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I’d like to introduce to you,
John C. McGinley.
Thank you for letting us come here today.
I brought a group with me here today,
we just had a simple message
that we wanted to share with you.
And it may be something you didn’t know
until we got here today.
And it’s just this,
when you use the words retard and retarded,
you are being a bully.
And that’s the problem.
The problem is that when you use those words,
you're picking on somebody who, A,
a group of people, and whether or not
a person with special needs or
intellectual disabilities can hear you or not,
it doesn’t matter, the effect is still the same.
You’re picking on a group of people who, A,
didn't do anything wrong,
don’t deserve to be picked on
and can’t defend themselves
even if they did hear you.
So that makes you a bully.
Now the good news is,
you don’t have to be a bully.
And I’ll tell you a secret,
that I wish these cameras weren’t here.
I definitely used that language
when I was a kid.
But that’s because I didn’t have somebody
come to my school and say,
“Hey listen, when you use retard, retarded
it really hurts people’s feelings, that’s hurtful.”
But now I’m telling you this,
so you have the information.
You do with it what you want.
But what the Strikers All-Stars and I
would like you to do is join us and
take the pledge to spread the word
to end the word.
And in spreading the word, not only
are you committing to not using that
language anymore, but also, hopefully,
you’ll tell other people when you do hear
that word, “Hey that’s a hurtful word,
I’d really prefer if you didn’t use it.”
So we’re looking for you to take the pledge to
spread the word to end the word.
You don’t have to spend any money,
you don’t have to move a muscle,
although the Strikers All-Stars are
going to get you going in a second here.
So it’s something that you can do to
make the world just a little bit better
by getting rid of some hurtful language.
Now without further ado,
I want to introduce you to my friends,
they're champion dancers from
America’s Best Dance Crew,
the Strikers All-Stars, give them a hand.