Today brought an interesting ebb and flow.  For those who don't know, I work in communications at Special Olympics, Inc. and while we all wear many hats I generally work on branding and marketing and this Fan Community site as well as all the other social media presences around the Internet like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.

Anyhoo, we've been working on putting together an event for the end of March, specifically 3.31.09, End the R-word Day.  This event is the brainchild of our highly energetic and inspiring youth that started the SO College initiative last summer.  The goal is to raise awareness around college campuses about the word "retard" or "retarded" and to educate college students about the hurtful nature of the word and to ask them to pledge to stop using the r-word. 

The idea has picked up tons of grassroots momentum and is really taking off.  So today, actor John C. McGinley was on the Bonnie Hunt Show and he was wearing a "Spread the Word to End the Word 3.31.09" t-shirt, provided by the aforementioned SO College youth.  You may know John C. McGinley as Dr. Cox on the TV show "Scrubs."  Well, he's also the parent of 11-year old Max who was born with Down Syndrome.

While attending our 2009 World Winter Games, Mr. McGinley was blown away by the enthusiasm and passion of our youth that are taking it upon themselves to educate their peers and activate them to create change.  He agreed to be the celebrity spokesperson for 3.31.09 End the R-word Day and has been making the rounds on the TV Guide Channel and the Bonnie Hunt Show among others, while wearing the t-shirt promoting the event.

Well today's response was phenomenal.  Bonnie Hunt's website was flooded with comments in support of the campaign.  Our own R-word website received tons of new pledges to stop using the R-word and overall it was really great to see so much passion and activation throughout the day.  It was one of those days where you really get to see the payoff of the hard work we all do in support of the athletes.

Then, near the end of the day, I got one of my 'Google Alerts' that immediately brought back the harsh reality of just how much work we all have to do as we move forward.  The Google Alert told me that American Idol contestant Kris Allen said the following in an interview about his recent performance on the show in which he moved on to the final round of 12 contestants:

"I felt like I picked a song with an energy to it that maybe didn't need that guitar or whatever, and so you could dance around and kind of get into it.  You know, it was kind of a lot of practicing in the room by yourself and making sure you don't look like a retard or an idiot on stage in front of a million people."

I felt like smacking my computer screen or letting an expletive or two escape.  Then I relaxed and realized there are only two ways to go about dealing with people like American Idol's Kris Allen who continute to perpetuate negative stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities by using the R-word in a hurtful manner -- whether they know it or not. 

The first way is to just accept things as they are and that despite any efforts so many of us continue to make, things aren't going to change.

The second way is to pin his comment up on my blog, along with many others like it so any time I feel like taking option 1, I can read this and revert back to the feeling of wanting to smack my computer screen. 

So I'm choosing option 2 and using American Idol's Kris Allen's hurtful comment as further motivation to fight on, knowing that what we are doing by advocating for people with intellectual disabilities by calling for an end to the R-word is the right thing.

I hope you'll join me.