by Marissa Cohen
This article was published on Mashable.com and is reprinted here with the author’s permission. To view the full article, please visit: http://mashable.com/2012/10/25/ann-coulter-op-ed/.
“It only takes six characters to cause an online stir. When Ann Coulter clicked the blue tweet button on her computer screen during Monday night’s presidential debate, she instantly generated a waterfall of controversy.
“She wrote, ‘I highly approve of Romney’s decision to be kind and gentle to the retard,’ in reference to President Obama, a sentiment she instantaneously communicated to her 269,024 Twitter followers and well beyond.
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“Imagine an equally hurtful yet contained situation: You use the word ‘retard’ when talking with a friend in a coffee shop. However, you quickly notice a visibly mentally handicapped person within earshot. My guess is you would feel ashamed. You would slink away, go back to your job, your home or your coffee, and continue on with your life. The person who overheard your conversation may be too stunned, disempowered or incapable of calling your attention to the sting you caused in that moment, to the damage you perpetuated with the pejorative use of the word ‘retard.’ He may slink back, reminded that he is different, pained that he is the butt of another stranger’s joke. The damage would be done, but the moment would pass.
“Thanks to Twitter and other social media outlets, Ann Coulter’s moment will not pass so easily. Her voice was projected through the Twitter megaphone. Her words reached the mentally handicapped individuals who she verbally assaulted, as well as their friends, family members, teachers and advocates. Their eyes fell on Coulter’s hateful words when they checked their social media accounts that night.
“But the same online platform that hosts Coulter’s hateful rhetoric also allows us — those who fight for the special needs community — to respond. We can educate about a word many are sophisticated enough to avoid, but not informed enough to fully understand.
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“I hope that in light of this week’s Twitter scandal, we remind ourselves that, with the click of a button, our words are not just stored on a webpage but also felt in the lives of real people. That said, if you must join the online counterattack against Ann Coulter, I urge you to at least consult a thesaurus. ‘Fool,’ ‘buffoon,’ maybe ‘dimwit’ — but please, not retard.”
Marissa Cohen is the 2012-13 Alumnae Coordinator for the Review of Law & Social Change. She has helped provide civil legal services to individuals with special needs and has a Masters in teaching with a concentration in students with disabilities.
N.Y.U. Review of Law and Social Change 