Letter: Utah owes Brigham Young a debt of gratitude

By Jeff Tjas | The Public Forum

Do we not owe the future generations who are unborn the same rights as those who have passed on? We owe them history that is in accord with the facts, not emotionally biased according to the ever-changing laws of political correctness.

Every Mormon and Utahn owes a debt of gratitude to President Brigham Young. This man more than any was responsible for building the LDS Church and Salt Lake City in the powerful position it enjoys today. President Young made statements that Gen. Robert E. Lee, who had a choice whether to fight for the union or his native Virginia, would have never dared make.

In the “Journal of Discourses,” Vol. 10, page 110, he laid out the laws of God relative to the African race concerning the mark of Cain. Are we going to change the name of BYU and rip out his statue at Temple Square?

Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had a portrait of Robert E. Lee on his office wall, held Lee in high esteem. Eisenhower Junior High sits in Taylorsville next to areas of high Hispanic populations. Eisenhower was also responsible for the 1950s operation wetback, sending Mexicans back over the border. Are we going to change the name of this school and remove statues of this great World War II general?

Five of the first seven U.S. presidents owned slaves, are they all on the chopping block? Will we even change the name of Washington state or D.C. to something deemed more culturally appropriate?

Jeff Tjas, Salt Lake City

https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/letters/2020/06/22/letter-utah-owes-brigham/