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The following is an excerpt from the Disability Scoop article, “The Resurgence of Disabled ‘R-Word’ Alarms,” which details Special Olympics’ work to stop the use of the R-word and the recent rise in use of the term.
Earlier this month, the New York Times said I mentioned Former President Donald Trump described Vice President Kamala Harris as “retarded” during a meeting with donors. The term has also gained traction on social media. And in a recent episode of the FX show “English Teacher,” two teachers decided that their students “weren’t awake anymore,” noting that things had “switched back” to the point where they were “saying the ‘n’ word again.”
“The resurgence of the ‘R’ word, especially online, is more than just troubling — it’s a painful reminder of our society’s painful history of discrimination against people with disabilities,” said Katie Ness, CEO of The Arc of the United States. “This word is not just offensive. It is a degrading remnant of a past that we have worked tirelessly to overcome.
Between 2009 and 2019, Special Olympics’ Spread the Word to End the Word campaign urged people to stop using the R-word. More than 780,000 people have pledged online to “support eliminating the derogatory use of the ‘r’ word from everyday discourse and promoting acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities” as part of the effort.
The campaign was so effective that Special Olympics Its messages have evolved In 2019 to focus on inclusion in general rather than the word specifically. Now, however, the organization said that the most visited page on its website is One focuses on the r-word They are once again rethinking their approach.
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