Going to school at Troy High is amazing. There are so many classes to choose from, great teachers, and above all, we rank extremely high in terms of college readiness. Our school also has an excellent graduation rate. Despite all this, we still are insensitive enough to call each other retards?
To start off with, this word is politically incorrect and extremely derogatory. It is offensive to anyone with a mental disability and should never be used. Crystal, from Stanford CA says that using the word implicates "that the only characteristic of mentally handicapped individuals is their stupidity" (R Word|Spread the Word to End the Word). What she is saying is very accurate to what I have seen. Many people who see someone they know make some sort of mistake will instantly resort to calling them the R word. Why do we have to use this word? You could say something else to them. Better yet, you could just be nice and accept that everyone makes mistakes.
Okay, I know what some of you are thinking. You say, "We are just joking around!" Or "It's okay, were friends". You think that because you know someone, or are acquainted with someone, you can just use this word? Just saying it to someone leaves that person feeling bad, and what about the mentally disabled person around the corner who hears you? Do you think he or she won't be offended? Now you say, "that will never happen to me". Well, keep it up, and you may find out you were wrong.
Another thing this word does is take away a sense of belonging. In Mairs piece, Disability, She talks about many instances of times when she felt she was was left out because of her disability. For example, she angered and confused when she finds out the reason people with disabilities aren't used in television commercials. The people who tell her this say that they don't want " to give people the idea that [their] product is just for the handicapped"(Mairs). Despite this logic being anything but accurate, it is downright offensive. They are just masking the real reason they won't let disabled persons on commercials: they don't think they belong. While Mairs has multiple sclerosis, the same idea applies to people who are mentally handicapped. When we use the R word, we are telling people who are like this that we don't like them, that they are so different that we can't even call them by their name.
So change it. We can all stop this cruelty by just stopping the use of that word. Just accepting people for who they are. Just being nice to each other.
To start off with, this word is politically incorrect and extremely derogatory. It is offensive to anyone with a mental disability and should never be used. Crystal, from Stanford CA says that using the word implicates "that the only characteristic of mentally handicapped individuals is their stupidity" (R Word|Spread the Word to End the Word). What she is saying is very accurate to what I have seen. Many people who see someone they know make some sort of mistake will instantly resort to calling them the R word. Why do we have to use this word? You could say something else to them. Better yet, you could just be nice and accept that everyone makes mistakes.
Okay, I know what some of you are thinking. You say, "We are just joking around!" Or "It's okay, were friends". You think that because you know someone, or are acquainted with someone, you can just use this word? Just saying it to someone leaves that person feeling bad, and what about the mentally disabled person around the corner who hears you? Do you think he or she won't be offended? Now you say, "that will never happen to me". Well, keep it up, and you may find out you were wrong.
Another thing this word does is take away a sense of belonging. In Mairs piece, Disability, She talks about many instances of times when she felt she was was left out because of her disability. For example, she angered and confused when she finds out the reason people with disabilities aren't used in television commercials. The people who tell her this say that they don't want " to give people the idea that [their] product is just for the handicapped"(Mairs). Despite this logic being anything but accurate, it is downright offensive. They are just masking the real reason they won't let disabled persons on commercials: they don't think they belong. While Mairs has multiple sclerosis, the same idea applies to people who are mentally handicapped. When we use the R word, we are telling people who are like this that we don't like them, that they are so different that we can't even call them by their name.
So change it. We can all stop this cruelty by just stopping the use of that word. Just accepting people for who they are. Just being nice to each other.
I enjoyed this post a lot! I agree with everything you said. I like the way you linked something we've all said or seen happening to Nancy Mairs's piece.
ReplyDeleteI love this post! It's so true that saying retard or any variation of the word is just insensitive and should be put to a stop. Great job voicing your opinion!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate you discussing this. It is absolutely appalling to me that a word originally used to diagnose the degree of mental ability has evolved into such an unnecessary insult. They way you explained it was incorrect to use it in a derogatory manner was very successful.
ReplyDeleteThis is an extraordinary post! I agree with your viewpoint on that word and you linked it to Mairs' piece well.
ReplyDelete