I am a longtime State Journal subscriber and have been offended and disappointed by your January 31st Sunday paper headline, "No Home for Gimpy". I was sad for the injured animal and ashamed of the choice of words used in the article. Why would such insensitive language be used in the capital city media? Don't get me wrong, I wished the best for this cute and deserving dog, but I was further disgusted to read the front page headline today, "Gimpy gets a home." The words "gimp" and "gimpy" are derogatory slurs used to refer to people with disabilities. If the dog had been called a different slur against another minority group, would the State Journal have made the same mistake? Words are powerful and this article's title alone reflects and influences attitudes toward the disabled community. This careless choice of the dog's name, Gimpy, will perpetuate negative attitudes and stereotypes in our community.
As a middle school educator, I feel compelled to share with you the same messages I teach to my students. Words can be painful and powerful. The use of words that disrespect minority groups by our local newspaper displays ignorance and hinders the equal treatment of all community members. Please encourage your reporters to review basic journalistic standards on the appropriate language to describe people with disabilities. There are a number of resources available, including the American Press Institute and the National Center of Disability and Journalism. Improving terminology is just the first step in the full acceptance of people with disabilities. I'm hopeful that a brief retraction could offer some correction for the community's enlightenment on why our major local media outlet momentarily slipped to the dark ages on its use of appropriate language.