Should I say thanks but no thanks to Desmond Burton for clarifying his "underclass Afrocentric names?" This is one of the reasons I try to stay away from the "bloggers round table" but lucky for me I'm online today.

So Burton tried to take his foot off his mouth by specifying Barack Obama's name is different since it's an authentic African name. Gee thanks I guess, since my name is reckoned as such. But that will be like saying thanks to a back-handed compliment. What the Crap (I'm trying to contain myself from saying what I'm really thinking)!!!

Now I get his stereotypical point of view but I've seen people with such names as Lakiesha who are the very antithesis of what he said. So what should they do? Change their names because a few with similar sounding names gained a bad national spotlight. Even his example of Barack's doesn't hold water, he-llo how many times have people compared his last name to that of a terrorist who will remain nameless. I can recall a few English three-names examples that were infamous for crimes against humanity - hey maybe that will help Burton from prejudgment.

Sent by Moji | 6:21 PM ET | 02-06-2008

Why not face the facts. There is a deep resentment by blacks in this country against whites. This is understandable given how they have been treated and this bitterness can only be tempered by time. Blacks are going through what all uneducated races have had to go through. They are looking for recognition whether it is in their dress, their actions or their name. Unfortunately, unlike many other races who have traveled this path they have the added burden of long held prejudices that have been passed down from one generation to another. It is changing but old prejudices die hard. There is an caveat to this situation. There are countless examples of different peoples living for long periods of time together and then turning on each other. As an example, the Croats and Serbs lived together for generations, same small towns,good neighbors, and even inter married, and then for no clear reason started killing each other. We need to face this fact and educate ourselves against such a thing happening. There is hope for all of our futures but only through education.

Sent by Tim Cassidy | 6:58 PM ET | 02-06-2008

Your blogger clearly has issues. When will we finally stop letting people dictate how we feel about ourselves and what what we call ourselves. The funny part is he points to Freakonomics, as if that is the holy grail of proof that people with black-sounding names (why does it have to be afrocentric?)are criminals or likely to be. Yeah, just like it was some kind of revelation to the authors of that book that there's no real profit in selling drugs and its not like a music video. I don't have to go farther than Park Heights and Northern Parkway to figure that out!

Sent by Nic | 7:44 PM ET | 02-06-2008

What the name have to do with it.
The leader of the NATION OF ISLAM
name is literally cancer to the
Obama campaign, yet colin ferguson
if for his killing madness could
pass as a white dude in the
McCain camp.AS nice as Chideya
sounds in African/blackness a name
too black to head Obama campaign,
Clinton campaign or McCain campaign

Sent by jerry a. Myers | 1:07 AM ET | 02-07-2008

Lawd my my my... [my granny talking from across the other side..]. You know sometimes you have to stop focusing on the messenger and concentrate on the message to comprehend why you are at this cross-roads. Let us look at the message: "stereotypical, underclass Afrocentric names...". Now, it is being implied here that being of African descedent and having an African name is somehow related to a western economic construct of social class stratification. Ignorance run amuck that concept is. First, what your mama names you at birth as no bearing on your economics in adulthood. Second, law enforcement does not stop to check your name prior to committing acts of over-the-top systemic police brutality. If the messenger is reading these comments, he may recall that a certain actor of African descedent who shares his anglophonic "Burton" surname had an experience with the LAPD whilst driving whilst being BLACK because the profiling officier could not quite comprehend a person such as he driving an automobile such as that. It has nothing to do with this class status presumption as much as it had to do with this race.

In a typical African village grouping, there is a stratification of duties and chores for most of the inhabitants. There is no upper class, middle class, underclass because everybody is of the same class - human. And yes, some members of the group may aggressively boost their economic clout by producing more products or acquiring more cattle than their immediate need but this is merely savings for a rainy day.

So, as Africans let us drop the BS about classes and stratifications since we are all one class. As long as we keep attempting to define our experience within the narrow concepts of euro-americanisms we are doomed. As long as we are so narrow of mind to think that our elimination [one by one via profiled, direct intend] is because of a presumption of underclass economic status and African naming conventions, we are REALLY doomed. Because after they have eliminated all of the jamals, the isishas, the kwames, the kwesis, the Farais, the Malis, the Nanas, then what? whose next?

If this woman, my sistah had been some poor white, meth addict or related to a meth dealing white hippie, she would still be here today and quite.

Sent by K MJUMBE [yeah he gots an African name so what] | 3:29 AM ET | 02-07-2008

Well I expected to receive my fair share of barbs from the NPR listening audience but I stand by my original comments. I am allowed to be specific and discern between names. There is a definite difference between "Baratunde" (shout out to one of our fellow bloggers) and "Rayquan" or "Shayquan." I also referenced Freakonomics because it serves as an excellent treatise for correlating names (both stereotypical underclass White and Black names) and economic opportunity. But beyond the name controversy, the case in Lima showed a variety of cues that lead to the tragic death of the young woman beyond alleged police brutality. I repeat-there was a constant theme that we can no longer deny, coddle or excuse away. The reporting of the case denoted pit bulls, digital weight scales, drugs, guns as well as the 26-year-old victim possessing 6 children by FIVE DIFFERENT MEN! Either we are going to continue to be politically correct or we are going to address the habitual dysfunctionalism. It seems pretty clear to me. If you would like to flesh this out further, we are going to have an internet show (afronerdradio.com) at 9pm eastern and you guys can continue to "attempt" to roast my carcass. More info at the site.

Sent by Desmond Burton | 9:22 AM ET | 02-07-2008

I'm not trying to pass judgement right now I hope Mr. Burton sees this and writes in to clarify why he thinks names and socio-economic status play into why this woman and her baby were shot at.

Thank you Geoffrey for creating this post!
:)

Sent by ceecee | 9:25 AM ET | 02-07-2008

I barely ever listen to News and Notes anymore, but I thought I'd give a listen to the show today, because Mary Francis Berry was in one of the segments... Not only was I disappointed by Berry trying to make Hillary Clinton the "underdog", but I have to hear this foolishness about "afrocentric names" and "what is actually happening with some of our underclass black folk". I actually thought Mr. Burton was being facetious, but no, just ridiculous. And the "make me feel good" comment... again, ridiculous. "Black people are going to have to learn how to deal with malfeasance" Why Farai? Why?

Really, I don't have a problem with people disagreeing with me, as long as they make a reasonable argument. Farai, please get some different guests. I know you want people from our generation, and not the usual "Tavis Smiley" panel, but Ed Gordon wasn't so bad!

Sent by Joy | 10:16 AM ET | 02-07-2008

Wow. Since when did 'Freakonomics' become a reference point for afrocentricity?

Sent by Bill M | 10:56 AM ET | 02-07-2008

Like it or not - Desmond has a point (for those of you who haven't read "Freakonomics" and related studies. There has been a lot of evidence that clearly and persuasively suggests educational and economic opportunities are diminished for people with certain sounding names. It's common knowledge that people with the name Lawrence have a higher propensity to turn out to be lawyers. Equally important - I think it's time we separated this whole notion that Shanaynay and Rayquan are African sounding names. they are not. If you examine African names you can see the clear differences. No - Shanaynay and Rayquan are attempts by African Americans to grant their children a uniquely constructed "black" rather than "African" sounding name. And as long as we're being honest - very few of us have NEVER poked fun at one of these unique names and quite a few of us do so on a regular basis whenever the opportunity arises. The difference is what psychologist term the theory of ingroup diversity vs the theory of outgroup homogeneity. As black folk (ingroup diversity) we know that a person can be talented with an African or black name and a complete scoundrel with a more anglo sounding name (Brian Nichols" anyone?). The problem is that vast majority of predominately white educators, human resource personnel etc operate under the theory of outgroup homogeneity - that is to say that we black people are stereotypical and mostly the same without much variation. If we acknowledge this - we can't help but affirm that black and African-sounding names are not met with the same objectivity and benefit of the doubt as other names. Plenty of solid studies underscore the fact that mostly white human resource people routinely discard resumes that have these types of names at the top. That said - whether it's right or wrong - there is a price to be paid for some of these names and even in the market of experimentalism - there is a cost to be paid. Not only that - but when we are in a society that is known for redlining applications from black people, pushing subprime financial garbage at black folk, and subpar customer service as well - it's clear that there is a social cost to having one of these types of names. It's just the way it is.

Sent by Whole 9 | 1:48 PM ET | 02-07-2008

Whole 9 and Desmond Burton, your way of thinking is what Fela calls colo-mentality (colonial mentality)

Now I think it's a wonderful thing that these studies are being brought to light and expose HR practises. But I think it is extremely dangerous to roll over and accept these studies.

If we say oh, the reason why I'm changing my name to a euro sounding name is so I can get a good job and all, then aren't you giving power to these prejudiced people? There should be an outcry against such practices!

Sent by ceecee | 2:43 PM ET | 02-07-2008

"Plenty of solid studies underscore the fact that mostly white human resource people routinely discard resumes that have these types of names at the top."

Whole 9:

I pray you get your thinking checked with the above statement. Where is your belief in the core decency of the American people? I'm not going to say a few don't have their hang ups but as someone who's broke color barriers in classrooms and careers; I disprove your theory. Sometimes, the most defining breaks came from your said "white human resource people." I must say I've done pretty well with my life with an "African sounding name." Normally I just highlight my first name on this site but just for good measure, I'll list my full name so you could figure that out.

Ceecee:

Thanks for the Fela reference.

Sent by Moji Oderinde | 3:15 PM ET | 02-07-2008

In reply... pardon my typographical error in the post above the last word should have been alive.

Further, Burton do us a favour please, do not regurgitate media say mishmash who knows or checking facts. And so, what if sistah have ten children by 19 different men, you nor I nor anyone but her knows her biography. Also, it would not matter if an African paradigm anyway who the birth seed giving father was/is since it would be the duty of the mother's brother [i.e. uncle] to make certain the child is reared properly within the village context. Are you willing to rise to the occassion of that duty? I noted on checking your blog page that you are featuring a header of el Hajj el Malik Shabazz [Malcolm X as some term him still incorrectly]. What are his daughters names? Who they fit into your western euro-american "freakonomics" paradigm of responsibility of blaming the victim instead of the system[s]. What is in a name, nothing.. put I do applaud any african mother who at least attempt to connect their progency to their African roots because at least they are not so sucked into the "euro-american is the only right white way" mindset. I think it high time the as African folks we start applying the power to define instead of submitting to being "DEFINE". Do you know the difference Burton, et al.?

Whole 9-- I can concur on your CV/resume analysis since I do law and have a nice African male name at the top. I change it once to Robert Jones just to see what would happen. I go a lot my invites with RJ than K Mjumbe so you know I did. I wrote them all BLACK and OFF for being the racist and ignorant that they are. But it also made me emancipate my African self from their economics money trip too. Because a host of whites are mentally lazy and my find solstice in a comfort zone of euro-american naming conventions does not mean that I, as an African, an comfort with those same conventions. I concur with CeeCee

Sent by K MJUMBE | 4:30 PM ET | 02-07-2008

it's clear that there is a social cost to having one of these types of names. It's just the way it is.

And that price includes getting shot by the police?

Cripes...

Sent by P6 | 4:30 PM ET | 02-07-2008

It finally had to happen.

Like when you keep a "pet" cobra around, all it takes is a flash of memory for the creature to know who and what it is and the next thing you're laying on the floor, black, blue, bloated, and dead.
Now she knows you for the classist self-hating stooge of right-wing demogogary that you stand for. Not that you haven't said even more preposterous things, but it finally had to happen.

I like the "blame the messenger" excuse, but what about blaming the victim? Intellectually weak individuals (demagogues) will throw any smoke screen like her name or how many children this woman had to keep us from seeing the real issue; cops kill and hate working class people of color. If you are not rich, or live in a suburb, prepare to have your door beaten down regardless if you are a drug dealer or a banker as long as you share the same zip code. That is the real issue; was the violence needed and necessary? Drug dealers typically are the biggest cowards in the hood. They shoot each other and innocent bystanders, but will be the first to hit the floor when raided by p..uh, cops. With that in mind and since the boys in blue operate in deadly packs and armed to the teat, do they really have anything to worry about when they raid a drug dealer's home? So keep rationalizing state-sponsored violence. It seems that that is few things the black bourgeoisie is good at now a days.

LOL.

Sent by brotherkomrade | 4:49 PM ET | 02-07-2008

I really hate being "right" or "on the right" on these matters but case in point, one of the Jena 6 has just been arrested for assault...again. Folks, there are discernible patterns to this aberrant behavior and many progressives not unlike some of the aforementioned commenters really do not have a substantive answers for this behavior. These are not the type of individuals that should be used to herald a "new" civil rights movement. These activists are so in a hurry to get media attention and notoriety that discernment and appropriate character investigation are never considered. And mind you masses of Black folk went to this guy's defense only to receive a mound of feces right on their fresh new "Free Jena" t-shirts. I mention the patterns of some the underclass set (again, certainly a fraction of the Black community but they exist nonetheless) and the circle of dysfunctionalism continues and no real response from the apologists.

Sent by Desmond Burton | 11:41 PM ET | 02-07-2008

Buddha i did it again. Pardon that posting above as it made no sense. i need to stop letting my ire get up into my fingers here. My prior message should have read:

In reply... pardon my typographical error in the post above the last word should have been "alive."
Further, Burton do us a favor please, do not regurgitate media mishmash about who knows what without checking facts. And so, what if sistah have ten children by 19 different men, you nor I nor anyone but her knows her biography. Also, it would not matter any way within an African paradigm. Since the birth seed giving father was/ is less important in child rearing than the mother's brother [i.e. uncle] to make certain the child is reared properly within the village context. Are you willing to rise to the occasion of that last duty? I noted on checking your blog page that you are featuring a header of el Hajj el Malik Shabazz [Malcolm X as some term him still incorrectly]. What are his daughters' names? Do they fit into your western euro-american "freakonomics" paradigm of blaming the victim instead of the system[s]? You know what the son of one of the daughter did to his grandmother right? What is in a name, nothing. I do applaud any African mother who at least attempts to connect their progeny to their African roots because at least they are not so sucked into the "euro-american is the only right white way" mindset. I think it high time the as African folks we start applying the power to define to ourselves instead of submitting to being "DEFINE". Do you know the difference Burton, et al.?
Whole 9-- I can concur on your CV/resume analysis since I do law and have a nice African male name at the top of my CV. I change it once to Robert Jones just to see what would happen. I got a lot more invites with RJ than K Mjumbe so you know I did. I wrote them all BLACK and OFF [the RJ ones who respond to me] for being the racists and ignorant saps that they are/were. But it also made me emancipate my African self from their economics money trip too. Because a host of whites are mentally lazy and many find solstice in a comfort zone of euro-american naming conventions only but that does not mean that I, as an African, an in a comfort with those same conventions. I concur with CeeCee analysis.

Asante sana sana

Sent by KMJUMBE | 3:51 AM ET | 02-08-2008

The Jena 6 fight was not about the individuals who made up the Jena 6, but the racist and unfair actions on the part of the Judge there. Do you honestly believe that things would have turned out differently if the Jena 6 were made up of a fine and upright citizen as yourself? Yes, there were people who made these guys celebs, but that was the fault of others who do not have a clear political understanding of racial injustice or how to convey the issues to the masses.
Stop going with what your eyes tell you and what is SAID or SHOWN on TV and use your intellect.

Sent by Brotherkomrade | 1:42 PM ET | 02-08-2008

On previous ocassions I have heard Afronerd's conservative schtick but I thought it was limited to "messy Jesse" and the like. The comment that is now in question just shows he is willing to stoop even further.

To take a circumstance involving 2 deaths that is barely sorted out and fundamentally reduce it to the naming of children is beyond tenous and illegitimate.

Is there a similar publication of reference that has correlations between names and white collar criminals?

To the Jena 6 situation, if you can't see that the protest was about a systemic abuse of power that relegated Blacks in the 21st century to the status of second class citizens in Jena, then that speaks volumes.

Sent by Jefferson Sergeant | 3:50 AM ET | 02-10-2008

First off, I never relegated the death of the Tarika Wilson to her name, those who choose to consistently ignore some of the traits or indicators of the lifestyle that Wilson lived focused on my name remark. I mentioned a number of issues that appear to bear a common thread with the senseless death of our inner city youth-deaths that appear to be occurring in record numbers . I referenced Freakonomics because it also highlights certain ghettocentric names as correlating with poverty and low expectations. Funny that it is impossible for a person to have a different opinion and all of the sudden it is perceived as "shtick." Again, it is not about being insensitive but it's about trying to ask for some acknowledgement of our complicity with these tragedies. Being polite or PC is not doing our minority youth any favors. Further, I would posit that consistently making excuses by ignoring the indicators (in this case-pit bulls, digital weight scales, drug dealing paramours, drugs on premises, etc) and yes -- names that point to a symptom of the aforementioned lifestyle. It's akin to diagnosing cancer and not analyzing the symptoms of the disease. The truth is rarely attractive folks. Let's start to get real so we can also start to save some lives.

Sent by Desmond Burton | 8:13 AM ET | 02-11-2008

The last commenter said it best, Desmond has really hit a new low with these comments. I want him to give us evidence of this so called connection between names and socio-economic conditions.
This guy has angered me before but with his latest comments I am really without words. It is clear now that Desmond has no respect for women, children, and Black people.

Sent by N.C. | 8:57 AM ET | 02-11-2008

Hmmm... I see only comments about names.

So far, I see that no one has addressed the moral crime of subjecting a child to the lifestyle which obviously prevailed in that home.

The name issue is virtually unimportant, other than providing cover from a reality many of you would rather not address.

Sent by TBD | 1:01 PM ET | 02-11-2008

If this woman's name Patricia, would that have made the shootings (assuming they were) less justifiable?

What if all of here children were fathered by the same man? Does that make the shooting less reprehensible?

Does law enforcement have a greater obligation to shoot me in cold blood, if I am an unarmed, non-suspect, who happens to be in love with a criminal because my name is Jahkwwesiah? Her name could have had all 22 consanants and 5 vowels and it still doesn't make the actions of the SWAT team right. BUT, this young lady bears some of the responsibility for her own death.

I am concerned about the fact that this story is being spinned to abrogate the young lady from her responsibility of placing her love for a drug dealing thug above the welfare of her children.

That is the REAL issue here. Her name could have been HORTENSE and this would have gone down in the same manner. How is that her family members knew that this woman was a magnet for drug dealers, but no one INTERVENED to help her and more importantly, the children?

If she wanted to date criminals and put her life at risk, fine. However, when children are involved, your life is NO LONGER YOUR OWN. People giving birth to children, regardless of what their circumstances may be, have an ONUS to REAR their children and keep them safe. This woman's selfishness got her killed.

I don't really give a damn about her name. My indignation results from the fact that she DIDN'T CARE ENOUGH about her family to protect them. This same thing went down with the HOVEY Street Murders (although it wasn't law enforcement who did the killing).

Sent by Shane | 2:04 PM ET | 02-11-2008

To Burton, your having a different opinion doesn't define your comments as schtick; what you actually say accomplishes that.

I am not denying the level of personal responsibility that was abdicated by the victim in bringing children into an environment of danger. I believe that is self-evident; what really diminishes this fact is the need of people like Burton to engage in sophistry when discussing these issues.

What we heard is the standard talking point diversions that are involved in discussions like these.

Here are some examples.

When there is a debate involving affirmative action where the pre-requisite example of the issue is the unqualified Black candidate taking the job from a compotent White person. The fact that White women are the greatest beneficiaries of Affirmative Action isn't brought up because it doesn't tap into the racist stereotype.

In much the same way; the discussion about welfare takes the same tone. Single Black mother with an overflowing cart of groceries at Pathmark getting over on the system. The reality of Welfare only being 1% of the budget and Whites making the majority of recepients is usually overlooked.

What Burton did falls right into this vein as he sought to throw in this aspect of pseudo African names to augment a racist stereotype.

Sent by Jefferson Sergeant | 12:44 AM ET | 02-12-2008

Afrocetnric is an excellent way to characterize these names. Like the afrocetnric myth (that Western civilization originated in Africa--debunked brilliantly by Mary Lefkowitz in Not out of Africa ) they have nothing to do with Africa. "Tarika" is just made up gibberish: it has no meaning, no etymology, and no history. It is not African. One did not see names like these in the black community in the 1950s and 1960s. As a Middle school Latin teacher in a predominately black school I have had ample opportunity to observe how these names developed. At first (in the early 1980s), one saw names like "Moneek" and "Lukreesha" which were clearly attempts to achieve a phonetic spelling of ordinary names, made by mothers who did now how to spell their childern's names and did not care to learn. Then one began to see elaborations and variations such as Moneequa and LaKreesha -- attempts to make them sound more feminine by adding a spurious feminine elements from the romance languages. Then they developed at random until Tarika seems tame (I have also seen Pepsi and Porsche as given names -- a parallel rather than strictly related development, although I do not think the latter has anything to do with Shakespeare). Then, in the late 1990s one began to see in the baby name book section by the checkout lane in the supermarket texts offering lists of such gibberish, each one provided with a fake meaning in "African Language" -- whatever that means. It is a horrible comment on the black underclass turning its back on education as a means of escape from poverty.

Sent by Helena Constantine | 9:27 PM ET | 02-13-2008

I know this might seem a bit after the fact but I wanted to contribute to the conversation about Afro-centric names. I am an African American; more specifically, my mother is white and my father is black. I was raised by my mother and so have taken on her name. Just to recap, I look like your average light skinned black chick, my name however, is Johanna Grace Wojciechowski. This as you, whomever is reading this, is ridiculously Polish. As a result, when my name is seen on paper and I speak with people on the phone they in their stupidity, make the assumption that I am white. Now imagine their surprise when a tall, slender BLACK girl walks in for a job interview. I have even experienced peoples' awe to this anomoly in verbal form, "Oh, I didn't realize you were black". This simply proves, in my mind, that having a name like Lafonda, or Tamika, does have a profound affect upon how you are viewed by society outside of law and order and one's own community. It begs the question, would I have gotten any of those interviews if my name was Shaquita Jenkins?

By the by, I am a graduate of Simmons College in Boston.

Sent by Johanna Wojciechowski | 1:10 PM ET | 02-14-2008

Johanna thank you for illustrating the point so clearly. I have a similar-sounding name that is about as "white sounding" as yours (Irish and Greek). I get interviews and strange looks also (although to date no one has said to my face that they weren't expecting a brown-skinned bald headed black man). Ceecee you're right - there "should be" an outcry against these heinous HR practices but the fact is - there isn't and in fact "there should" be outcrys against a lot of things. But living in a "there should be" world doesn't quite cut it in the real world that we actually live in. There is no "outcry" and there is no "outcry" on the horizon. Further - an "outcry" won't necessarily change the outcomes. Like it or not - "we" are in America and things here are not as they "should be". Like it or not, right or wrong - people do judge a book by it's cover - in this case a name with a connect-the-dots complexion, and you may be intentionally overlooked because of this practice. With all do respect to Fela - 'it is what it is' and until those who have the power to change their attitudes decide to do so - the situation will continue to have perilous consequences for the increasingly limited opportunities of people AFFLICTED with these types of names. I don't like that reality anymore than anyone else but refusing to recognize the impact doesn't change the impact. Moji I am glad that your name has not held you back and you are indeed a wonderful example - but you are an example of the exception rather than the rule. All indications are that you simply have not had the misfortune of running into the wrong HR person or individual with teh hiring decision. If the basic American were really as "decent" and deserving as you seem to think they are - we wouldn't be having this discussion, Amadou Diallo would still be alive, Rodney King wouldn't have been beaten, Martin Luther King wouldn't have been shot, and the pathetically long list of what should be would be much shorter. Unfortunately - we don't live in that make believe world. We live in America....where "decent people" who are in a position to change things have never apologized for slavery and choose to discount it's ongoing generational effects, red light meaningful art (movies, music) in favor of ghettoized and sterotypical trash that further In reality it's impossible to successfully resolve an issue if some people are basing their opinions on make-believe worlds rather than the real world we are actually living in.

There are both internal and external reasons that our community is suffering. Under the present circumstances, providing your child with a name that is clearly going to hinder them is an "internal" adjustment that needs to be made. Even if they are groomed to be entreprenuers rather than having to interact with HR people in search of a job - they will still experience broad discrimination the awarding of contracts, the prices they pay to suppliers and distributors etc. The facts are the facts....lets argue the facts and not the imaginary "should be" world we'd all like to wake up and live in. This is not "Cabin In the Sky."

Sent by Whole9 | 4:03 PM ET | 02-14-2008

In the immortal words of Marcel Hall (aka Biz Markie):

"Damn it feels good to see people up on it
cause I remember when at first they wasn't
Now guess what they caught from my cousin
The vapors"

All jokes aside, as one of the previous commenters has just so eloquently stated-there is a way the world should work and way that it DOES work. The troubling part is so many folks are concerned with the name and not the symptoms that caused the ghetto-centric (or pseudo Afrocentric) nomenclature and the "minor" criminal aesthetics that doomed Tarika and her child(ren). Time to get real folks and stop the PC sensitivities because the death count continues while you continue to row your boats in "da' nile."

Sent by Desmond Burton | 11:50 PM ET | 02-14-2008

@Whole 9, if we don't cry loud enough then change will not come. There are so many ways to skin a cat. Obviously just talking loudly about it within the african-american community isn't cutting it.

When I say outcry, it doesn't necessarily mean talk about it only. Moji's name did not stop her because she didn't just sit and complain but made sure she made it very hard for corporate america not to recognize her by getting excellent grades (I imagine) in college towards a professional degree and when getting in worked hard to get the promotions that she can now proudly say "shattered glass ceilings".

Sent by ceecee | 10:58 AM ET | 02-15-2008

Whole 9:

I just choose to see the glass "half-full" than rest on horrific acts of 40, 15 or even 10 years ago to think anyone that doesn't look like me, for the most part is racist.

And for all your theories, the ironic thing is over five years ago, only one black man who was a new employee in a former company and was old enough to be my father asked me if people called me by any other name besides "Moji." When I told him I didn't understand what he was saying, he said and I quote "it is not your typical English names like Charlie or Mary . . . so I was wondering if you prefer to be called by another name." What I said to him in the presence of another employee in the lunch room was "No it's not your typical English name but so is your black American names like Laquishas, Sheniquas and your Moeshas. I believe if you could say those, you could say Moji." The new guy looked stunned and my colleague almost choked on his lunch. So that proves a famed author's theory: "All my skin folk ain't my kin folk."

So in the year 2008, I see a viable Presidential candidate with a name like mine, an ABC correspondent, and live in an area where different International names would not make me bat an eye - that's the America I choose to see.

Sent by Moji | 10:59 AM ET | 02-15-2008

This says it all...a gentleman just put this post on my blog a few moments ago, you be the judge:

I just heard a clip of the roundtable discussion on Afro-centric names and wanted to share this perspective with you.

A month ago I was sitting at my buddy Kituku's place in Nairobi, Kenya. He's a young, successful Kenyan dentist - I'm a white American photographer.

We were watching a sports show on satellite TV where there was a black American female athlete with a typical Afrocentric name.

My friend Kituku posed me this question: "Where do black Americans get all these funny names from?" (his exact words)

I thought about it and responded that I thought it came as a reaction against the Christian names inherited from the days of slavery, and that they came up with these names to sound well...he looked at me..."more African."

Kituku burst out laughing. To an African, the idea that a name like Shaniqua or Tarika, etc is somehow "more African" is preposterous and a little bit insulting. He ended up shaking his head and giving me the vibe that I usually get from people overseas when talking about American idiosyncrasies - "you Americans are crazy!"

My issue with so-called Afrocentric names is not that they seek to be Afrocentric - I think authentic Swahili names like Amani (peace) are both beautiful and meaningful - it is that they show a lack of respect for authentic African culture. Africa is a humongous continent with hundreds of languages - the differences between which are often as great as the difference between English and Chinese. I feel it is a bit simplistic and insulting to African culture to invent a name simply because it "sounds African".
Mzungu Mmoja | Homepage | 02.15.08 - 2:28 pm | #

I rest my case...it is what it is.

Sent by Desmond Burton | 4:58 PM ET | 02-15-2008

The fact he is right ??? in a way. Your name might indicate the probability of your future success. In ???Freakonimics??? by Malcom Gladwell he addresses the question of what???s in a name from an economic perspective. Young mothers with little education (regardless of race) are much more likely to give their children an unusual name or name with an unusual spelling. Your mother???s economic status is a strong predictor of your future economics. So if you have an unusual name it may mean you grew up poor, your mother had little education, and you were poorly placed to succeed. Keep in mind ??? names that would be considered unusual or unusually spelled does vary by race.

Sent by AJ | 11:24 AM ET | 04-03-2008