can of worms: a need to reframe the campaign

So I found this article very helpful in clearing up the whole 'ban retard' campaign.  It appears that the same movement that took place in Canada some 20+ years ago is FINALLY happening in the US.  It isn't just the word (noun) retard (which is apparently synonymous with moron in some dictionaries) but any and all association with the word.  Those with and without a developmental disability seem to take offense to the word retard being applied to mentally handicapped persons in any way - noun, verb, adverb, adjective, etc.  They want nothing to do with it. 

The campaign appears to imply that it only intends to "banish" the word "retard" as a noun from everyday use.  Their default statement is itself a bit misleading: "I pledge and support the elimination of the derogatory use of the r-word from everyday speech and promote the acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities."  It can safely be assumed this is because of the negative association that is still predominant there with developmentally challenged people in the US, and people who see that and not the rest of it may mistakenly assume it's just the word retard as a noun they are after.  Well, OK - banish away 'retard' but you aren't going to be able to erase widespread use of it any more easily than you could moron or bitch.  It's an interesting tactic but not particularly an effective one.  "Like pouring Listerine over a cancer," comes to mind.  However, you could redefine it, up there with words like bitch and moron and gay and a plethora of other words that once meant one thing but have come to have an altogether different meaning.

Why do I think the campaign is ambiguous?  Well, the Fox article linked above as well as this one I found on the US Special Olympics site state very clearly that the broader purpose is in fact (yay!) to disassociate the word in ALL its forms from being used to refer to handicapped folks (again, YAY!)  This is hugely encouraging, but how many people went and read the article?  There is obviously a deficiency in the way the campaign is being presented since the way many people are interpreting it is that Americans are supposed to stop using the word as a put-down as opposed to removing it from the vocabulary in reference to handicapped citizens.  People are defending their right to use the term 'mentally retarded' and shunning people from using 'retard' though it appears some pretty big hitters have already stepped up to the plate to move ahead: "in 2007 ... the [American Association on Mental Retardation changed its name to the] American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities after its members pleaded for the organization to do so. In another sign that the formal use of the term "mentally retarded" had lost currency, The Associated Press replaced it in its stylebook in 2008 with "mentally disabled.""

By BANNING the word it gives the word power to continue to be an insult in reference to handicapped people. Making it a 'swear' word isn't, in my opinion, the best approach. By REDEFINING the word we will in effect take its use as having power to hurt handicapped people away. Parents, caregivers, doctors, clinicians, the government, and persons with developmental disabilities will need to be the first ones to step up to the plate and demand their sisters, brothers, friends, children and selves not be referred to as "mentally retarded." 

I was really surprised that 'moron' was once used as a medical definition with specific criteria that very closely resemble 'retard' today.  (And for whatever it's worth, yes, doctors, clinicians, the media, and even JFK DID refer to persons with developmental delays as 'retards' and 'retarded.')  I personally had no idea that the etymology would reveal that little tidbit - my only knowledge of the right way to use the word would have been calling a bad driver a moron or referring to my moronic car handle.  ~shrugs~  Kinda like my own kids not knowing that 'retarded' (with whatever clarifying adverbs you choose to employ) was used to describe their Aunty Anne.  When I explained to Wil what they used to use the word 'retarded' for, he kind of looked at me with a look of shock and dismay.  "What?  Really?"  he said.  One generation.  It took ONE generation to outdate the reference and make retarded (affix your chosen adverb) no more an accurate, acceptable, or appropriate word for developmental delays than moronic.  One generation.  Here's the current dictionary definition of moron:

n.
1. A stupid person; a dolt.
2. Psychology A person of mild mental retardation having a mental age of from 7 to 12 years and generally having communication and social skills enabling some degree of academic or vocational education. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.
[From Greek mron, neuter of mros, stupid, foolish.]
mo·ronic (m-rnk, mô-) adj.
mo·roni·cal·ly adv.
moronism, mo·roni·ty (m-rn-t, mô-) n.

That it appears neither anonymous or I was aware of this is telling of where the word 'retard' might be headed, and my heart is rejoicing.  So, as saddened as I am to feel at such odds about a little 6-letter word with an individual who obviously shares with me an intense passion for the rights and feelings of individuals with developmental delays, people in the US like 'anonymous' still holding onto the term "mentally retarded" may soon be put in a position where they have to let go of the term and move forward lest we have to go back and make moron a dirty word, too.  

In my mind, this is all (almost) ancient history.  This is a battle I fought from the time I was a young child until we succeeded in the mid-90s.  In the last decade and a half, we in Canada seem to have already reached the point of denouement, whereas this is still the (very fresh) transitional phase for our neighbours to the south.  Change doesn't happen overnight and of course it will take time - it'll be many years coming before the dictionaries get re-written - but knowing the full scope of the campaign includes ALL forms of the word retard let me be the first to say three cheers for the USA - we eradicated use of the term in Canada, and it can work there too!!!  I'm gonna go join the US movement and sign me the petition, because even if it's not worded very well, the spirit of removing the word 'retard' in all its forms from associations with mentally handicapped people is there, and we all know already I am ALL OVER that.  Woot woot!

Comments

kate said…
I'll sign!

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