U.S. Postage Stamp – “Retarded Children Can Be Helped”
Don’t dare call somebody retarded unless you want scorn heaped upon you.
In the twenty-first century the word retard has been put on a list of verboten words never to be uttered, unless you wish to appall your fellow conversationalist or intend to incur the wrath of the word police. It wasn’t always this way.
The United States Postal Service issued the Retarded Children Can Be Helped stamp October 12, 1974. Over 150 million of these ten cent stamps were printed.
There’s nothing wrong with the word retard itself. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary retard means “to delay or impede the development or progress of: to slow up especially by preventing or hindering advance or accomplishment.”
And the term “retarded children” reflected the era in which it was used.
But the word retard was also commonly used pejoratively by children to taunt one another until about twenty years ago. Now retard is considered repulsive or offensive by a large majority of people.
Before the stamp was issued the New York Times ran this story on September 22, 1974:
A stamp that calls on Americans to help retarded children and other citizens with mental handicaps is being issued by the United States in its continuing campaign to bring before the country, through philately, matters of national concern.
The new issue is being put out on. Oct. 12 in Arlington, Tex., during the annual meeting of the National Association of Retarded Citizens. This is the new name, adopted last fall, of what was long known as the National Association for Retarded Children, and reflects an enlarged scope to help adults. The organization’s headquarters are in Arlington.
The stamp is one of a number issued by ‐the U.S. Postal Service in recent years calling attention to the nation’s concerns. These have included the dangers of drug abuse, the need for blood donations, the value of cancer checkups, the importance of employing the handicapped.
The N.A.R.C. has been pressing for a commemorative to make its cause more widely known since 1965, when its Oregon branch first formally requested a stamp on the theme “Retarded Children Can Be Helped.”
The organization was founded in 1850, and at one time was called the National Association of Parents and Friends of Mentally Retarded Children. It has a membership of more than 200,000, consisting of parents, professional workers and others interested in the mentally retarded. It works on local, state and national levels to foster treatment, research, legislation and public understanding for the mentally retarded, plus counseling of parents.
The theme of the stamp is that urged back in 1965, and it runs across the bottom of the vertical issue in two lines of upper and lower type. Above the text is the face of a little girl with her hand clasping an adult hand that is pressed comfortingly against her cheek.
The stamp was designed by Paul Calle of Stamford, Conn. He has also designed the Robert Frost stamp issued earlier this year, the Douglas MacArthur stamp of 1971, the Moon Landing stamp of 1969 and the twin Space Accomplishment stamps of 1967.
Labeling Children Retarded
IQ tests measuring intelligence were once associated with degrees of retardation. Scoring below a 75 a doctor would declare a level of retardation with the score. Along with that score came three words describing a deficiency in intelligence.
Retardation would break down as follows. IQ at the level of a moron (IQ < 75), an imbecile (< 50), or an idiot (< 25). These classifications were eventually replaced with the labeling system of mild, moderate, severe, or profound retardation.
When originally in use, none of these terms held the negative connotation they do today. In the intervening years, “developmentally or intellectually disabled” has replaced the words retarded, moron, imbecile and idiot and they are no longer used as deficient intelligence classifications. They are still used by motor vehicle drivers all over the world to describe their fellow road-mates.
If you are wondering why words become offensive, controversial or drop out of use, one of the reasons is the Euphemism Treadmill.
Maybe it’s a good thing that children are no longer called retarded. Some might disagree, believing that no words should be off limits.
Words are often a balancing act, caught between an accurate description, even ones that can be filled with invective or derision versus those that border on lawful violation such as libel or slander.
In a free country we run the risk of reading or hearing words that might be considered insulting and offensive by some. Just because there’s a call to ban certain words doesn’t mean it will happen. Especially when the meaning of a word is misconstrued or completely in error. Because using some “controversial” words will never become a criminal offense, will it?
