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Letter: A history lesson in names and nicknames points to hypocrisy at The Trib

(Scott Sommerdorf | Tribune file photo) The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square perform Handel's "Messiah" in the Tabernacle in 2014.

When I was in junior high school, the blacks preferred to be called “colored,” and we all accepted their request. And the media fell right in line.

Years later the blacks preferred to be call “Negroes,” and the media, including The Salt Lake Tribune, jumped at the opportunity to be nice and PC.

That lasted only a short time and the blacks decided they wanted to be called “blacks,” since the former was a white man’s term. Of course the media, including The Tribune, obliged.

That lasted for some time, and the blacks now wish us all to call them “African-Americans,” and The Tribune and the rest of us jumped to be inclusive and obliged.

But when a minority group like the “Mormons” wish to upgrade to its correct name, it is The Salt Lake Tribune’s response that it will do whatever it damned well pleases rather than play nice.

Hmmm. I smell a lot of hypocrisy here. Yes, even bigotry. Nothing has changed at The Tribune.

Richard Chambers, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

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