Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Notes On The R Word Pledge

By Lisa Brooks


The R-word advocacy or rather pledge, can be simply defined as a national program or campaign that was incepted and practiced in United States, and it aims at typically discouraging people from using any offensive term, or any term that may evoke the emotions of certain individuals. The movement thereby seeks to encourage people to refrain from using dehumanizing terms or sentiments, for instance retard. The R word pledge therefore focuses on ensuring all people feel appreciated and accepted in the society.

This advocacy forum hence is dedicated to ensuring that all and sundry respect all the members of community, their intellectual, personal or developmental problems notwithstanding. The advocates behind this movement also hold very strong opinions that mentally impaired persons should not be sidelined or overlooked under whatever circumstances, since it is not by their fault that they are the way they are, but is a natural force or fate.

It is also important to look into the history of this said pledge or movement. It was basically established in the year 2009 during Special Olympics World Youth Summit at the winter games. It was solely created by the youth suffering from intellectual impairment, as well as those that do not. The main motivation and inspirations of this campaign was literally powered by united passions to promote positive impacts made by intellectually disable persons.

The history of this advocacy mission dates back in 2009, during the World games at the Special Olympics Globe Youths Summit, in 2009. Since then, the movement has been holding annual celebrations on the very first Wednesday of March, each year.

This campaign is exponentially important, and has made great impacts since it was incepted in 2009. Respectful language that is inclusive of all persons is very essential to this movement, especially for dignity as well as humanity of persons having intellectual disabilities. Nevertheless, some people in the society do not fully recognize the demeaning, dehumanizing, and hurtful effects the word retard poses to intellectually disable people. It is now time to give some credence and attention to the minority, and revamp the consciousness of societal members to the hurting effects of using retard.

The movement strives to let people know that referring to someone as a retard is not funny at all, and is not a joke. It is conversely, very harmful and offensive to many a people. It should therefore, never be used especially for derogatory reasons.

The general aim of the initiative is to let the society know that using this word is highly offensive and wrong, and so people can think way before they speak and also realize their words possess a lot of power. The campaign encourages people to have conversations about using the said term, so that they realize whoever is listening whenever they use the R word, and also who they might be hurting.

Regardless of the fact that we all have our rights and freedoms of free speech, we also are entitled to petition choice of the language we use very carefully, so that we do not end up demeaning certain characters in the society in our utterances or even actions. Every person is very special in their own way, and therefore a person ought to come first at all times irrespective of their abnormalities and other conditions.




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