Schumer apologizes for using offensive term to describe children with intellectual disabilities
CNN
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has apologized for calling children with intellectual disabilities "retarded" after receiving criticism for using the term, which is medically outdated and offensive to many.
Responding to a question during a virtual podcast with OneNYCHA on what Congress is doing to combat homelessness exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Democrat was discussing funding to provide affordable housing and the need for mental health assistance when he used the term. "When I first was an assemblyman, they wanted to build a congregate living place for retarded children," he said Sunday when a host described resistance to efforts to build housing for the homeless. "The whole neighborhood was against it. These are harmless kids, they just needed some help. We got it done, took a while."President Joe Biden on Sunday delivers his first commencement address of the 2024 season at Morehouse College, where the president may for the first time in months have to confront the angst that’s been percolating on college campuses nationwide toward his administration’s policies on the Israel-Hamas war.
Arab and Palestinian Americans left a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday night frustrated they did not have a clear understanding of how the Biden administration might act upon their concerns as the Israel-Hamas war devastates the civilian population in Gaza, participants told CNN.