The AP story about Rahm Emanuel's apology is here. The following is from the Special Olympics:As a response to a letter written by Special Olympics Chairman and CEO Timothy Shriver to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (pictured) on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 regarding a Wall Street Journal article attributing Emanuel as referring to a certain plan as ‘retarded,’ the following people have been invited to a meeting with Chief of Staff Emanuel at the White House at 2 p.m., Wednesday February 3, 2010:
-- Timothy Shriver, Chairman and CEO, Special Olympics
-- Andrew Imparato, President & CEO, American Association of People with Disabilities
-- Hannah Jacobs, parent and R-word advocate
-- Julie Petty, self-advocate and former President Self Advocates Becoming Empowered
-- Ricardo Thornton, self-advocate and Special Olympics athlete
The meeting will be a face-to-face discussion with Rahm Emanuel about the suffering and pain of people with intellectual disabilities that is perpetuated by the use of the terms “retard” and “retarded” as well as the damage that can be done by the casual use of the R-word – even if it is not directed toward people with intellectual disabilities.
The group will invite Emanuel to take the R-word pledge at http://www.r-word.org/ and to join in the March 3, 2010 Spread the Word to End the Word campaign, as well as invite him to be a leader of change surrounding the pervasive and damaging use of the R-word.