Trolling for trouble

A few years ago, in 2009, Little People of America officially identified the word midget as a negative term.  LPA created a policy in which the organization would attempt to raise awareness about the word in an effort to get people to stop using the word.  Since then, LPA has used Dwarfism Awareness Month and other vehicles as a tool to educate the public about language and dwarfism. 

The community of people with intellectual disabilities has a similar campaign.  That community is trying to end use of the word "retard," which is referred to as the R-Word.  Here is more information about the Spread the Word to End the Word Campaign.  As part of the R-Word Campaign, volunteers hang out on Twitter, searching for use of the r-word.  When volunteers find a tweet with the word, they respond to the Tweeter, explaining why the word is hurtful in hopes that the Tweeter will discontinue using the word.  A few years ago, a paper out of Springfield, Illinois wrote a story about the work of these volunteers. The story featured a peer of mine named Tyler McHaley.  Talking about Tyler and his work on Twitter, the reporter writes "The longest Tyler has ever done this is about 45 minutes. He can't take it it any longer than that, because anger and sadness get the best of him."  I get it. With the m-word, it is difficult enough to read the tweets and Facebook posts, let alone approach the authors.  For years, I have had a standing google alert for the word dwarf and midget.  For a while though, I turned off the alert for the word midget because every use of the word, if it didn't involve a soccer league or football league, was too degrading or embarrassing.

Eventually, I reinstated the Google alert and recently I've been trolling Twitter for use of the m-word. I started to do so last week after getting on my bike for one of the first times since the weather has slowly started to break in the Midwest.  I biked to work last Monday morning. When I was within a few blocks of the office, a young woman driving a gray SUV pulled up alongside of me.  I noticed the car shadowing me just behind my shoulder.  When I turned to look I could tell the woman had just taken my photo with her phone.  From experience, I know that it's best just to let it go.  If I had done so, I probably wouldn't be thinking about it right now.  Yet, it's difficult to let it go sometimes.   I tried to track down the vehicle but it wasn't long before the vehicle was well ahead of me and out of sight. 

Curious about what the woman might do with the photo, that night, and a few times since, I've searched Twitter with an m-word Hashtag.  Luckily, I didn't find that any photos of myself.  I did find a few random photos of little people taken by people who I assume don't know the little person and didn't ask the little person for permission.  But much more than photos of little people, I found self-deprecating tweets from people who appear to be insecure about their height.  Here are a few:

*Size 3 shoes and they still feel big what the hell us this???!! #Midget
 * Why am I so short #midget
 *Yesterday i realized im kinda short. No really short. I better grow soon. #midget

Curious, I searched Twitter for the R-Word also.  There seemed to be about the same number, and often times those also were self-deprecating.

To use the word in that way doesn't make it acceptable, but I find it interesting because I am guessing that the authors of the tweets have some knowledge of the fact that the word, or words, is derogatory.  Again, it doesn't make it acceptable, but if indeed the users have an awareness of the word, they are probably closer to not using the word than if they didn't know what affect, in particular what negative affect, the word has.  

Shriver follow-up

Last week, I wrote about Tim Shriver of the Special Olympics reaching out to Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's Chief of Staff, over Emanuel's use of the r-word. Shriver sent a letter to Emanuel which was shared widely within and the without the disability community. I was impressed with the letter because Shriver didn't ask for an apology and didn't set up Emanuel for a public flogging. Rather, he tried to engage Emanuel in the systemic effort to raise awareness around language and end use of the r-word.

Events over the past week have reinforced my opinion that Shriver took the correct strategic approach. Early in the week, the White House set up a meeting between Emanuel, Shriver, and a few other leaders from disability. I don't know exactly when, but sometime before the meeting news broke that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin called for the resignation of Emanuel. Palin has a child who is a person with Down Syndrome. I can understand what might have motivated Palin to make the statement. Just yesterday, I spoke with a friend of mine who has a sister with an intellectual disability. When I asked him his thoughts on language, he told about his mother, who, when he and his sister were children, would verbally attack anyone who used the r-word. Whether you have a family connection to disability or you don't, some people feel so strongly about language they have no choice but to aggressively and harshly attack use of offensive language. In fact, I've read that some people believe Palin's attack on Emanuel opened the door for the meeting with Shriver.

The problem with Palin's approach is that the intent of the attack is not clear. Perhaps her intent was the same as Shriver's, engage more people in an effort to use inclusive, people first, and empowering language. But, given Palin's place in politics, her actions could easily be interpreted as a left hook against the democratic party. Events later in the week made it a little easier to judge Palin's intent. During his program on Wednesday, Conservative Radio Host Rush Limbaugh said, "There’s going to be a retard summit at the White House. Much like the beer summit between Obama and Gates and that cop . . ."

Limbaugh's comment put Palin in a sticky political situation, but one in which she could have rallied more non-partisan support around language and disability rights, if she had held Limbaugh to the same standard as Emanuel. She didn't. In a piece published on the

Huffington Post, Sam Stein wrote, "the former governor went to great and sometimes awkward lengths to insist that when conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh used the same exact term to describe the same exact group, it was simply in the role of political humorist." Here is what Palin said

They are kooks, so I agree with Rush Limbaugh . . . Rush Limbaugh was using satire ... . I didn't hear Rush Limbaugh calling a group of people whom he did not agree with 'f-ing retards,' and we did know that Rahm Emanuel, as has been reported, did say that. There is a big difference there

Whether it matters or not, Limbaugh did use the word in a similar context. He used it in an effort to degrade democrats and people in the White House.

Unfortunately, in the coverage around Emanuel, Palin and Limbaugh, the goal Shriver and thousands of others has taken a back seat. It's the partisan hatred which is earning attention, not the effort to embrace language adopted by people with disabilities.

But in Chicago, one media spokesperson is shining light on the correct issue. Here is a link to brief commentary by Rob Johnson, who has a sibling with a disability.

We are not alone -- Rahm Emanuel and the r-word

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that last August, in a meeting with White House aides and liberal members of congress, President Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel uttered the words "Fucking retarded." Evidently, Emanuel was 'scolding' the liberals for planning attack ads against the efforts of more conservative democrats to block health care reform. Since the comment surfaced publicly, many individuals and groups have spoken out, holding Emanuel accountable for using the word retard as a slur and for using a word that people with intellectual disabilities have been lobbying to eliminate from our vernacular.

Within 24 hours of the Wall Street Journal article, Tim Shriver of the Special Olympics dispatched a letter to the President's Chief of Staff. The letter was circulated around disability list-serves. I was surprised by the letter and impressed. Shriver's letter lacked anger and vindictiveness, as it probably should. I've learned in my efforts to impact use of the word midget, and I imagine many others who are trying to shape language might agree, that no one wants to be told what words they can and can not use. No where in Shriver's letter did he demand that Emanuel stop using the r-word. He didn't scold Emanuel. He didn't demand an apology. In fact, Shriver assumed Emanuel might not have even used the word. Reports might have misrepresented what the Chief of Staff actually said. Rather than tell Emanuel what to say, Shriver shared information about the stigma connected to the r-word and invited Emanuel to join in the efforts to end use of the word.

Who knows how Emanuel will respond, but I think Shriver took the correct approach. In a campaign to change language, you need to create bridges. Shriver created a bridge by sharing how hurtful the r-word can be. He invited Emanuel to cross that bridge and join thousands of others who have pledged not to use the word.

The approach reminds me of my wife Katie, who is a strong advocate against the r-word. Not always, but most times, if we are out in public and somebody uses the r-word, she will say something. She won't accuse the person who used the word of prejudice or of ignorance. She won't tell them not use the word. She will simply say something like "I really don't like that word." In most cases, Katie's reaction has a strong affect, causing an emotion reaction that causes people to question use of the word.

Though I am sad about the news of Emanuel's use of the r-word, the incident has given me some new enthusiasm. First of all, it's given me ideas for how to improve my approach to raising awareness around and ending use of the m-word. But perhaps more important, I feel more empowered now, knowing that people of short stature are not alone. Language is a struggle that affects so many of us. Hopefully, as we move forward, we can find ways to support each other, and unite in our common efforts around language.