From CNN:
Parents of children with special needs are demanding an apology from conservative political pundit Ann Coulter (pictured) for tweeting after Tuesday's foreign policy debate that she approved of "Romney's decision to be kind and gentle to the retard."
It appeared to be a
response to critiques of Mitt Romney's debate performance, but it wasn't
the first time Coulter used the "the r-word" during this election
season. And, it's not the first time blogger Ellen Seidman has called
her out on it.
"At this point, I'm
thinking the woman must surely be aware that the word is offensive, and
she chooses not to care. That's pretty vile and heartless," said
Seidman, the mother of a special needs child who shares her world on the
blog "
Love that Max."
"You want to slam the president, go ahead. But you can't think of any other word to use? Come on."
The word "retard" demeans Max and millions more with intellectual disabilities,
Seidman tweeted at Coulter.
Still, the comment was favorited 1,215 times and earned 2,993 retweets
as of this writing, presumably by a number of people who didn't find it
offensive. But sentiments from those who chose to respond to Coulter on
Twitter ranged from disappointment to outrage.
"You disgust me. That man
is the president of this country. (& I'm sure all of the disabled
children in America appreciate you.),"
actor Sophia Bush tweeted.
"Politics aside, this tweet from @anncoulter was offensive & disgusting. ANY use of the "R" word is unacceptable,"
@amurphy217 said.
The Special Olympics also condemned her use of the word,
saying that it was "sad to see @AnnCoulter continue her use of hateful language by using the #Rword in her discourse."
Even people known for their sense of humor came out against it. Comedian and Twitter personality
@UncleDynamite resurfaced a
2-year-old post from his tumblr in which he explained why he would no longer follow anyone he saw using "the r-word."
He re-posted it after
seeing people retweeting and favoriting the tweet, which he found
disturbing coming from a a "well-educated, self-described Christian with
such a huge public presence."
He hopes she'll read it and maybe have a change of heart, but he's not necessarily counting on it.
"Based upon Ann's tweets
today, I'd say she's dug in and unrepentant," he said Tuesday in an
e-mail. "She must not know, love or respect anyone with an intellectual
disability, then, and more's the pity. I'd like to see her after a great
day of volunteering at a Special Olympics or Best Buddies event. I'd
lay odds she'd never think or say the r-word word ever again, and she'd
probably be quick to anger if someone she heard did so."
Others observing the controversy surmised that Coulter used the word solely to draw attention.
"Guys. Ann Coulter is
trolling you. Always. Outrage gives her strength. The only thing that
will kill her? Complete & utter indifference,"
@PaprbakPrincess tweeted.
Congress
banned the use of the words
"retard" and "retardation" in 2010 in federal health, education and
labor laws in favor of using the words "intellectual disability." The
American Psychiatric Association also plans to replace the term "mental
retardation" with "intellectual development disorder" in the fifth
version of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, to
be published by in 2013.
Then why do people cling
to the word, Seidman and people like her wonder. She has posed the
question before in her blog, which is probably why she woke this morning
to find a slew of tweets and e-mails asking her to call out Coulter
again for repeatedly using "the r-word" to describe President Obama.
The last time was just a few weeks ago in a blog post called "
Let's talk about people who cling to the word 'retard.'
" In the post, she recounted a series of recent examples of the word
being used: in a New York Times article, in the comments of a
YouTube video she made for the Special Olympics' annual campaign
to end the use of the word, in the comments section of a CNN.com article.
She also included
Coulter's last tweet about a video the president made for the National
Forum on Disability Issues: "Been busy, but is Obama STILL talking about
that video? I had no idea how crucial the retarded vote is in this
election."
"Many people think that
using the word 'retard' to slam someone is fine—as long as it's not
actually directed at a person with disability. I've had plenty of people
argue with me over that distinction. What people don't understand is
that every time someone uses the word 'retard,' they perpetuate the idea
that people with intellectual disability, like my son, Max, are stupid
or losers," Seidman said in an e-mail Tuesday.
"As I've said before, my
son shouldn't be defined by ghosts of stereotypes past. He has enough
to contend with in this world. Use. Another. Word."
