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Supervisors at newspapers aren't fond of mistakes in general -- but they especially despise front-cover gaffes. For that reason, the powers-that-are at the
Rocky Mountain Newscouldn't have been happy with a screw-up related to the February 17, page-one launch of a black-history-month series that traces the roots of several prominent local African Americans. A box hyped a future piece on KOA's Gloria Neal -- yet Neal is currently the morning host of Sassy FM, and hasn't been on KOA's staff for ages.
Odder still was the the headline affixed to the series' introduction: "DNA Unlocks Centuries of Lost History for Denver Blacks." This last phrase -- "Denver Blacks" -- sounds like a sports-team parody along the lines of the "Fightin' Whites," a University of Northern Colorado intramural basketball team circa 2002 whose nickname was intended to turn the tables on those who defend using Native Americans as mascots.
Granted, the Rocky has long used "black," not "African American," to describe people of this particular ethnic background, and there's nothing wrong with the choice. But according to the results of a quick Nexis search, the paper has previously employed a less curious usage when referring to area residents who fit this description: "Denver's blacks." Moreover, a second search failed to turn up a single example of the term "Denver Whites."
No mistaking that. -- Michael Roberts
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