Beyoncé is facing a lot of criticism for using an ableist slur in her new co-written song Renaissance. She used the word "spaz" twice in a derogatory reference to a neurological disorder in Heated, which dropped in late July.
Just a few weeks before, while promoting her new song GRRLS, Lizzo used the same slur. The tweet went viral, prompting a sharp rebuke by Hannah Diviney, who has cerebral palsy. Her tweet also viral, landed on the front page of the BBC, New York Times and the Washington Post.
Lizzo took notice and changed the lyrics. "I never want to promote derogatory language," she wrote.
I've lapsed too in word choices, but I'm not a pop star – I write college life science textbooks. I'm currently revising the 14th edition of my human genetics textbook. I've written or co-written four textbooks, totaling 38 editions: intro biology, human anatomy and physiology, and human genetics. Other authors have taken over all but human genetics: I update it every three years.
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