On Saturday night, LeBron James muttered, "that's retarded," in response to a reporter's question. The microphone caught it, everyone heard it, and in the days since, there's been a beneficial discussion on the subject of the word. On Monday night, after the Heat's overtime win against the Celtics, LeBron apologized.
LeBron James Apologizes For Saying ‘That’s Retarded’
↵↵“First of all, I want to apologize for using the ‘R’ word after Game 3. If I offended anyone, I sincerely apologize,” said James [...]
↵↵Good on him. While I never believed that he holds a profound bias against mentally challenged folks, the language is powerful. The most prominent defense of LeBron’s use of the word is something along the lines of, “it doesn’t mean that anymore.” But really, if I call something I find stupid “retarded,” I’m endorsing the idea that it’s okay to identify the mentally challenged as “stupid,” which is to denigrate them.
↵It’s part of an effort to stop marginalizing and othering people for, as a friend of mine put it, “the grand crime of being themselves.” All right, getting off my soapbox now.
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