Notes On The R Word Pledge

By Lisa Brooks


The R pledge is basically an ongoing campaign that seeks to raise the awareness and consciousness of people in the society about the hurtful and very dehumanizing impacts of using the R letter retarded. It also aims at encouraging citizens of United States to shun using the word retard or any of its forms. The R word pledge is also primarily intended to engage different school organizations as well as communities to pledge their divine support in aiding to build a community of inclusivity and acceptance for everybody.

The movement mainly concentrates on advocating for the usage of language that accommodates and respects the integrity, dignity and value of intellectually impaired persons. Advocates strongly believe that people suffering from cognitive disabilities and any other developmental abnormalities are very much capable of enjoying their lives and experiences. Additionally, they maintain that that causal references to words retard and its various forms make intellectually disable individuals feel intimidated and less human.

It is also important to look into the history of this said pledge or movement. It was basically established in the year 2009 during Special Olympics World Youth Summit at the winter games. It was solely created by the youth suffering from intellectual impairment, as well as those that do not. The main motivation and inspirations of this campaign was literally powered by united passions to promote positive impacts made by intellectually disable persons.

The movement sought to make this world a more acceptable and warm place for all members of the society, regardless of the intellectual capacities. The campaigns are held every first Wednesday of March, and the anniversary is celebrated on 31st of March every year. People from all parts of the globe are usually recommended to be very vocal and active in educating others against using dehumanizing terms and sentiments that may adversely affect certain individuals in society.

Both mentally impaired and straight ones, especially youth, came up with this movement, and hitherto it has reached out to thousands of people, and is received very fondly by the masses. Some people however are unsure of the real intentions of this movement, especially on the issue of if the movement aims at completely banning the word retard.

Many people wonder about where they can find more materials that can help them host R-word events in their areas. The materials can be downloaded from various resource pages, and other merchandise that can be used to host events in the R-word store.

The merchandise that is used in this movement for instance t shirts, bracelets, baseball caps and many others can also be purchased from this official R-word store. Residents are advised to buy these materials as much as possible, to help in spreading the word against retard term.

In conclusion, the most important thing to always remember is that all of us are one people, and therefore every person should and must always come before their state or particular condition, however complicated it could be.




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