An Unfortunate Choice of Words
Posted by Danielle Bean in News on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 10:00 AM
Over the weekend, I blogged at our sister site, NCRegister.com, about Jennifer Aniston’s recent use of the “R” word.
I was intrigued by the discussion that followed my comments there.
I normally scoff at most forms of “political correctness” but I have to admit that the word retard, even when used in a joking or self-deprecating way—really does bother me.
This actually isn’t about Jennifer Aniston. I am fairly certain that the famous actress harbors no ill will toward children with down syndrome or any other mental disability.
But I do worry about the fact that many people, in the name of opposing “political correctness,” are willing to defend use of the word “retard” as a pejorative.
Really? I find myself thinking. Is that the kind of thinking you want to align yourself with?
Words are powerful things. They can shape hearts and minds without our ever intending them to. The meaning of words changes over time, and I don’t think it’s too much to ask that our common language reflect a certain amount of sensitivity to others.
In the comments at NCRegister, Leticia Velasquez, mom of Christina—a beautiful young lady with down syndrome—weighed in as follows:
The Nazis began their campaign of extermination by renaming Jews as vermin and the handicapped as useless eaters. It all began with words ... I don’t mind the use of the word retarded to describe a mentally handicapped person like my daughter. She IS retarded, though only slightly, she can read and goes to school with her typical peers. We’re not being politically correct, we are trying to change attitudes regarding a population who is literally slated for destruction. ... However, Aniston was using the word ‘retard’ in a pejorative way. Like our president was when he was trying to be self deprecating about his bowling, comparing it to the Special Olympics. Our children deserve more respect than to be used for poorly conceived humor.
She makes a great point, both about the power of words and the need to be especially sensitive when choosing words to describe a vulnerable class of human beings—90% of whom are killed in the womb because they are deemed “defective” and “worthless.”
It can’t think about those statistics without wanting to cry.
Call me a PC liberal, but I won’t stand for anyone’s right to refer to another human being as a “retard.” I won’t allow anyone to speak disrespectfully about God’s precious children—those few survivors who live as daily witnesses to the intrinsic value and infinite beauty of all human life.
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