Cycling Forum / General / Racing / February 2010

That's just f.cking crazy.

Besides,one of the nation's largest advocacy and (separately) largest
non-profit support organization for those less developed mentally uses
'retarded citizens' as part of their names.

Kind of like complaining, as some do, that using Indian instead of
Native American is no longer PC. You can take your complaint to the
Bureau of Indian Affairs on that one - the sinecure for politically
connected Indians.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

No, and if you follow the history, not only did "retarded" start out as
a euphemism ("imbecile," was one of several narrow classifications that
predated it), it's been one of several terms that have attempted to stay
out front of pejorative usage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_H._Goddard#Vineland

Thus retarded, challenged, special, different, and whatever other
euphemism is in current use will always become pejorative, as long as
what they're meant to describe is a person with diminished mental
capacity (another one!). The concept is inherently insulting when
applied to people of normal mental capacity.

Stupid is as stupid does,

Mental retardation is a diagnosis in many - probably most, but I don't
know - states in the U.S., so it can't get too non-PC. At one time
there evidently was a carefully calibrated system that used idiot,
mentally retarded, and a couple of other terms to indicate what level
of mental handicap the person had, but that was replaced by a
numbering system, either 4 (generally) or 5, also used for physical
handicap. A 4 by 4 would be a severely handicapped patient confined to
a wheelchair and unable to conduct basic body functions on their own
or any real level of communication - in our case, it was usually
severe stroke patients.

A level one, mental handicap only, probably only shows up when they
have odd or irregular behavior that brings them into the system.

So when you hear people that work in the system, you don't hear
references to idiot or retarded (at least, I never did), because they
are inexact. You hear references to 2 by 2's or 4 by 3's, because
generally, mentally handicapped end up physically handicapped, if by
excess weight if no other. And the reference is clear within most
contexts without further elaboration, unless you're talking about
physicians or social workers discussing treatment plans.

The numbers also lead directly to funding levels from the state and
feds, which I guess is pretty obvious.

The terms mentally handicapped or mentally retarded are used extremely
coommonly to refer to the population in general (most legislation in
the state of Maryland uses one of those two terms). It is non- PC only
when used directly to the person, which serves no useful purpose other
than to insult a level 1 or 2 handicapped individual. Since they are
often fully developed and have possibly lower levels for avoiding
violence as a solution, it strikes me as a poor choice of words for
several reasons.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

Bob Schwartz wrote:

K. Fred Gauss wrote:

I am resisting temptation; where are my brownie points ?

What's that? I can't hear you over ALL THIS GOLD!

That's a thoughtful and interesting article. Thanks!