I learned a lot yesterday. I wish all of it was good.
I hesitate to post about it, since it's so hard not to sound preachy. I'll try not to cross the line.
Here goes...
Contrary to the beliefs of the people who cling so hard to their use of "retard", I don't advocate against the use of the word from some lofty perch where idealists rest between crusades to control the word and shore up for the next round of "yer so butthurt" or "you crybaby liberal" complaining.
I don't have delusions or plans to inflict my agenda on unwilling people, depriving them of their claimed God-and-County-given right to say whatever they want to say. I'm not telling you WHAT to think, I'm just asking you TO think before you speak.
I come from the trenches of seeing beautiful, loving people marginalized and turned into a punchline. I've heard the taunts, and I've seen the wounds. For all the people who say others have to just get a backbone and stop being wimps, I challenge you to make it through the day in the place of one of the people you're putting down. Good luck with that. They have spines of steel.
When challenged to look my child in the eye and call him that name after claiming the high ground for using it, people seem to panic. I can't tell if it's a sudden attack of awareness or fear they'd have to squint with their surviving eye to get away when I was done with them.
"Oh, I didn't mean it THAT way!" or "It's a word that also means ________, so I don't get the problem with using it." or "I'm just JOKING!"
Okay, that's true. Words are what we make them.
Words can be roses or they can be weapons. They can be knives or bandages, smiles or fists, as you choose.
Words can be flung like the stuff in the monkey cage, stinking up your target for your own amusement. Just know you can't fling the feces without getting some on your hands.
Check yourself in the mirror.
Be careful who you touch.
I hesitate to post about it, since it's so hard not to sound preachy. I'll try not to cross the line.
Here goes...
Contrary to the beliefs of the people who cling so hard to their use of "retard", I don't advocate against the use of the word from some lofty perch where idealists rest between crusades to control the word and shore up for the next round of "yer so butthurt" or "you crybaby liberal" complaining.
I don't have delusions or plans to inflict my agenda on unwilling people, depriving them of their claimed God-and-County-given right to say whatever they want to say. I'm not telling you WHAT to think, I'm just asking you TO think before you speak.
I come from the trenches of seeing beautiful, loving people marginalized and turned into a punchline. I've heard the taunts, and I've seen the wounds. For all the people who say others have to just get a backbone and stop being wimps, I challenge you to make it through the day in the place of one of the people you're putting down. Good luck with that. They have spines of steel.
When challenged to look my child in the eye and call him that name after claiming the high ground for using it, people seem to panic. I can't tell if it's a sudden attack of awareness or fear they'd have to squint with their surviving eye to get away when I was done with them.
"Oh, I didn't mean it THAT way!" or "It's a word that also means ________, so I don't get the problem with using it." or "I'm just JOKING!"
Okay, that's true. Words are what we make them.
Words can be roses or they can be weapons. They can be knives or bandages, smiles or fists, as you choose.
Words can be flung like the stuff in the monkey cage, stinking up your target for your own amusement. Just know you can't fling the feces without getting some on your hands.
Check yourself in the mirror.
Be careful who you touch.
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