In a perfect world, we would all accept each others’ differences. In a perfect world, we would accept that people have different personalities and looks from our own and know that that’s okay. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t make fun of one another for being different. We especially wouldn’t make fun of someone for something he or she was born with, for something that can’t be changed, and for something that may take a lifetime to accept.
We all know the world is far from perfect, but what makes things even more disheartening is when a celebrity says something insensitive and downright mean about people who are different.
Shame on you, 50 Cent.
In case you don’t know, the rapper responded to some remarks “from a fan on his social networking site by saying ‘yeah, just saw your picture fool you look autistic.’ He added: ‘I don’t want no special ed kids on my timeline follow some body else.’ ”
Needless to say, many people are speaking out against the rapper, including Holly Robinson Pete in this beautiful response to what happened.
Of course 50 Cent has apologized, and of course he has erased the tweet from his timeline, but the fact remains that he has revealed himself as a person of ignorance. Now, I am not saying he is ignorant in all areas of life, but certainly he lacks the knowledge of what it means to be autisitc, of what receiving special education is all about. And, in my mind, this is nothing more than a large-scale (8 million followers on Twitter) form of playground bullying.
I work with students with special needs. And guess what? Most of them look like everyone else. Most–if not all–of them are sensitive to the fact that they receive special education services. They already think they’re dumb or different or somehow less than, and I hope none of them saw this mouth diaherrea from someone who is regarded as an idol by many kids, including those with special needs.
And furthermore, so what if someone looks different? We are all born unique individuals, and everyone on this planet has something unique and special about them that makes them beautiful. 50 Cent happens to be very gifted at rapping, but it seems he forgot that he is is not amazing at everything he does. No one is.
Albert Einstein said it best, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
I am happy 50 Cent apologized for his insensitive remarks, I just hope he walks away from this having learned that there is value in every individual on this planet, regardless of looks or IQ.
Image [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
I heard about this on Twitter.
I was one of the many with autistic kids who responded to 50Cent, showing him what autism looked like. Sometimes people should probably actually think before opening their mouths but I’m thankful for ways to civilly respond, i.e. Twitter. Thanks for sharing here! 
This sounds like it was really a case of not thinking before typing. He’s a celebrity and a grown man. He shouldn’t have acted like an 8 year old responding to an insult on the playground. He’s using a medium that is seen by thousands of people who have actually been affected by autism. It’s a huge responsibility. He isn’t a bad person, but you’re right, he experienced a moment of ignorance and has been brought to task on it and apologized. It must be so difficult to be in the spotlight constantly. I bet he’ll never make this mistake again.
So, with 50cent’s two cents, that makes him Fiddy-Deuce, right? Which is fitting, because what he wrote was shitty. That said, I feel like what he did was a wordier version of misusing the word “retarded.” I don’t think it’s indicative of an actual distaste for disabled kids or those on the autism spectrum. He was insensitive, and certainly made a poor PR choice, but I don’t like that people immediately latched on to the “this is what autism looks like” or “why do you h8 special needs baybeez??” because I think it detracts from work done toward ACTUAL discrimination against, or social hurdles in the way of, autistic or disabled individuals. Make sense? Let’s all say “Fiddy, you shouldn’t have said that, even as a ‘dis’” remind people that saying words like “retard” is hurtful to the disabled community, and then refocus our efforts on early intervention, alternative opportunities, and the wonderful, unique talents and perspectives that different people with different abilities bring to the world.
I somehow missed this issue with 50 Cent but it is truly sad an disturbing. I hope he’s able to become more educated through this. I also recently heard that Einstein quote and was profoundly moved by it. We judge each other by such arbitrary standards an then beat people down when they don’t measure up. It’s a wonder anyone triumphs these days.
I heard this isn’t the first terrible thing 50 Cent has tweeted? How unfortunate.
Also, it’s more appropriate to use people-first language – that is, “he lacks the knowledge of what it means to have autism” instead of “he lacks the knowledge of what it means to be autisitc”
I’m not sure if you were using the word “autisitc” to purposefully mirror 50 Cent’s comment, or if it was a slip
Kellye, what do you mean by “people-first” language? I’m not sure of the difference in meaning between the two sentences. Could you please explain? Thanks!
People-first language means you put the person first when describing them. For example, you would say a child with a learning disability rather than a learning disabled child. Make sense?
And Kellye, it was actually an oversight on my part…not usually something I miss, but glad you caught it. And you’re right, in reading about this part of 50′s slips of the tongue I learned he tweeted something right after the tsunami that caused a ruckus. Let’s hope he learns to think…or at least check with his PR people…before he hits “post” next time. Better yet, let’s hope he actually learned something from all this.
Oh, ok. Yes, that makes perfect sense. Thank you for clarifying!
Comments on this entry are closed.