>
> Poplack said that the use and meaning of "retard" has transformed since 
> its
> introduction. "The word has become semantically bleached, so really none 
> of
> the original meaning is retained," she said. "I wonder if the younger
> generation even knows what the original meaning was?"
>
>
> (End of article. My comments follow.)
>
> The problem isn't with the word.  The problem is that many really do 
> believe
> people with intellectual disabilities truly are less valuable human 
> beings.
> That's a horrible and inaccurate belief, but changing the words used to
> discuss intellectual disabilities will not change that underlying belief. 
> I
> remember when "retarded" was a new term, so much nicer than idiot, 
> imbecile,
> or moron.  These people are retarded, which means slowed down or delayed.
> Retarded was so much nicer and would change attitudes.  It wasn't long
> before "RE-tard" became a playground insult.  Why?  Because our society
> places such unreasonably high value on intellectual prowess that those who
> lack it aren't respected.  I've been taught some of the most valuable life
> lessons I've ever learned by men and women who couldn't even take, much 
> less
> excel at, an IQ test.  Call them imbeciles (which used to be the medical
> term), call them severely retarded (which also used to be the medical 
> term),
> or call them people with intellectual disabilities, (which seems to be the
> current term.)  Whatever you call them, the new term will take on the same
> pejorative meaning as all the previous terms unless the underlying value
> system changes.
>
> I don't like "people first" language because I believe it reinforces
> stereotypes, despite the claim of proponents that it will do the opposite.
> In our case, The problem isn't with the word "blind," the problem is with
> what people think about blindness.  By dancing around the word, we give
> people the notion that our situation is so distasteful that it shouldn't 
> be
> mentioned directly in polite society.  In Victorian England, women didn't
> have legs, they had limbs.  I'd rather change the meaning of the word
> "blind" in people's minds than change the word.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbwatlk mailing list
> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nfbwatlk:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbwatlk_nfbnet.org/kkipp123%40msn.com
>
>
> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus 
> signature database 6156 (20110526) __________
>
> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
>
> http://www.eset.com
>
>
> 


__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6156 (20110526) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com