Although not everyone agrees with such a practice, there are groups of people within social groups, especially among younger generations, that have chosen to take words once used to create social barriers and marginalize said groups and “reclaim” them as terms of endearment among members of the same social status. Some African Americans routinely call each other “niggas,” some women call each other “bitches,” and, although it is less widespread, some members of the LGBT community have chosen to reclaim the word “faggot.”

Now, bearing this in mind, could you ever imagine a real-world instance in which a person with a mental disability – like Down syndrome or autism, just to name a few – would use the word “retard” as a term of endearment for another person with a mental disability?

If your answer is yes, then you have a twisted sense of humor and should probably seek help. If your answer is no (and we so hope it is), then that should be enough to rationalize why there is no legitimate reason for anyone to use this word, ever.

The rationalization of “reclamation” is a shaky one in itself. There are those who believe that using such words devalues the struggle of those who fought against a society that regularly used the degrading slurs from which these words are derived, and there are those who believe using such words desensitizes the impact they have, thus making society less subjected to social friction.

And there are those that don’t care either way.

But realizing that a demeaning term like “retard” wouldn’t, or at least shouldn’t, be suited for reclamation should deter anyone from using it.

Some would argue that the term is not demeaning because it is generally not accepted for anyone to call a person with a mental disability “retarded” or a “retard,” but such is not the case. In past uses, some saw it acceptable to refer to a person or thing as “retarded” to draw parallels to the dysfunctional or, plainly, things that were stupid. The reason why one would use the term in such a case is because it draws parallels to people with mental disabilities, as if to say the only reason that someone would say, do or make something that seems to lack common sense to the broader society is because he or she must have a mental disability. You may not be calling a person with a mental disability a “retard,” but you are comparing other things to such people through a negative connotation.

Recently we have seen a surging campaign that attempted to get society, especially members of younger generations, to stop using such words. In 2007, the NAACP held a “funeral” for the “N-word” in an attempt to call for African Americans to collectively stop using the word, and recently there has been a social movement for people to stop using the word “gay” when referring to things that seem stupid to a person or group. But members of the African-American community can decide for themselves how they feel about the “N-word,” and members of the LGBT community can defend themselves against inappropriate references. Maybe it’s time that society collectively gives voice to the voiceless and starts defending those who, unfortunately, cannot defend themselves.