EDITORIAL: 'A step toward respect'

Apr. 28—Words matter. And they matter especially so when powerful people use them.

When Salem City Councilor Steve Dibble, during a cable access television interview earlier this month, casually used an outdated, derogatory term to refer to people with intellectual or physical disabilities, he drew a swift rebuke from advocates across the city and throughout the region.

Debra Lobsitz, chairperson of the Salem Commission on Disabilities, called the term offensive and hurtful.

"References to specific disabilities should emphasize abilities and be free of hurtful, oppressive and critical words," she told reporter Dustin Luca Friday. "While every individual with a disability has the right to choose their preferences for describing their specific situation, some terms have very negative connotations and should be avoided."

Dibble eventually offered an apology, writing "I owe you more" on his Facebook page over the weekend.

"Anyone who knows me and knows of my work for the disabled over many decades, clearly knows how embarrassed and deeply sorry I am over this situation — that I myself created," Dibble wrote. "I deeply regret that anyone who may have been offended will accept my sincere apology, and understand that I was not intending any negative reference to those, including my beloved brother, who suffer from intellectual or developmental disabilities."

Dibble said he plans to meet with the Commission on Disabilities this week "to find out how we as a community can use this error as a tool to raise awareness and to educate both people living with and without disabilities."

As a longtime councilor and declared candidate for mayor, Dibble can use his position to raise awareness of why the term is hurtful. It is clear we all still need to learn the lesson; even as the councilor was apologizing, people from around the region — from cable access television staffers to Salem residents to onlookers from other communities — were using the term when coming to his defense. That's how even offhand use of the word, especially by someone in a leadership position, can metastasize.

We'll give the last word to the Special Olympics, which labels the word as "hate speech" and has launched a campaign to end its use.

"Those who use the R-word often do so with little regard for the pain it causes people with intellectual disabilities — and the exclusion it perpetuates in our society," the group writes on its website. "Using the R-word is the same as using any slur against a minority group. Eliminating this word is a step toward respect for all."

For more information, visit https://www.specialolympics.org/stories/impact/why-the-r-word-is-the-r-slur

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