(September 23, 2016 at 6:33 am)Firefighter01 Wrote: Is it too PC now to think that certain mere words can offend and should be avoided to placate the minorities?emphasis mine.
I don't think so. Some people think that words don't hurt people and we should not be dictated to by anyone else trying to tell us what we can and cannot say. I agree that our freedom of speech should not be restrained, unless it can be shown that others have suffered some sort of harm.
Examples of disability slurs that offend me are retard, fucktard, and lame. They harm me because my feelings are hurt as I have kids that have mental and physical disabilities. To say that retard means slow and lame means feeble doesn't make me feel any better, especially when the intent is obvious. These are words that have been used to vilify people with intellectual disabilities.
I would appreciate your thoughts, thanks.
Totally agree with you on this. There are over 300,000 words in the English language and people choose that one? When I hear people using the word retard or any form of it, it pisses me off and I tell them why. Then out come the excuses:
Oh it wasn't directed at your kid, so what's the harm?
Or my personal favorite:
It means slow. That's all I was saying.
Nope, bullshit. Sorry, offenders, you don't get a free pass to think that I'll excuse you for using such a hateful word. The intent matters. If you call someone a nasty name, your intent is all too clear. What gets me even more is that the people using that particular word know that I have a daughter with Down syndrome. So when they say that word, they fail miserably to think how would they feel if their child had some form of MR and they knew people knew that but those people used the word anyway. Unless someone has a family member with a mental disorder, then they have no clue. And if they do have a family member with a mental disorder and they choose to use that word anyway, then shame on them for enabling the stereotype to continue.
It hurts. It just hurts. It's insensitive, rude, ignorant and just shouldn't be said. Period.
Disclaimer: I am only responsible for what I say, not what you choose to understand.
