Comments

1. merq wrote:

   I think this is the closest I’ve come to throwing up from just reading a blog posting.

   Can’t deal with this shit today. I’m going back to bed.

   Good morning, America.

   Posted 26 Apr 2008 at 10:20 am ¶

2. Lee Coles wrote:

   Shouldn’t make a difference, but we’re all human, and subject to first impressions.

   Posted 26 Apr 2008 at 12:15 pm ¶

3. deb wrote:

   I read it and wondered if she was pulling a Margaret Jones?

   Considering the anecdotes and the clues Daisy gives about her government name, I made a game out of it, filling in the blanks with “Maybelline” or “Shanaenae.” But, I thought: “There aren’t any African American Olympic golden medalists named Maybelline, or Shanaenae!?”

   If this is really a true story I thought perhaps her name is “Vonetta” (Vonetta Flowers is an African American Olympic gold medalist; there’s an old school actress named Vonetta McGee, but I don’t know if she modeled. But, what’s so unforgiveably black about that name?

   Hmmm…. Perhaps she’s got a superblack first name and a common African American last name like Washington, Johnson, or…Jones? Maybelline Johnson? Shanaenae Jones? Vonetta Washington?

   Anyway, I get the moral of the story, but it doesn’t seem to add up. But, that’s just the skeptic/cynic in me, I guess.

   Posted 26 Apr 2008 at 1:10 pm ¶

4. dodgerdodger wrote:

   @deb

   In the original post, she says that googling her name yields “an African-American Olympic medal winner.” That doesn’t necessarily mean it was a gold medal. Including silver and bronze medal winners in consideration probably widens the number of possible names considerably.

   Posted 26 Apr 2008 at 1:29 pm ¶

5. marge twain wrote:

   She writes in the comments after some people ask her real name that she doesn’t want to give it and distract from the point. Here:

   “Daisy said…
   I really wanted everyone to “project” a name into the blank. I thought long and hard about this post… and whenever I’ve tried to bring up the subject with white people (never black people–they know what kind of name it is), they argue over particulars and details–which I’ve noticed is one of the ways white people deflect criticisms of racism. They will say, well, I never thought your name was particularly *black*–just 1) southern, 2) different and 3) somewhat rare. (But that’s just it, in the black community, it isn’t considered any of those things.)

   Rather than listen to me talk about my experiences, white people want to nitpick details and whether I am telling the truth in the first place.

   So, I deliberately didn’t give my name. I want to you to project one into the blank.

   Also, I’ve noticed that in some areas (Oakland, New York), it’s considered exclusively black. Here in the south, not so much, the lines have long been blurred. I wanted people from different areas to read it the same way, without fixating on the name itself.”

   I actually thought this was credible. A name doesn’t have to be “unforgivably” or “super” black, it just has to be recognizable as such for different treatment.
   I can attest to the feeling that I must apply fo jobs in person and meet the manager when I drop off an application, so that they will know that I speak English with no foreign accent. And as someone who has worked in customer service, I always thought I saw the worst of human behavior, that is until my friend worked at a call center. The abuse she endured every day was unbelivable, maybe since noone had to actually face her.
   What she says about white people deflecting criticisms of racism by nitpicking or doubting that what she says is true is something that I have never been able to get across to my white friends. This is something I think many PoCs experience(and a great reason for so-called “self segregation”) but I am impressed that she has realized it.

   Posted 26 Apr 2008 at 4:19 pm ¶

6. deb wrote:

   In the original post, she says that googling her name yields “an African-American Olympic medal winner.”

   Oops! You’re right, dodgerdodger. Don’t know why I was thinking gold.

   Posted 26 Apr 2008 at 6:29 pm ¶

7. Bohemian Writer wrote:

   Just curious: Does the name Giselle sound like a “black” name to you? My family is black from Trinidad & Cuba, & I’ve gotten weird expressions from people when I tell them my name?

   Posted 26 Apr 2008 at 7:14 pm ¶

8. marge twain wrote:

   P.S. My real name is a sanskrit one. What I wrote above makes less sense if my name is marge

   Posted 26 Apr 2008 at 10:21 pm ¶

9. RoslynHolcomb wrote:

   I worked with a white woman for several years whose name was Renae Williams. She talked about similar experiences, especially given the ‘unique’ spelling of her name. Everyone assumed she was black. I’ve never met another white woman named Renae, at least not in our age cohort. I don’t know how common it is now.

   Posted 27 Apr 2008 at 9:13 am ¶

10. Mickey wrote:

    I have a unique name, or at least I thought it was until I found a comic book writer who has it as his last name. DAMN IT!

    My real name does not give away my ethinicty. It’s neither White nor Black, but the last name is VERY White (at least in my area)

    Freakanomics did an excellent story on names and social class. I think when some people see those stereotypical Black names, they think low class, which is not always true.

    My friends and I talk about stereotypical White names that WE sometimes associate with lower class (Amber, Tiffany, Nicole) but I live in the South, so this could just be a regional thing about these names.

    Posted 27 Apr 2008 at 2:58 pm ¶

11. lechatnoir wrote:

    @ Mickey I don’t think its something to be proud of that your name does not give your “ethnicity” away . sounds like “yeepee yeah! ” thank god i am not assumed black.

    @Giselle.
    Giselle is an old fashioned French name ( very at that ), the reason why it became “black” is because women from former french colonies in africa still use it. 9/10 when I hear that name I see a black face .

    Both my names are africans, I intend to keep the legacy going, my ancestors designed those names for me to use.My name sounds “neutral” to both blacks and whites.

    I lost control over its pronunciation, most people refuse to pronounce the way it is supposed to even after i corrected them.

    Posted 28 Apr 2008 at 10:07 am ¶

12. Mickey wrote:

    @lechatnoir

    I wasn’t trying to come off as proud that my name didn’t “sound “Black; it doesn’t “sound” particularly White either. It doesn’t “sound” anything. That’s why I love it.

    I was simply stating a fact in relation to my name.

    Also, why couldn’t it be “Yipee, thank God I’m not assumed White!”?

    Posted 28 Apr 2008 at 11:38 am ¶

13. deb wrote:

    Freakanomics did an excellent story on names and social class. I think when some people see those stereotypical Black names, they think low class, which is not always true.

    I didn’t read the book, but I did read an article at Slate about it a couple of years ago.

    I didn’t know names like “Amber, Tiffany, Nicole” are considered low class. Is that among whites?

    Posted 28 Apr 2008 at 11:46 am ¶

14. Mickey wrote:

    @ Deb

    Where I live those names are commonly associated with a certain income level among White people. I have had some White girlfriends tell me that Amber/Tiffany/Nicole are considered “stripper names” and would never consider those names for their kids.

    I haven’t met an Amber/Tiffany/Nicole that wasn’t born in the 80’s.

    I think certain names get a stigma when they fall out of favor. Will Emma be a “stripper name” 20 years from now?

    But like I said, it could just be a regional thing. I do live way out in the sticks.

    Posted 28 Apr 2008 at 7:04 pm ¶

15. Alston wrote:

    @Giselle: Here in Montreal, you would find that name spelled almost exclusively the French way, obviously, that is as “Gisèle”. It would likely be associated with a white woman between 40-55, working in an office. I have never seen it associated with a black woman who, around here, is automatically assumed to be Haitian. This is not a typical Haitian name as far as I can see.

    @RoslynHolcomb: The only Renae with that spelling I have ever met is a white redhead, my ex’s sister. She’s about 28 years old. Again, here things are completely different from English Canada and the US.

    From what I can determine, there are black-associated names in Canada, but they are less likely to be made up, at least on the English side. They are more likely to have old colonial British names (or in my case, pre-Magna Carta names, modernized), or old colonial French names very closely associated with French masters. Haitian names seem to have a smaller range of possibilities, but you also do get some inventiveness. You’ll see names like “Dieudonné” (God-given), for example. There is meaning in the made-up names with black francophones that does not appears to largely exist with black American made-up names. In any case, there are definitely markers of black names in both English Canada and French Canada, and the consequences are similar.

    Posted 29 Apr 2008 at 3:35 pm ¶

16. deb wrote:

    Haitian names seem to have a smaller range of possibilities, but you also do get some inventiveness.

    Check out: Zimbabwean baby names and Kenyan baby names.

    Posted 30 Apr 2008 at 10:16 am ¶