[silverleaf]

what is so difficult to understand about why using RETARDED (or RETARD) as a term of contempt, an insult

It is demeaning to people who WERE BORN RETARDED. If “retarded” is an insult then it makes RETARDED citizens objects of contempt.

Sarah Palin gets it. You shouild not have to have a retarded child brother or sister to “get it”

Ditto with using skin color (N-word) or hair texture (”nappy headed”) as a terms of contempt or insult
If you see nothing wrong with using a birth condition as an insult, then why not skin color and hair texture?

[SeekAndFind]

Ditto with using skin color (N-word) or hair texture (”nappy headed”) as a terms of contempt or insult

There are right ways to use a word and wrong ways to use a word. For instance, If I use the word -- Negro, simply as a term to refer to a black person, IT IS A LEGITIMATE USE OF A WORD and should not be condemned. The UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND has been in existence for ages with not one person demanding a change of name.

The equivalent term of the word "negro" for a white person is "caucasian". The equivalent term for a person who comes from the orient is "oriental". I don't see anything wrong with using these terms either.

However, it is possible to use a racial term to insult someone as in --- "you caucasian pig". It really depends on the CONTEXT used.

As an exercise in understanding contextual usage, here's a borderline joke that has been used in the airwaves by none other than the conservative icon -- Rush Limbaugh. On his show, he played the song --- "BARACK THE MAGIC NEGRO" ( to the tune of Peter, Paul and Mary's, "Puff the Magic Dragon" ). Is that uncalled for and censurable ? Or not ?

A lot of black people ( AKA Negro ) are demanding his head for that.