FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 7, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 87
Think before you speak
My daughter Lara in her wheelchair at Special Olympics with her brother Josh and sisters Samantha (left) and Elizabeth.
do all the time, to jokingly insult
one another.
The people who made the movie,
DreamWorks and Paramount,
and many of the critics who have
reviewed it, say that the term is
being used by characters who are
dumb and shallow themselves.
You see, we are supposed to get
the joke that it is only the dumb
and shallow people who use a
term that means dumb and shallow.
My dad tells me that this is
called “irony.”
So, what’s the big deal?
Let me try to explain.
Here are the profound
words of a wise, young
man!
I am a 26-year-old man with
Down Syndrome. I am very lucky.
Even though I was born with this
intellectual disability, I do pretty
well and have a good life. I live
and work in the community. I
count as friends the people I went
to school with and the people I
meet in my job.
Every day I get closer to living a
life like yours.
I am a Global Messenger for
Special Olympics and make
speeches to people all over the
country. I once spoke to over
10,000 people at the Richmond
Coliseum. I realize that I am a
voice for other people with intellectual
disabilities who cannot
easily speak for themselves. I
thank God that he gave me this
chance to be someone’s voice.
The hardest thing about having
an intellectual disability is the
loneliness. We process information
slower than everyone else. So even
normal conversation is a constant
battle for us not to lose touch with
what the rest of you are saying.
Most of the time the words and
thoughts just go too fast for us to
keep up, and when we finally say
something it seems out of place.
We are aware when all the rest
of you stop and just look at us.
We are aware when you look at us
and just say, “unh huh,” and then
move on, talking to each other.
You mean no harm, but you have
no idea how alone we feel even
when we are with you.
That is why I love being a
Global Messenger. I work for
days telling my dad what I want
to talk about and he tries to
write it down for me. Then we
do it over and over until we
have something that says what
I mean. We wrote this letter the
same way.
So, what’s wrong with “retard”?
I can only tell you what it means
to me and people like me when
we hear it. It means that the rest
of you are excluding us from your
group. We are something that is
not like you and something that
none of you would ever want to
be. We are something outside the
“in” group. We are someone that
is not your kind.
I want you to know that it hurts
to be left out here, alone. Nothing
scares me as much as feeling all
alone in a world that moves so
much faster than I do.
You don’t mean to make me
feel that way. In fact, like I say
in some of my speeches, “I have
always depended on the kindness
of strangers,” and it works out OK
most of the time. Still, it hurts and
scares me when I am the only person
the bus and young people start
making “retard” jokes or references.
Please put yourself on that bus
and fill the bus with people who
are different from you. Imagine
that they start making jokes using
a term that describes you. It hurts
and it is scary.
Last, I get the joke — the irony
— that only dumb and shallow
means dumb and shallow. The
problem is, it is only funny if
you think a “retard” is someone
dumb and shallow. I am not those
things, but every time the term is
used it tells young people that it is
OK to think of me that way and to
keep me on the outside.
That is why using “retard” is a
big deal to people like me.
The lesson: Think before
you speak...
Written by John Franklin
Stephens, a Special Olympics
Virginia athlete and Global
Messenger who lives in Fairfax,
Va.
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Sometimes I receive a powerful
message that really hits
home. Recently, I received
one from my favorite “Morning
Juice” daily newsletter that
Investors Bank emails.
When my daughter Lara was
born and sadly suffered brain
damage a few hours after her
birth, she would forever be different.
She brought me into a
new world and sensitized me to
people who are different. When
Lara was at the Willowbrook
State School, I met many people
who were “different.”
I remember the discomfort
in meeting people who are not
like me. But Lara, in her own
way, taught me more than all the
“normal” people I know.
I soon reached a comfort zone
and respect for the people I met
who were different. I hope to
raise other people’s awareness,
and the following story raised
my sensitivity!
In the action comedy “Tropic
Thunder,” a group of actors shooting
a war movie is led by Tugg
Speedman (Ben Stiller), a pampered
action superstar, Kirk
Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.),
an over-the-top Australian-born
method actor who has gone to
extremes to get into character,
and Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), a
gross-out comedy star.
What’s the big deal about using
the word “retard”?
A lot of people are talking about
the movie “Tropic Thunder.” One
of the reasons that it is being talked
about is that the characters use
the term “retard” over and over.
They use it the same way that kids
with intellectual disabilities on
people are using a term that
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