During this season, the reigning champion in Vancouver may seem to be the 2010 Olympic Games; however, there is an underdog that must be noticed – the 2010 Special Olympics.

This year, the Vancouver Special Olympics will host two hundred athletes from ages two to seventy who will compete in 20 programs in regional, provincial, national and world games.

Though the focus of the Special Olympics is to allow those with intellectual disabilities to experience achievement through various sports activities, they have partnered with Best Buddies International to bring awareness to another issue plaguing society today – the derogatory use of the “R-word.”

The “R-word” campaign’s motto is to “Spread the word to end the word.” Their goal is to bring awareness to the ever-growing derogatory use of the R-word, its dehumanizing and painful effects, and to encourage all to stop using it.

For those who do not know, the R stands for retard(ed). Phrases found in common use, taken directly from twitter.com (with the R-word abbreviated) include:

“you guys are R,” “There are some R customers in the world,” “this is R,” “WHY IS MY AIR VENT R,” “phone acting R,” “ppl act R,” “if you are really that R,” and “thats so R.”

Don’t think the R-word is that great of an issue? Here are some numbers for you: Currently the R-word is used on the World Wide Web 27,842 times (and the number rises by
the hour).

Websites that use the R-word:
youtube.com: 4,540 times
facebook.com: 1,920 times
yahoo.com: 296 times
google.com: 129 times

Websites that do not use the R-word:
itunes.com
wikipedia.com
eharmony.com
twu.ca

So what can we do? Take a stand and join the other 51,553 people on r-word.org who have pledged their support against the derogatory use of the R-word and encourage others to refrain from using this word. By respecting and defending those who cannot defend themselves, we transform into more respectable human beings. To God be the glory.