ABC news Report on the "R" word

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel for President Barack H. Obama apologized for a word he uttered during a speech at a press conference. He uttered the word "retarded" about his political opponents and met with the head of the Special Olympics about his apology. Emmanuel was speaking about his political opponents and one ABC correspondent John A. Farrell stated that, "I think that calling a democrat stupid, idiot, and or retarded" is ok." A medical doctor named Dr. Skotko stated that, "many people with disabilities are profoundly impacted by that word. It stings them and I could say on a personal level that's true for me too. I am lucky enough to have two wonderful sisters. One of them has Down Syndrome." So who gets the privilege of deciding whether or not this word is offensive?
Well it is usually the offended group that gets to control whether or not the word is offensive and should be used in regards to describing their population. Terms such as: intellectually disabled, developmentally disabled, and or people with special needs are more appropriate and politically correct terms that substitute the word "retarded". This has been the case and was even determined in 2003 when the popular mainstream group Black Eyed Peas had their song "Let's get Retarded" removed from mainstream airwaves for its offensive term "retarded." As a result of this the Black Eyed Peas changed their song to the title, "Let's Get It Started" and re-released their song as a hit single on the mainstream airwaves. In recent times a Hollywood film Tropic Thunder starring Ben Stiller was known for its usage of the word retard as well. Yet when it was released on DVD it carried the message of "when you call me beautiful" and has tolerant messages within it in the extras on the DVD. This movie was boycotted by People First of Alabama for its use of the word "retard" and by calling Ben Stiller "retard man."
Those are some primary examples of the changing positions of tolerance for people with intellectual disabilities and another example is in "Roses Law," after an intellectually disabled girl named Rose. Roses Law is a law that states that the word "retardation" gets stripped from all federal language regarding Departments of Mental Health for the 50 states of America. Below is the ABC News Report on the "R" word.