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Sister: Be peace.

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Cool dude.

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Yeah.

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[kissing fingers]

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[laughing]

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This is my brother, Zack,

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an 18-year old with love for his family, the Timberwolves, and, of course, movies, right?

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[lauging] Timberwolves!

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Zack was born with one extra chromosome affecting his development.

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He has Trisomy 21, and he has Downs Syndrome.

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To him, hearing the "r-word" is much too common.

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Student: I think you hear the word, "retarded," everywhere in society,

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You walk around. It's just a term that people casually throw around.

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Student: But it's mostly to call someone out for something they did

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that was perceived as clumsy, or dumb, or, like, unintelligent, I guess.

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Student: Um, so somebody might say, uh, "You know, oh, how could you make this mistake?"

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or "Why did you say that? That's so retarded!"

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or "That's so... you know."

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So it's usually used in the context of stupidity.

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Student: You, honestly, you just hear it every day,

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and sometimes you might not even realize it.

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You might not even realize that you say it.

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Student: It hurts and it, it hits me, and I, I'm quick to question why they would say that,

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and I find that most of them don't really have a good reason.

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It's just part of their vocabulary.

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Student: There's so much that's connected to that word,

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and when people just throw it around,

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they have no idea what they're doing.

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Student: But I have a story. It's about a, um, 26-year old man with Downs Syndrome.

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"So what's the big deal about using the word, retard?

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Still, it hurts and scares me when I am the only person with intellectual disabilities on the bus,

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and young people start making retard jokes or references.

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The problem is, it is only funny if you think "a retard" is someone dumb and shallow.

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I am not those things,

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but every time the term is used, it tells young people that it is ok to think of me that way,

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and to keep me on the outside. That is why using the word retard is a big deal to people like me."

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Student: It alienates people, and it lessens people, and it degrades them,

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and, whether you intend it that way or not, and

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you know, no one means it like that, but that's what it does.

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Student: We just throw it out,

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and we just will say it without even checking ourselves first, you know?

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And we need to be more responsible and take more care to the words that we're saying.

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Student: Hi. This is Joey. He's my brother, he's a junior in high school, and, uh,

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he loves movies, and he definitely loves the Iowa Hawkeye football team, right?

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Joey: and St. Thomas.

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Student: and you love St. Thomas football too.

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He has Downs Syndrome, and he's intellectually disabled.

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He's my brother, most importantly,

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but we're more alike that we are different.

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Student: I see we can't stop any word from being used. What we can do is educate people

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and make people aware of hey, you know, this is a very disrespectful word,

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it's unneeded.

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Student: He said when people say it in group settings, or when you're out with a group of friends,

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to be like, "Hey, that's not okay",

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and to stop that person.

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Student: ``Saying something to someone, as simple as like, "Don't say that, please. You don't need to."

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It'll make them kind of question it,

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and maybe they'll keep on saying it,

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but maybe something will click,

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and they'll go, "You know, I don't need to say this. I don't want to say this."

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Sudent: I, I just feel it's important that I make sure that I don't use it,

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because if it starts with me, you know, well, if it stops with me,

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then maybe I can be an example for other people,

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and maybe it, it can come to an end.

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Sister: You have the power to affect someone and make change,

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in your dorm, in your community, at work, in the classroom, even in your home.

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Brother: You have the power to spread the word to end the word.

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Go to

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and make a pledge.

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Sister: The power comes from you.

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Make a difference, and make the change,

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to spread the word, to end the word.