Councilor apologizes for using slur

Apr. 26—SALEM — Councilor Steve Dibble wrote a lengthy post on his public Facebook profile Saturday morning apologizing for his use of a slur to describe the intellectually disabled earlier this month in a prerecorded interview on Salem Access Television.

"A simple apology is not enough," he wrote. "I owe you more."

"Anyone who knows me and knows of my work for the disabled over many decades, clearly knows how embarrassed and deeply sorry I am over this situation — that I myself created," Dibble wrote. "I deeply regret that anyone who may have been offended will accept my sincere apology, and understand that I was not intending any negative reference to those, including my beloved brother Jerry, who suffer from intellectual or developmental disabilities."

Appearing on "Inside Salem" with host Mike Allen earlier this month, Dibble was discussing his contribution to the city's in-law apartment ordinance when he used an outdated, derogatory term to list an example family member with developmental or intellectual disabilities. After the interview aired once with the word included, Dibble asked staff at the station to edit the video and have the word removed, which they did.

After learning of what happened, the Salem Commission on Disabilities said it plans to discuss appropriate ways to refer to specific disabilities at its meeting next month.

Since The Salem News reported on the incident, some Salem officials have called for support and donations to organizations and campaigns fighting to "End the R-Word." Both Mayor Kim Driscoll and Councilor Ty Hapworth supported a Special Olympics pledge campaign shared on social media.

In his statement, Dibble explained his personal history supporting those with intellectual disabilities.

"What I am about to share with you here is very personal, private, and what some of my closest friends were not even aware of totally until today," he wrote.

In the post, Dibble said the medical use of the term changed over the years, up to when a national organization retitled itself the American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, triggering the effective end of the term's appropriate use medically. He uses the word at least four times in this process, all while wrapping it in quotation marks.

"That word is now considered negative and harmful, more so since the 2007 change," Dibble wrote. "I am sensitive to this matter, as I have several family members with special needs."

Dibble went into heavy detail about his brother Jerry, who was diagnosed with "this medical condition" when he was in fourth or fifth grade.

"Jerry and my family began a decades long road of treatments at Boston State Mental Hospital and several hospitals including McClain, White Plains, Gowanda, and other hospitals names I no longer remember," Dibble wrote. "If my brother Jerry were alive today, he would be welcome to live in my home, in a now legal in-law apartment where he could live in privacy in his own small apartment, and I could be there close enough to help if needed. This is the exact scenario I was thinking about in the interview on SATV."

Dibble went on to explain that his interview with Allen was a fast-moving conversation about the housing crisis. "In the SATV interview," he wrote, "my decades-long exposure to that now retired medical term from discussions with both my brother's doctors and in our family home, rolled right out of my mouth in the conversation — automatic and unconsciously."

Dibble said he reached out to SATV after two friends who watched video of the interview pointed out that he had used the word.

"I thought that the best way to correct my error was to find out if SATV could edit out that reference, so that my unintentional mistake would not be a hurtful experience for anyone who might watch the interview," Dibble wrote. "SATV was able to remove that reference, which was a start, but it was certainly not enough for anyone who did happen to watch the initial airing of the program.

"I should have made a statement and an apology right away," he continued, "but I thought I had caught my mistake and edited it out before the first showing."

Going forward, Dibble said he plans to meet with the Commission on Disabilities "early next week to find out how we as a community can use this error as a tool to raise awareness and to educate both people living with and without disabilities."

"Thank you for taking your time to read my words and to hopefully understand that I sincerely meant no harm whatsoever, and that my own personal family story reflects my deep understanding of the challenges of living with a disability," Dibble wrote. "As always I will work to learn and improve, and I will make this experience count in my work for everyone going forward."

The full post can be read here: bit.ly/2S3ZIwP.

To respond to this story or suggest another, contact Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or DLuca@salemnews.com. Follow him at facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.

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