What the fuck is this shit. There are bad words, and there are "why in the fuck would you let that escape your lips?" words.
"Retard" is a bad word. It is not, however, on the same level as n*gger. Or f*ggot. So while I will side-eye someone who says retard, and probably say "yeah, that's not really cool" I will haev a stronger reaction to someone who calls someone else a f*ggot or a n*gger or a spic. If you don't think there exists a sliding scale in society as to what words will get you a disapproving look, what words will get you a shocked face and what words will get you straight up jacked in your mouth then I don't know what to tell you.
But you are discounting how offensive today's usage of the word "retard" is to people with disabilities and their families. As the mother of a Hispanic child with brain damage, I'd much rather my child be called a Wetback than retarded.
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
I thought your children were from S. America? Not Mexico?
Post by Captain Serious on Jan 24, 2013 13:42:16 GMT -5
They are, His, but in my experience, the ignorant people who throw that word around do it to any Latin American/Hispanic. Because in their mind, they are all the same.
I live really close to an area (about 5 minutes away) where there are many South American immigrants. Racial tensions are really high, because many of the non-Hispanic/Latin American residents believe they are all "illegals here to steal their jobs." Last I checked, it was really difficult to be an illegal immigrant from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, and Chile, but the racist a-holes who live there don't see any difference. (My only point in posting this is that racists frequently lump all Hispanics/Latin Americans together).
As for why I would rather him hear W* than r*, it's because he understands enough to know that r* is an insult to his intelligence, which affects his self-esteem a lot more severely. I can much more easily convince him that someone who is ignorant enough to judge someone by their skin tone is an awful person saying ungrounded things than I can convince him that he's not a lesser person because he doesn't understand things other kids his age have no problem with.