SWA 9

In the essay, “The ‘Retarded’ Renaissance” Lynn Harris discusses how the word “retarded” has become a common phrase in today’s society. In the article, Harris quotes Gail Williamson the executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Los Angeles and mother of a working actor with Down syndrome who is admit that, “it is hate speech.” Gail has a strong argument, because the word is a derogatory statement that describes some person with a mental or physical disability that they were born with. There are many words in today’s society that are not socially acceptable because they are very offensive and derogatory and Gail, like many others, feels that “retarded or retard” has more than enough warrant to be added to this list. Later in Harris’s article the president of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, Ari Ne’eman, put it into perspective when he says, “if we can’t reach a point where people with disabilities have the same basic rights to respect in public discourse that any other minority community really demands and is generally afforded, then we’re never going to be able to address what is very real and tangible discrimination against people with disabilities.”

On the contrary, many people in today’s society feel that the word “retard and retarded” is not derogatory, speaking about people with disabilities, but instead taking the place of words such as “lame”, “loser” or “stupid.” The word is very common is today’s society, especially in the media (mainly movies). Ben Stiller’s recent movie “Tropic Thunder” has caused much controversy on this “hate speech vs. irony” debate because of its use of continual use of the word throughout the movie. Also, in 2000 NBC gave the nod for Tina Fey to do the “Sully-and Denise-from-Boston” sketch on SNL where the phrase, “wicked retahd” was used continuously. In most cases, the word retarded is not meant in a derogatory term, making fun of people with disabilities, but has adapted a new non- offensive meaning to a younger generation.