Tracy Morgan jokes offend disabled

Following comedian Tracy Morgan's apologies last week for homophobic remarks onstage, advocates for the disabled responded Wednesday to jokes the star made about people with mental and physical disabilities during a stand-up routine Saturday at the Manhattan comedy club Caroline's on Broadway.

The widely reported remarks, at least some of which resulted in uncomfortable groans from the audience, according to E! News, involved mentally challenged children and a "cripple" that Morgan's stage persona had dated.

"Whether Tracy Morgan meant it to be a joke or not, these kinds of comments perpetuate unfortunate and incorrect stigmas toward people with disabilities," Carol Glazer, president of the National Organization on Disability, told Newsday. "In our experience, people who are labeled as 'retarded' are enormously resourceful -- though perhaps in ways that are not measurable in standardized testing. . . . hen someone of high visibility makes light of the challenges people with disabilities face, it has unfortunate repercussions."

"Tracy Morgan should apologize immediately," said Peter Berns, chief executive of the national organization The Arc, in a news statement. "This quote is far too offensive to be excused as comedy, and it is very hurtful to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. Mr. Morgan has an incredibly powerful platform from which to fix this, and if he's learned anything in the last few weeks, he can't bomb this apology."

Morgan's spokeswoman did not respond to emails and a phone call from Newsday.