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Society, The World And The R Word Pledge

By William Green


Language is supposed to be beautiful. People should not use it to hurt others with labels. A word becomes offensive when people turn it into negative stereotypes. Especially when it becomes exclusive and demeaning.

There was a time when medical terms where specifically just clinical connotations. Exactly what it should have remained. Then society happened. A medical term was turned into some serious name calling when the ignorance of many people made them refer to children with intellectual disabilities as something out of line. Which then encouraged the rest to take part in the R Word Pledge.

The campaign aims to bring forth awareness in using more respectful language. Retarded is a word with a medical connotation. But then it became something far reaching than just a term used for those who are mentally challenged. It became a way for people to describe others as inadequate or dumb.

Even when it is unintentional, the term is considered derogatory since it will always be associated to children or adults who are intellectually impaired. This is the main reason why the campaign seeks to eliminate it completely, from the vocabularies of society. These individuals are no different from the rest of us.

That those who are disabled mentally should not be treated as any less human than the rest of us. That it is not right for others to make them feel that they have lesser value in humanity. To dispel these negative stereotypes, some groups dedicated themselves to encouraging others into focusing on the talents of individuals.

You can never change the way society see it as. That is why such advocacies exist in the first place. There are ways to avoid it, so that it can be eliminated altogether, as what the campaign aims to achieve. First and foremost, know that people who have disabilities are still people.

By calling them retarded, they draw some sort of analogy that it is socially unacceptable. They too, can have positive contributions to the community. That is why advocacy groups wants people to recognize their skills, talents and contributions. So that others would not have to focus on what they cannot do, or cope up with.

At this point, advocates believes that you should learn how to include all people with disabilities. They are no different from the rest, and should be treated as such. They have as much right and access to everything as any average person would. Participate by not spreading hurt. Do yourself a favor by being morally concerned.

Stop using the word to describe something you do not like. Again, it does not help anybody. It will always entail and go back to people who have a mental condition. Using it casually will still be fallout. Most people do not think of it as hate speech. But that is exactly what it had become. And that is what it feels like to their families and to them, most of all, encouraging concerned individuals in wanting to eliminate it, altogether.




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