Ridiculous to use the 'R' word
My name is Grace Kurtz and I am a senior at Whitefish High School. I’ll be writing a regular column for the Pilot that focuses on issues facing students, the high school and campus life.
For my first column, with insight from my 16-year-old sister Abi, who is a person with Down Syndrome, we offer this perspective on why the word “retard” should be eliminated from our daily language.
You may not mean any direct harm when you say “Oh, that’s so retarded” or “What a retard,” but here's the deal: The “R” word is incredibly hurtful, regardless of your intentions.
Retard means “to slow up especially by preventing or hindering advancement or accomplishment.” Synonyms include broken, helpless, slow, incapable and stupid. No person should ever be described in this way.
Imagine if one part of you, such as your eye color, was repeatedly made fun of. Like if blue eyes suddenly become the new derogatory slander. Seems irrational, harmful, and outrageous right?
A person’s eye color, the same as a person’s individual cognitive or physical ability, is only one aspect of who they are as a person. Labeling someone as retarded, even as a joke, further ignites the idea that people with diverse abilities need to be something different than they are to be valued.
When I ask people not to say the R word, I occasionally get the eye roll and the “Oh no, not another politically correct trend” or “I have my right to freedom of speech.”
Withholding from saying the R word goes beyond offending and being politically correct. Using the word retard puts limits and restraints on over 650 million people worldwide that are developmentally or physically challenged.
Diversity in abilities can happen through random genetics occurrences, war, accidents, abuse, age and many other unforeseen and uncontrollable events. The R word traps people in stereotypes that become the true encumbrance on their lives.
For all the brothers, sisters and family members of those with diverse abilities my admiration goes out to you. From personal experience I know what a sucker punch to the gut it feels like when I hear someone say “Oh that’s so retarded.”
As siblings, we are witnesses to a host of unique circumstances. We see the stares, the smirks, the grimaces. We know the doctors’ offices like the back of hands, the IV’s, the X-rays, the physical therapist, respiratory specialists, and social workers all implying that our sibling is not good enough.
Despite all of that, we also know the heart soaring feeling of watching first steps, first readings, and the first time finding a friend.
By eliminating the R word from your language you have a greater opportunity to form a connection with over 650 million people and their families. Why not harness that incredible power of language you possess and use it for something world changing rather than destructive?
The next time you mistakenly are about to degrade by saying the word retard, think of the qualities that make you a unique individual. Think better of yourself. It is so r…. ridiculous, to use the word retard. Respect yourself and others.