Decades ago, those afflicted with trisomy 21 were called “mongoloids” because of the thick eyelid folds which give trisomies a vaguely Oriental appearance. This offensive label was replaced with the more medical-sounding “Down syndrome.” Some argued that the late Dr. Down should not be so eponymously rewarded. Down’s critics charge that he was a racist who believed that trisomy 21 victims actually were “inferior” Mongolians who appeared sporadically in the Western population. The technical term “trisomy 21” is now most commonly used.
