The President called Tim Shriver of Special Olympics last night from Air Force One to apologize for his inappropriate remark on the Leno show about Special Olympics, which he referred to when speaking about his bowling. Shriver said he hopes this can be a "teachable moment" for the country.
"He expressed his disappointment and he apologized in a way that was very moving. He expressed that he did not intend to humiliate this population," Shriver said Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America." Obama, Shriver said, wants to have some Special Olympic athletes visit the White House to bowl or play basketball.
Still, Shriver said, "I think it's important to see that words hurt and words do matter. And these words that in some respect can be seem as humiliating or a put down to people with special needs do cause pain and they do result in stereotypes."
via Associated Press
Pitt Rehab covered the story this morning with a post and a video.
And Terri writes about how even our friends don't recognize ableism. She also writes about opportunities that exist this month to do things that matter.
UPDATE: Thanks to Media dis&dat, which provided a roundup of disability bloggers' responses
3 comments:
It is an unfortunate misstep, but as Tim Shriver says, it is indeed a teachable moment--we need to put it to work!
Thanks for the link, Ruth!
Terri, I am not so sure this is a teachable moment. How do you educate bigots who are more often than not unwilling to change their views?
I hope it is that -- "a teachable moment." But Obama reached out first to the movers-and-shakers when he could have easily walked into the press room and talked from the heart -- from that place in all of us where we are less than we want to be.
Gary www.garypresley.com
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