What made me come up with my for the BBCA Spread the Word to End the Word campaign? I truly love words. And words can be amazingly powerful weapons. When used to hurt, words can easily be deadly. And when used to help or heal, words are equally, if not, more powerful.
So, in this case we'll focus on the word retarded and all its derivatives. When used in reference to one’s own foibles, foolishness or error, malice is obviously not intended, but the malice is there none the less. No matter how the word is used the derogatory meaning is always abundantly clear.
I truly believe the word should not be used by anyone in civilized society because you are quite literally singling out, and labeling a minority, who, by virtue of being who they are, have no viable way to defend themselves. As the19th century Danish philosopher, Kierkegaard once said, "If you label me, you negate me."
And when in this enlightened age is it really in any ones best interest to use this word? I would never, ever, even consider banning the use of the word. What I am suggesting is that having the common sense and common decency, I believe we were all born with, to stop using the word.
The reality is that the word has no other use than to label and degrade a group of human beings that already have more hurdles, obstacles, barriers, fear and stigma to overcome than any one who is normal will ever have to endure.
To tell you the truth, I'd much rather not be labeled at all, and being labeled that is bad, but much worse is it to be labeled ignorant. Why you ask? Because being that is not a choice. Being ignorant is a choice. It just means that you choose to be far too lazy to change. How do you like that for a label?
To see the campaign click: We R
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