The Special Olympics has teamed up with Santa Barbara nonprofit PathPoint to help ban use of the word “retarded.” The two organizations were hosts to a rally in Santa Barbara March 5 to kick off their initiative.
Quickly gaining momentum, the campaign aims to end inappropriate use of the “r-word” against people with disabilities in sports and the rest of day-to-day life.
“Name-calling is plain wrong,” said Alana Walczak, vice president and director of PathPoint Santa Barbara. “Using the ‘r-word’ is a form of hate speech, which cultivates discrimination, abuse, negative stereotypes, disenfranchisement, and even violence.”
The campaign was originally spearheaded by the Special Olympics in 2008 and has gained national acceptance. Across the country, 500,000 pledges have signed the initiative since its inception.
This article appears in Mar 27 – Apr 3, 2014.
