From the Special Olympics Blog: “An Open Letter to Ann Coulter”

Here’s an article that’s been circulating around that was written by Special Olympics athlete John Franklin Stephens in response to Ann Coulter’s recent use of the word “retard” when referring to President Obama.

An Open Letter to Ann Coulter

“I thought first of asking whether you meant to describe the President as someone who was bullied as a child by people like you, but rose above it to find a way to succeed in life as many of my fellow Special Olympians have.”

“After I saw your tweet, I realized you just wanted to belittle the President by linking him to people like me.  You assumed that people would understand and accept that being linked to someone like me is an insult and you assumed you could get away with it and still appear on TV.”

“…being compared to people like me should be considered a badge of honor.”

Read the full letter at the Special Olympics Blog.

I think this was a wonderful way to respond to an act of emotional violence in a non-violent way.

Grace & Peace,

From Aspiring Humanitarian, Relando Thompkins, MSW

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I'm a Social Justice Educator and Aspiring Humanitarian who is interested in conflict resolution, improving intergroup relations, and building more equitable and inclusive communities. "Notes from an Aspiring Humanitarian" is my blog, where I write about issues of diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice. By exploring social identities through written word, film & video, and other forms of media, I hope to continue to expand and enrich conversations about social issues that face our society, and to find ways to take social action while encouraging others to do so as well in their own ways.

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2 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    I read this open letter yesterday and thought it was a great, I can’t even pick words to describe how uplifting this letter was in an emotionally charged time such as this.

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