Never. It is never okay to say the word retarded.
The true definition according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is:
slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development or academic progress
The Urban Dictionary definition is:
to be traded twice; it means very stupid, but in a more hilarious, weird and/or spontaneous way
There are so many reason why this is so wrong. It is extremely offensive. People argue that when you say retarded, it isn't the originally meaning anymore. They say that it isn't offensive and say it half the time to piss off the people who try to be politically correct. They say they would never actually call someone with a mental/learning/physical disability reatrded. Some people even say it is okay for them to say because they have family members with disabilities. Even though they are members of their own flesh and blood, they don't take offensive to it so they can say it.
That isn't how this should work. I don't care if someone in your family has disabilities. I don't care if you have never talked to someone with a disability in your life. Don't say the word retarded. You never know what is going on in someone's life and how they could take offensive to the word.
I made the mistake once when I was 13 years old to say something was retarded to my friend who has an older sister with down syndrome. Her face went white and you could tell she was becoming enraged. Instead of lashing out, she was calmed and explained to me what she heard when something is called retarded.
When you are saying the word retarded, you are saying that people with disabilities are dumb. You are saying they amusing for your own pleasure and entertainment. You are saying they are unnecessary. You are saying they are stupid.
This needs to end. It is an epidemic of language that needs to come to a halt. This word takes on much more of a meaning to those truly affected by it. You could be walking down the street and someone with a disability could hear you say something is retarded in passing. What if those roles were reversed? How would you feel?
For me, it shouldn't have taken an explanation from my friend 7 years ago for me to stop saying retarded. It shouldn't have been in my vocabulary to start. You shouldn't have to meet an outstanding, smart, kind-hearted and strong man or woman with a disability in order to feel like it is wrong to say retarded.
Whoever said the saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" lied. Words hurt. Words stay in the back of your head forever. Words leave wounds no one can see.
Join me and thousands of others to sign the pledge here to end the R-word.
