How using outdated language is damaging to you and society

It’s inevitable. At some point in your life you have heard or will hear someone say jokingly: “That’s retarded.” Friends call their friends the R-word to highlight stupidity. A dreaded homework assignment, a disliked celebrity or even an unwanted task are just a few things I have heard referred to as the R-word here on campus. Not only is the serious lack of concern toward the alternate, and much more regarded, meaning of the word troubling in that it’s still used frequently at North Dakota State, but it’s reflective of a social culture that encourages ignorance.

Why, when attacking those with mental disabilities is such a cultural taboo, do some NDSU students feel as if they can continue to use the R-word jokingly? 

Nationwide campaigns, such as “Spread the Word to End the Word,” have made sure that the problematic messages insinuated when using the R-word are extremely well known. Such messages include the idea that by referring to an individual as the R-word you are suggesting their attitudes, personality or frame of mind are ineligible, thereby perpetuating beliefs that individuals who may have in the past been referred to as “medically retarded” are similarly unworthy.

The question thus remains: Why, when attacking those with mental disabilities is such a cultural taboo, do some NDSU students feel as if they can continue to use the R-word jokingly? In my conversations with several students on campus, there seems to be a belief that using the R-word is acceptable if no harm is meant by it. One such individual, who wishes to remain anonymous, remarked to me: “When I’m talking to my friends, I don’t mean anything bad by it. It’s just how we talk to each other. It has nothing to do with people who are mentally disabled.” While this denial of malice is widespread, it is not acceptable.

So, do yourself, your friends and your NDSU community a favor and stop the use of the R-word. No excuses. 

In the history of this country we have seen vast changes in what language is culturally appropriate. Similar to ways individuals who carried on using the word “faggot” far past when it was considered tolerable, people who carry on using offensive language because they “don’t mean anything bad by it” are rarely looked on positively by future generations.

Regardless of meaning, the fact is that there are individuals who use the R-word in hopes of expressing hatred toward individuals who are mentally disabled. By using the word, even in what may seem like an innocent context, you are grouped with those individuals who bear hate in their hearts.

There are two essential steps to be taken in order to stop the usage of this word: first, do not use the R-word under any circumstances, and secondly, don’t allow those around you to say the word either. Although it may seem awkward to tell a friend that they’re using offensive language, I can guarantee it will be far more awkward when outsiders perceive you as complacent in unacceptable behavior.

Truly, there does not exist a context in which calling someone or something the R-word is either right or the most apt word in a situation. Stopping hate in its tracks is by far a more noble cause than avoiding confrontation. So, do yourself, your friends and your NDSU community a favor and stop the use of the R-word. No excuses.