Essay About The Word Retard

What’s so wrong about the word “retard”? Joseph Franklin would say,“ it means that the rest of you are excluding us from your group. We are something that is not like you and something that none of you would ever want to be. We are something outside the "in" group. We are someone that is not your kind. I want you to know that it hurts to be left out here, alone.” Franklin has Down syndrome. The 30 year old who serves as a Global Messenger for the Special Olympics, has struggled with the public’s perception that his intellectual disability hinders him from living a normal life. Franklin is an advocate for the website titled, “R-Word, spread the word to end the word”, where over 500,000 people have signed a petition to end the use of the word “retard”. That word has taken on a new interpretation from its original use in the 15th century, where during that time it was used commonly as a verb and not a hurtful slur as it is today. The “r-word” has transformed to a slang word used to demean others while mostly hurting people like Franklin. Using the word “retard” in colloquial and everyday life is
So why is it so hard for people to stop using it? For example, Christina Gleason, a mother living with Asperger's syndrome, said in a letter to those using the slur, “They’re not just words. They are charged words with a real emotional tie for some people” (An Open Letter to People Who Use the Word Retarded – For National Anti-Bullying Month).
In 2008, the film “Tropical Thunder", marketed as a satire about Hollywood actors and the movie industry in general, contained scenes promoting the idea that a "retard" is funny. This instigated the motive behind the campaign “Spread the Word to End the Word” that was established a year after the film’s