Is it OK to say cripple?

By Stephen Pate

Since I was quoted on camera by CTV using the word “cripple”, some have questioned the political correctness of that statement.  It is perfectly acceptable for a person with a disability to use the term “cripple” in the proper context.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKt5JHBQ_H0]In the CTV clip, I said “Cobblestones or cripples?

They don’t want cripples. They want cobblestones.” The statement does not denigrate people living with disabilities.  It does create a memorable soundbite using alliteration and a pithy contrast between landscaping aesthetics and the accommodation needs of persons living with disabilities. The phrase is good communication for TV where sound bites are preferred. CTV could have edited it out since they had lots of tape to use. CTV knew it was both politically correct in the context and good TV.

I am still trying to figure where in my brain it came from since it just came out. 

Cripple is not the same as the n word, a violent, racist word used against black people. The word although so political incorrect that white people cannot use it without criticism is widely used by blacks in humour and music. In rap songs it sometimes signifies the degraded place that blacks feel they occupy. It’s their word.

Which is the first argument for the use of cripple. It’s our word to use as we see fit.  Usually the disabled use it to poke fun at themselves or to shock. If you Google cripple, you’ll find hundreds of non-pejorative references mainly from the disabled community.

Cripple is still in use in the English language. Our car was crippled. The horse is crippled. He’s an emotional cripple. It can be a nasty pejorative when used against a person with a disability, such as “You’re just a cripple.” However, that was not the context. I was using cripple as an expressive word that created a memorable encapsulation of the problem at UPEI – what’s more important people or landscaping.

At worst the word might be colorful.

So don’t call me a cripple but I can use the word when I see fit. Ah, life is so complex.

It’s interesting that the loudest critic of this CTV spot is a quadriplegic who supports the removal of accessible parking. Instead of trying to help people with disabilities, there is a concerted campaign to shore up UPEI’s human rights abuses. Speaking of hypocrites in his day, Jesus said “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” Matthew 23: 24. Pick pick pick on the little things but let the big abuses just slide down.

As a postscript, when I got Polio we were called crippled and handicapped. I got help from the Crippled Children’s Society. People said things like “It’s too bad you are crippled.” I feel comfortable inside this body. If someone else doesn’t feel comfortable with the remark, they shouldn’t use it. For the love of God, let’s not get out the speech police.