WHAT’S IN A NAME? Liberal guilt, apparently, when the name is Hispanic.

When . . . it was time to hand out diplomas, the task went to two of the school’s multiple vice principles, both women with Anglo names. The women began reciting the students’ names — Anglo, Jewish, Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiian, etc. — all in flat, totally American accents. That is, they did this until they got to students with Hispanic names. Every time that happened, the women suddenly sounded as if they were applying for a job on one of Rosetta Stone’s newest “Learn Spanish” video. Every “R” was rolled, every guttural consonant was coughed out. And then, after the student with the Hispanic name accepted his or her diploma, that flat, American accent returned.

I’ve commented before . . . about the exact same phenomenon on NPR . . . The NPR talking heads make no effort with German names (it’s “Munich,” not “Munchen”), or Russian names, or French names (it’s “Paris,” not “Paree”), or Chinese names, or American-black names, but when it comes to Hispanic names, they all sound as if they’re trying to outdo Mel Blanc’s over-the-top Speedy Gonzalez accent.

A commenter links to a 1990 Saturday Night Live sketch mocking this phenomenon (transcript here).