How Do I Make a Difference?
A Testimony by Griselda Escobedo. Griselda is an advocate and student leader from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
I was sitting at lunch with my friends, just like any other day. We were talking amongst each other, sharing stories and laughing at each other’s anecdotes. I can’t remember the exact details of the story — not that they’d matter really because no situation would make this acceptable in my eyes — but while talking, one of my friends found it necessary to use the r-word.
I remember instantly stopping and feeling uncomfortable. All that was running through my head was, “That is not okay to say. What do I do? Do I say anything?”
At this point, I was in my first year of Best Buddies. I found out about Best Buddies because our school’s chapter put on an event in the theater in honor of Spread the Word to End the Word. The event took place during my dance class and our dance teacher canceled class so we could attend the event. I remember being excited to go, simply because it meant we could relax and not have to change into a leotard and tights. My friend and I laughed and joked as we took our seats, planning on being on our phones and even taking a nap. Instead, we got completely engrossed in the speeches we heard.
During this event, there were multiple students of our school’s special education department that went on stage and shared their experiences being called the R-word. One of these speakers later became my Best Buddy the following year. I remember him talking about how much being respected meant to him; how inclusion gave him the opportunity to make new friends who treated him the way he wanted to be treated. He talked about the way he felt when someone looked down at him and shared some moving stories about his experiences with the R-word. He, alongside the other buddies, all shared their main message: stop the derogatory use of the R-word.
Words can hurt, and the R-word is just one example of this. Though people think they aren’t being malicious when they use it, that doesn’t make it okay. Intention isn’t needed to inflict harm. The R-word is used in our current society as a synonym to stupid. When people use the R-word, whether they mean to or not, the negative connotation it has continues to marginalize people with disabilities due to historical nomenclature and that is just not okay.
People with disabilites are not stupid. People with disabilities have so much to offer their communities and our society. Continuing the use of the R-word, and not using people first language, continues to perpetuate the stereotype that people with disabilities are limited by their disabilities, instead of taking into account everything that people with disabilities can do. I know many people who have disabilities and who are amazing friends, hard workers, passionate leaders, great role models, and so much more.
The fact of the matter is that many people continue to use the R-word to this day, not knowing the harm that its usage causes. Things will not change until we bring more awareness to this issue. That is where we all come in. Correcting someone might be uncomfortable, be they a friend or a stranger, but if nothing is said then change will not happen.
Thanks to Best Buddies I have made incredible friends who have taught me so much. And thanks to the Spread the Word campagin, I have the knowledge and the power to stand up for what I know is right: inclusion and acceptance for all people. The use of the R-word is an insult to my friends and to myself, and I have pledged to stop this insult. I hope you do, too.
If you have a story, video, photo, poem, essay, guide, dance, (or anything else) to share with the world, follow the three easy steps in this link or publish your story on Medium and email it to spalumbo@specialolympics.org. If you prefer, you could also put your story into a word document, let us know whether you would like it published under your name or anonymously, and email it to spalumbo@specialolympics.org.
Pledge your support to end the R-Word here.
