Story at a glance
- Jerry Jones used an insensitive word in a press conference earlier Tuesday when referring to former Cowboys scouting director Larry Lacewell, who died at age 85 in May.
- Little People of America (LPA), the world’s oldest and largest dwarfism support organization, pushed to abolish the word in 2015.
- LPA said the term “was never coined as the official term to identify people with dwarfism but was created as a label used to refer to people of short stature who were on public display for curiosity and sport.”
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones issued an apology Tuesday after using a derogatory term to identify little people earlier in the day.
“Earlier today I made a reference which I understand may have been viewed as offensive. I apologize,” Jones said on Tuesday evening.
Jones used the insensitive word in a press conference earlier Tuesday when referring to former Cowboys scouting director Larry Lacewell, who died at age 85 in May.
“Stephen [Jones] and I went over to Jonesboro and a lot of our staff, certainly our scouts, and wanted to give a big memorial to Lace,” Jones reportedly said.
“Lace held court out here (in Oxnard). I’m going to get me somebody, a [M-word], to stand up there with me and dress him up like Lace and think Lace is still out here helping at practice with us,” Jones added.
Little People of America (LPA), the world’s oldest and largest dwarfism support organization, pushed to abolish the word, saying it “was never coined as the official term to identify people with dwarfism, but was created as a label used to refer to people of short stature who were on public display for curiosity and sport.”
“Today, the word ‘midget’ is considered a derogatory slur. The dwarfism community has voiced that they prefer to be referred to as dwarfs, little people, people of short stature or having dwarfism, or simply, and most preferably, by their given name.”
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“M—– is a term that has widely been known to be derogatory for years and should be common knowledge to anyone in the public arena, such as Jerry Jones,” LPA told TMZ in a statement.
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Published on Jul. 27, 2022
