The R-Word
Chances are you have definitely heard the r-word being thrown around casually many times in your life. In fact, you were probably the perpetrator on more than one occasion. I myself hear my friends frequently inserting the word into our everyday conversation. The word “retard” or “retarded” is used to indicate that someone is of a low level of intelligence. Teenagers specifically use it as just another synonym for “stupid” or “dumb”. And they think nothing of it. After all, isn’t it just a harmless word?
The r-word has been used as a form of hate speech against people with intellectual disabilities for decades. “Mental retardation” was originally introduced as a medical term in 1961, but is now used as an insult to target the neurodiverse. In 2010, Obama signed Rosa’s Law to officially change “mental retardation” to “intellectual disability” in federal law. This was a big step towards removing the stigma associated with disability. However, people have continued using the term since. In a study by Kantar, it was found that 70% of social media posts towards people with intellectual disabilities are negative in their content, and 60% of these include the r-word. The use of the r-word should not be encouraged as it promotes discrimination against disabled people, especially in the online sphere.
Many believe that using the r-word with their neurotypical friends is not considered an offense, compared to using it toward someone with a disability. Yet even if the r-word is not being used to target a disabled person specifically, it connotes lesser intelligence or stupidity. A common misconception is that all people with intellectual disabilities are less intelligent or “slower” than neurotypical people. However, this is not true. Savant syndrome is a prime example of an intellectual disability not hindering one’s intelligence. A savant is someone with a developmental disorder – such as autism – who possesses extraordinary ability or talent in a certain field, or a far above average intelligence quotient. Even if one is not a savant, it does not mean that they are less intelligent than neurotypical people. Neurodiverse people simply have a different way of thinking, not one that is necessarily better or worse. Therefore, the use of the r-word wrongly implies that the people who were once deemed to be suffering from mental retardation are actually less intelligent than others.
Many argue that the r-word cannot possibly be considered a slur as it does not have the historic weight and context that other slurs do. The r-word has specifically been compared to the n-word to show that the use of the r-word is a lot less severe than that of the n-word. However, no comparison should be made in the first place. It is not fair to compare which group has it worse, or what word is more offensive to say. If a word is offensive, it’s offensive. While the r-word may not hold as much weight in terms of its severity, it should be excluded from everyone’s vocabulary regardless.
