{"id":48396,"date":"2026-04-12T08:24:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T08:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=48396"},"modified":"2026-04-12T08:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T08:24:13","slug":"the-r-word-was-taboo-as-a-slur-for-people-with-disabilities-now-its-being-normalized-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=48396","title":{"rendered":"The R-word was taboo as a slur for people with disabilities. Now it&#8217;s being normalized again"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"ttsIcon-cIBsl\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>Estimated 5 minutes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"toggletip-tKLKF ttsToggleTip-DSCNQ\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"toggletipInfoButton-yoX4E\" aria-label=\"More information\" aria-controls=\":R89qn5:\" aria-describedby=\":R89qn5:\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" focusable=\"false\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M11 7H13V9H11V7ZM11 11H13V17H11V11ZM12 2C6.48 2 2 6.48 2 12C2 17.52 6.48 22 12 22C17.52 22 22 17.52 22 12C22 6.48 17.52 2 12 2ZM12 20C7.59 20 4 16.41 4 12C4 7.59 7.59 4 12 4C16.41 4 20 7.59 20 12C20 16.41 16.41 20 12 20Z\" fill=\"black\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p>The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><em><strong>LISTEN | Uptick in R-word slur against people with disabilities:<\/strong><\/em><span><span class=\"mediaEmbed\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"player-placeholder-ui-container  \" data-cy=\"player-placeholder-ui-container\">\n<div class=\"player-placeholder-audio-ui \" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" title=\"Do you use the R word?\">\n<div class=\"player-placeholder-ui\">\n<p><span class=\"media-showName\">The Current<\/span><span class=\"media-duration\">26:16<\/span><span class=\"media-title\">Do you use the R word?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Growing up with Down syndrome, Liz Etmanski says she was called plenty of derogatory names in school \u2014 but the main one was always the R-word.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[It\u2019s like] having the wind knocked out of you, like you&#8217;re not visible to them. It&#8217;s really like an attack to your heart,\u201d said Etmanski, an artist, writer and advocate in her 40s, living in Surrey, B.C.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople that use it think they can get away with it \u2026 all they&#8217;re doing is putting you down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The R-word has been considered taboo for years, used as a slur against people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In the 2010s, celebrities including<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/khloe-kardashian-apologized-using-r-word-on-instagram-2018-7\" target=\"_blank\"> <u>the Kardashians<\/u><\/a> and basketball player<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/basketball\/nba\/lebron-r-word\/\" target=\"_blank\"> <u>LeBron James issued apologies<\/u><\/a> for using it publicly.<\/p>\n<p>But the slur appears to be making a resurgence, despite its ongoing capacity for harm. It\u2019s been frequently used by high-profile figures like Elon Musk and Joe Rogan, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/minnesota\/news\/donald-trump-tim-walz-slur-attacks-ilhan-omar-somali-community\/\" target=\"_blank\"><u>U.S. President Donald Trump levelled it<\/u><\/a> against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in a Thanksgiving Day post last year. People appeared to follow his example in the weeks that followed, Montclair State University tracked<a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/college-of-communication-and-media\/2025\/12\/05\/r-word-slurs-triple-on-x-after-donald-trumps-thanksgiving-post-used-the-word\/\" target=\"_blank\"> <u>a more-than-threefold increase in the word being used on social media platform X<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Paul Etherington, who co-founded the disability awareness non-profit Motionball, says he\u2019s definitely noticed that people have been using the slur more frequently in the last two to three years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSadly, I think it is because of North American and international leaders, be it in technology or industry or government, who feel it&#8217;s okay to use that word,\u201d said Etherington, whose organization encourages people to stop using the R-word with its campaign No Good Way.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>WATCH | Advert addresses R-word for <\/strong><\/em><em><strong>World Down Syndrome Day 2026:<\/strong><\/em><span><span class=\"youtube\"><iframe title=\"CoorDown | Just Evolve\" width=\"1170\" height=\"878\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mN3zCeU4DAo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Amy Hewitt is a researcher who focuses on helping people with intellectual disabilities feel included in their communities. She says that leaders using the word makes other people think it\u2019s OK \u2014 but there was also a sense that the debate over the R-word was over.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just sort of made an assumption we&#8217;re beyond that and we&#8217;re not,\u201d said Hewitt, director of the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNew people are born, new people grow up. And I think it&#8217;s a constant educational campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Freedom of speech?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Use of the R-word is often framed as a freedom of speech issue; Rogan described its resurgence as \u201cone of the great culture victories\u201d on an episode of his podcast last year.<\/p>\n<p>For Hewitt, the focus on being free to say something can\u2019t be uncoupled from its impact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy question is, \u2018Why would you want to use language that is known to be hurtful, and that people are asking you not to use?\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou&#8217;re showing who you are as a human being if you think that&#8217;s OK to still use words that people tell you are hurtful to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hewitt said she\u2019s seen that impact first hand: her brother-in-law has an intellectual disability. At a grocery store one day, they overheard another customer calling someone the R-word.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was happy and smiling and when he heard that, it just was like somebody stabbed him in the gut,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a gut punch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said she\u2019d welcome the chance to sit down with Rogan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are probably other words, derogatory words that he chooses not to use for whatever reason, and I&#8217;d like to share with him reasons he might not want to use the R-word,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think if he could sit down with Liz and a bunch of other people who have been hurt by that word, he might listen \u2014 but we have to make that kind of engagement happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"imageMedia image full\">\n<div class=\"placeholder\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/1.5848326,1608332190000\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C2775%2C1850%29%3BResize%3D796\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/1.5848326,1608332190000\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C2775%2C1850%29%3BResize%3D796 796w,https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/1.5848326,1608332190000\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C2775%2C1850%29%3BResize%3D1083 1083w,https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/1.5848326,1608332190000\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C2775%2C1850%29%3BResize%3D1280 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 762px) calc(100vw - 32px),730px\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/ais\/1.5848326,1608332190000\/full\/max\/0\/default.jpg?im=Crop%2Crect%3D%280%2C0%2C2775%2C1850%29%3B\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5\" data-cy=\"image-img\"\/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption\">Al Etmanski, Liz&#8217;s father, said that people living with disabilities should have the opportunity to speak up for themselves.<!-- --> <!-- -->(Muddy Love)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2><strong>Speaking up for herself<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Liz Etmanski\u2019s dad, Al Etmanski, said it\u2019s important for people living with disabilities to have the opportunity to speak up for themselves.<\/p>\n<p>He said his daughter has always tried to do this, including handling high school name-calling.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe assumption should be that everybody is welcome, everybody is making a contribution already, and our job is to highlight that, recognize it, appreciate it, and remove the barriers,\u201d said Al, who is in his 70s, a longtime parent advocate and the author of <em>The Power of Disability<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>For her part, Liz has been living independently from her parents for two decades, and enjoys being able to \u201ccall my own shots.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI call my parents when I need help, or they&#8217;re there whenever I need to talk. They became my friends in my life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>As an artist, she sees people as works of art \u2014 and that\u2019s how she\u2019d like the world to see her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA work of art, I use that instead of the R-word, I think that people are all very unique,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/radio\/thecurrent\/r-word-normalization-9.7156594?cmp=rss\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}