The R Word Pledge And The Reasons Of Its Importance

By Douglas Howard


The only campaign that was launched for encouraging people to pledge in stopping the utilization of the word retard. The campaign advocates have said that making use of this term in everyday or in colloquial speech is so much hurtful and will dehumanize the intellectually disabled individuals. Advocates are advocating on the use respectful languages for the sake of the dignity of a person.

The advocates believe as well that the individuals with some disabilities in their cognitive aspect or if they have other developmental disabilities are capable of enjoying the experiences in their lives. Having casual references to this can, for sure, let a certain person feel he or she is being less than human. Thus, this is one of the common reasons why it is very important to have the R word pledge.

Retard would really mean a lot to the disabled persons whenever they hear it, and even to those who really care for them. For them, this means that they are not like those normal ones and are far different from them. And they often think that they are the kinds of people that no one would ever want to be, and thus, making them feel they are being left alone.

All the words do matter if these are being used anytime and anywhere. Scoffing towards the others about a particular topic is really not necessary just for a point to be made. Each of the person has an own gift and one important thing here is recognizing these gifts. It literally means that through this, being better is what them world can surely achieved.

When the word retard is spoken, it can be compared to saying that a certain person is mentally handicapped or stupid. Usually, this term is used to be spoken or stated in the most disrespectful manner. And thus, it simply implies considering stupidity as the main characteristic which a mentally handicapped individual possesses.

There is this belief that the most hurtful thing could be language rather than actions. Most especially if you are already aware about the impact of your oral transgression. Thus, saying that there is no mistake that words do hurt. So if you have been peppering the words either retard or retarded, it means you are also spreading hurt.

Hate speech is a common expression that is termed for this since it is not only hurting those having some developmental disabilities like intellectually but as well as those who are caring for them and supporting them. This can both alienate and exclude them. Some are still believing and continuously applying the traditional rule of hiding away and segregating these people from a society.

Since this has become the casual description for any negativity or flaws, the retarded word may no longer be appropriate for persons having intellectual disabilities. So any use of this term even as slang or may not be intended as being offensive, is still hurtful. It is because it can still be associated with mentally disabled persons.

Many people still are not being able to understand how they have been hurting others because of hate. One possible reason is they have not yet realized they hate. However, they should know that sometimes, dehumanize, mock them, and take a preemptive dismissal, these are already considered as hate. These are much more hateful than racism, sexism, etc.




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