There’s a clear campaign against the mentally ill with the global rise of fascism. Lots of it shows up in anti homeless rhetoric, but you can see it in the MAHA and anti vaccination movements.

There’s no reason to use the word “r-tarded” to describe someone. As someone who’s worked with the intellectually challenged, it’s an insult to them to compare them with people who are willfully ignorant.

  • BlackLaZoR@fedia.io
    21·
    10 hours ago

    You don’t remember when people used to imitate spasticity

    I don’t. Never even heard about that disease.

    BTW: People over internet don’t know who you are, what race you are, and what disabilities you have. If you get called a brain dead retard, it because some dumb shit you wrote. Nothing less, nothing more

    • JackbyDev@programming.devEnglish
      1·
      9 hours ago

      I’m 33 years old and grew up in the southeast US. Maybe it’s a generational or regional thing or maybe I just grew up around some genuinely hateful people, but calling people that word was very commonly paired with other things you can’t just explain away. Terms like “sped” (short for special education which was the term for the special courses people with disabilities went through in school), “short bus” (referring to the school buses that were shorter and used for children with special needs), and others were used. Actions like mimicking the voice impairments or movement impairments of people with disabilities was common. All of these things were, just like the one word this thread is about, just like people are saying it’s used today, “just” meant to insult people for being stupid.