The unsettling rise of ableist slurs

I remember the first time someone called me a retard. I was in year 8 at intermediate school. The impact of the word made me cry all the way home, and the only thing that stopped the tears was a cuddle from my mum and an ice cream, of course.

I really thought that type of language died out back then - like embellished low-rise jeans and oversized sunglasses. But it seems words used to bully kids in the schoolyard in 2006 are being used for insidious othering in 2024.

In July this year, Hamilton City councillor Andrew Bydder wrote an expletive-laden rant to a neighbouring council, labelling them 'spastic' and 'retarded'. He was later investigated after 24 complaints were made against him, and faced significant public backlash.

Only a couple of weeks later, NZ First leader Winston Peters used the same word to describe a comment made by Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer in the House. 

In US politics, ‘weird’ has been adopted by the Democrats' Harris-Walz ticket as the slanderous term du jour, as a way to cast their Republican opponents in an unfavourable light. While the word itself might not have the same vitriol as the R-word, it has been picked up with raucous enthusiasm by the Democrats supporters, carrying rather dark connotations in this political context to imply a sense of dysfunction.

Ableist language in the world

Writer Robyn Hunt says this type of derogatory language comes out of a “pretty deep, submerged vein of ableism that isn't often challenged”.

While disabled people are re-claiming words like "crip" and "mad", the R-word is much more offensive, she says.

“I think it's because the group of people that it used to refer to still don't have a strong enough voice to give a smart reply or respond in a way that's going to be meaningful.” 

Marlo Schorr-Kon, who has cerebral palsy, thought Peters’ comment was “completely uncalled for”. 

While he hasn’t been called the R-word himself, he has had strangers yell ‘chicken burger’ at him, referencing a TikTok trend about autistic people. While he thinks this particular term is “really stupid”, it’s still hurtful.

“Along with demonstrating a severe lack of social intelligence, it implies that people can't distinguish between disabilities and it's pretty humiliating.”

“Offensive words related to disability are just as harmful as slurs related to other minorities,”  Schorr-Kon says. “They reduce people down and bring focus to what makes them different.”

All words have a life

I asked an expert in linguistics about ableist language and how the meaning of words changes over time. But Dr Keith Montgomery, who teaches at the University of Auckland, says there’s no straightforward answer.

“There are so many social variables. That's what makes it really difficult to pin it down.” 

He says while the word retard started off as having a “neutral or descriptive” meaning in the 1960s as a medical term by doctors, its interpretation has changed over time.

“All words in a language have a life. The sad thing about words is they can acquire negative or positive meanings because all words have an actual meaning. And all words also draw connotation, and connotations are whatever anybody wants to associate with them.” 

Based on how Peters used the R-word recently, it was with deliberate “blunt force”, says Montgomery. 

“He knew using that word would fire people up… he knows full well what the impact of that word is likely to be.”

When words are used as a slur and associated with a group of people, such as disabled communities, “of course it's hurtful and we see that once we get public reports of it”, Montgomery says. “For the large majority of the population, no matter what the slur might be, there is no direct impact on them. So they don't have a feel that the word is carrying any of that kind of thing.” 

Calling it out

So how can we stop people using derogatory slurs deliberately? 

To combat the use of offensive words, linguistics expert Montgomery says: “The only thing is to raise awareness… language use is very much a personal thing.”

However, there is no way to stop every individual from saying any offensive words. “If somebody needs or wants to use a deliberately hurtful term, they're going to find what they consider to be the most powerful thing - spontaneously - to do the damage.”

There is the option to legislate language, but whether they work or not is another thing altogether, Montgomery says. “Out in the real world, it's over to you. It's just how you operate in the world.”

Hunt says people don’t realise how ableist society still is - including language - so it’s important to call it out. However it will take effort. 

“It takes a long time and it takes a lot of work by a lot of people,” she says. “And a lot of people don't have the energy.”

“In terms of ableist [language], I think there's still a lot of people who really don't get it.”

Word meanings “change so radically”, linguist Montgomery says. And with the ‘viral’ nature of the internet, the speed at which the word meanings change is “definitely accelerating”.

“You really can't predict the future with language. You just don't know where it's gonna go next.”

As I reflect on the name-calling that led to my ice cream-flavoured tears at intermediate school, I had hoped we would have moved on from that language by now. Moved on from ableist name-calling, and using words to denigrate others. And yet, here we are.

Moving forward, we've got to continue being vigilant. Call it out when you see it. Talk to your friends and co-workers (and even, sometimes, with yourself). Just as Aotearoa is a country that has no place for racism, we must also work to be a place that has no tolerance for ableism. 

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