Hey SuperFans,
I don’t normally use this forum to express any political, religious or social views, but there’s a movement happening today to “spread the word to end the word”–the R-Word. You can click right here to take the pledge. I’ve also written a short blog explaining my feelings about the word and why it’s so personal to me. Of course, if you’re a SuperFogeys reader, you already know why. Here’s a snippet of my blog:
Language is an every-evolving form of communication. Over time, word meanings can shift and what once was clinical can become derogatory and damaging. This has happened with the R-word.
For those who don’t know: The R-word is “Retard” or “Retarded.”
My daughter Cami has special needs. She has both physical and mental handicaps. She is also beautiful and sweet and perfect. Like so many children and adults like her, her life is hard enough without having to endure name-calling. But, the use of the R-word goes beyond that, doesn’t it? It’s not just a name. We hear the R-word used in casual speech all the time.
“That’s retarded.”
I’ve heard it said so many times in reference to anything from a bad movie to an ugly shirt. The meaning is understood: anything described as “retarded” is bad. But “retarded” is so much more than that… Read the rest right here.
Thanks.
a couple years ago in a store, i said something was retarded without thinking about it. my son, who would have been about 6 at the time, asked what retarded means. i had to stop and think, and tell him it was really not a nice thing for me to have said, and that i would try to do better in the future. then i told him what it really means. and i don’t think i’ve said it since.
trav, that’s awesome. I think we’ve all said it at one time or another, but being able to understand better and move on from using the word is really what this movement is all about. Not scolding people, but just asking them to make a small change. That you go there on your own is impressive.
In principle, I am against any censorship of language at all, especially if it’s mandated by government or some quasi-official entity, like a union or corporation. However, I do recognize that words have power. They have great power to hurt and to heal. They are important, and caring people should always consider that what they say has consequences.
I’m divided on this issue. I think that Rahm Emmanuel was crude and insensitive to have said this word casually in a private meeting, but it’s not right that it should become some kind of cause celebre just because he was Obama’s Chief Of Staff at the time. It was not an official White House statement, and he has a well-deserved reputation for coarse language in private, that everyone attending was quite familiar with. If you accept him, you accept his way of speaking in the work place, or else you make your argument with him personally to amend his phraseology. He’s personally a jerk anyway, by all accounts – whatcha gonna do?
Shall we, in pursuit of political correctness, censor any written work that contains “Retarded” or “Retard” in all circumstances? Like the misguided editors of “Huckleberry Finn” will we excise all reference to it? Like the word “niggardly” shall we refuse to say “retard” when we want to slow something’s growth, for fear of offending ? This isn’t a cut-and-dried issue.
For a short time I was a Special Ed teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. I can tell you that the children classified “trainable mentally retarded” were among the sweetest and most loveable and worthwhile people to know I ever had any contact with. Personally I have always been able to distinguish between that clinical designation and the casual slang of referring to an idea and behavior by otherwise normal individuals as “retarded.”
Where do we begin to prune our discourse? How much pressure do we put on people who say words in a way we don’t like? How much force, social or legal, do we put behind it?
It would be nice to think that there was such a thing as class or good manners anymore, especially on the Internet. However, when you have the anonymity that the Internet provides, thus removing all real social consequences, what are we to do?
For my own web site, I relish the ability to ban people who become raving a$$#013s. Being a private place, legally and in practice, I have no need to respect the First Amendment. So, if someone becomes personal and offensive. I just unapprove them and edit them out of significance for my little corner of the web. But this seems to have broader implications. And I really have no solid, unambiguous answers.
Sorry for the epic, Brock. Just my way of expressing myself.
Warm regards,
JED
JED, I appreciate you sharing your perspective. I’m not for govt. mandated censorship either, though, like you, I think private organizations have a right to allow or not allow what they wish. I honestly don’t see the movement to end the use of the R-word as censorship. It’s a call for sensitivity. A call to make a choice.
I used to think that all political correctness was evil and unnecessary, but now I think that some of it is worthwhile. Since language isn’t static and does evolve, I think it’s right to have an evolving sense of how we use it.
Again, thanks so much for your thoughtful comments. As thou wilt.