The Black Eyed Peas riffed "Let's get retarded" in what is possibly their most famous song. By using the r-word, Black Eyes Peas suggest that "retarded" means stupid. In fact, people have used the r-word for years to mean something that is backwards or people who act stupidly or crazily.

With the recent death of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics, as well as the use of the r-word by a Monroe County legislator, it is time to look again at this word and its possible retirement.

The r-word is ubiquitous, so much so that we are desensitized to it. I hear the word almost daily on TV shows, in PG-rated movies such as "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Nancy Drew," and at local colleges. Friends, students, neighbors, lawyers, and activist friends of mine use this word. Their thoughtless actions teach everyone that the r-word is acceptable to apply to anyone. Students of mine tend to shrug off my protestations, saying, "We were only meaning that so-and-so was stupid."

Ben Stiller's movie "Tropic Thunder" used the r-word and caught the attention of a number of advocacy groups that began to think about ways to strike the word from our collective vocabulary. When President Obama recently apologized for stating that his bowling at the White House "was like the Special Olympics or something," these groups gained a little more energy to bring about change.

Several months ago, the Special Olympics launched an online petition at r-word.com to "eliminate the demeaning use of the r-word." Signatories "pledge and support the elimination of the derogatory use of the r-word from everyday speech and promote the acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities." The petition now has nearly 48,000 signatures.

It is not okay to say whatever you want. Use of the r-word puts a shame on challenged people and their families. This is not about being "politically correct," as some columnists have argued. Rather, it is about giving honor, love, compassion, and respect to people who have intellectual disabilities. Sign the pledge, encourage others to do the same, promise not to tolerate ignorance, and participate in movements of activism and advocacy on behalf of people with intellectual disabilities.

JOEL T. HELFRICH, ROCHESTER