'R Word' Could Vanish From South Carolina State Law

A bill under consideration in South Carolina would eliminate "the R word" from Palmetto State law, the State reports.

According to the local outlet, the measure would require the following linguistic changes:

• "mental retardation" would be replaced with "intellectual disability"

• “mentally retarded” would be replaced with “persons with intellectual disabilities"

The proposal has been approved by the South Carolina state Senate and is expected to clear the state House. The State reports:

State Rep. Kenny Bingham, R-Lexington, introduced a similar bill in the House.

If passed, the bill would clean up the language in all state laws and codes. To avoid any taxpayer cost, changes in state documents won’t be made until they are next printed or amended.

Iowa station KCRG reports on an effort underway in the Hawkeye State on the high school level to crackdown on the use of the "r word":

Words can hurt, especially the tone or volume, that's why an international campaign hopes to eliminate the use of the "R-Word," or retard. Efforts are underway at Prairie High School in Cedar Rapids aim to replace the word retarded with respect.

It's the new swear word, the R word. But it's a word that the Prairie High school student body and staff don't want in these hallways.

According to the State, South Carolina would follow in the footsteps of at least six other states if it succeeds in passing the word choice changes.

Comments

[D-V-H]

01:11 PM on 05/23/2011

And at some point, if not already, "special" will be the new pejorative.

You just can't force language to behave like you want it to.

[Kibblet]

11:46 AM on 05/28/2011

Yes, you can. Same excuse people use to justify using other slurs. Iowa did this, by the way.

[WeCanDoMore]

12:49 PM on 05/23/2011

i could say the word AIR and it would go pending.

[A Radical Moderate]

12:42 PM on 05/23/2011

This is retarded....to paraphrase George Carlin, Its not the word but the context in which it is used.

[Rick Gillespie]

12:40 PM on 05/23/2011

I thought they meant Rebublican. I guess it is the same difference.

[stupid humans]

12:15 PM on 05/23/2011

this is so retarded....

[stormbear]

12:12 PM on 05/23/2011

When I saw the article title, I thought "R" was meant to stand for "Reconstruction." It IS South Carolina ya know.

[WeCanDoMore]

12:48 PM on 05/23/2011

I thought it was for Republican, and I was right.

[MarcoEsquandolas]

12:07 PM on 05/23/2011

fyi, the difference in word choice/usage is broken down splendidly here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sjuBF0-sRE

[vtrob77]

12:03 PM on 05/23/2011

So retard means to delay or hold back in terms of progress or development or accomplishment; whereas disable means to put out of ability or capacity to act. Which is really worse? Being retarded or disabled? What happens when disabled becomes a term of derision in a few decades will go back to using retarded. The question is whether or not individuals with mental capacities that are less than the norm have the capacity to reach the norm with additional time or whether they lack that capacity and other developmental factors must be considered.

[Ricardo01]

11:24 AM on 05/23/2011

Did the legislators say anything about job creation?

[josiahfelicia]

12:11 PM on 05/23/2011

I believe that laws like this actually retard job creation.

[WeCanDoMore]

12:49 PM on 05/23/2011

No, they have the R issue. It is tough to be R and also do the right thing.

[Andman0121]

10:46 AM on 05/23/2011

Is this really important?

[Ralph Boyd]

10:21 AM on 05/23/2011

The problem is it doesn't matter. Any word used to describe the mentally disabled (for what ever reason) becomes an insult. "Special" was the replacement that became an insult, but then "Retarded" was the polite scientific way of referring to someone with a "Intellectual disability".

Humans are just that way.

[wrightthewrong]

10:06 AM on 05/23/2011

If only it were the word, "Republican..."

[David Keith]

10:04 AM on 05/23/2011

Oh, gimme a break! This is political correctness run amok!

[Numberwang]

09:57 AM on 05/23/2011

When I read the title for this story on the main page, I thought it was going to be a story about republicans. Turns out I was right.

[PhunWithLetters]

09:35 AM on 05/23/2011

let me get this straight, SC. you want to ban the r-word (btw, totally with half of the other commenters who thought this article was about politics) but you want to defend and continue to fly the confederate flag. so a word that isn't necessarily always about humans = ban. flag that continues to be the symbol of hate, indifference, and succession = good!