African-American Name for White Child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing - my DD is named Parisia, which is a farsi name. We are white, and she has blonde hair and blue eyes. We chose the name because we think it is beautiful. But every time someone asks what her name is, we have to get into some whole conversation justifying why we chose it, and that can be very irritating.

The thing is PP, you do not have to have that conversation. Even if someone is rude enough to ask why would chose the name a simple "becasue we like it" should be enough to shut them up.

I totally agree because people always assume. My husband is African American, but his name is Arabic. And every single time, we are asked the same question. It's really none of their business and then I would answer their question with a question about their name? Once you start playing that game, they stop.

Why is it suddenly UN-PC to ask questions regarding ethnicity and quite possibly religion? My maiden name was a zinger. So I was asked all sorts of questions. I never took offense. One of my student's parents even mispronounced it by calling me Ms. Calzone! I laughed for months after. Did I label him ignorant? certainly! But that's all he knew. So I addressed it and moved on. When you ignore these situations, they only become worse.

So pick your panties out of your ass cracks and stop whining!

I have friends that choose a rather unusual name for both of their children. In each of their birth announcement they included a slip of paper with a paragraph that described the origins of the name, where it came from, what it meant in the original language, why they choose it as their DCs name, and made the connection to their family history, etc. I think that went a long way with family and close friends, who then didn't need to ask (or make snarky comments behind her back). Also, it probably helped them to have a pat answer if the question came up. Not sure if that works for OP, if the name is just picked b/c it sounds go and had no connection to the family.

[Anonymous]

"My husband always joked about giving our kids "AA" names in the hopes that it would help them get into a good college when they're trying to fill the minority quotient, since you're not required by law to disclose your race. He thought it was so funny. "

You and your husband are racists. Congratulations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I have friends that choose a rather unusual name for both of their children. In each of their birth announcement they included a slip of paper with a paragraph that described the origins of the name, where it came from, what it meant in the original language, why they choose it as their DCs name, and made the connection to their family history, etc. I think that went a long way with family and close friends, who then didn't need to ask (or make snarky comments behind her back). Also, it probably helped them to have a pat answer if the question came up. Not sure if that works for OP, if the name is just picked b/c it sounds go and had no connection to the family.

cool idea!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"My husband always joked about giving our kids "AA" names in the hopes that it would help them get into a good college when they're trying to fill the minority quotient, since you're not required by law to disclose your race. He thought it was so funny. "

You and your husband are racists. Congratulations.

Why is this racist? Serious question. I do not know the latest on court ruling for affirmative action in colleges, but I thought that schools are allowed to account for "diversity" which is another way of saying affirmative action. So, it is simply a fact (or it was prior to the rules being struck down if they have been) that schools would like to have diverse student bodies and an applicant gets bonus points for having particular heritage. It is also a fact that there are names that are more popular with various ethnicities including AA and they are often distinct. It is just like the Seinfeld episode with the girl who was not actually chinese. (I am setting aside the point made my a PP that you actually have to check a box to get credit for racial diversity).

People make jokes about what they could do in various facets of life, that is human nature. So, here we have someone that takes two facts (affirmative action and distinct cultural names) and makes a joke about it.

Is it offensive because it implies that minority applicants can only get into competitive colleges because of affirmative action? I think it is. And many minority applicants could get into competitive schools without affirmative action and this stereotype is not fair to them. Some applicants do, however, get an edge because of minority heritage and frankly, it does not always benefit students that have disadvantages growing up. I am not AA , but I live in DC and if my children graduate from a DCPS high school (its a long was off, but it could happen), they will get an edge in college application because of the diverse makeup and socioeconomic challenges of DCPS. Does my child have the same educated parents and familial support and encouragement of the children of a family that lives blocks from me in Montgomery County, I think so. Is my well regarded upper NW school really socially or economically diverse, not really. Nonetheless my child will get credit for graduating in a urban district and my understanding is that it kicks your acceptances up a notch (not why we live in DC by the way).

So, some minority applicants get an edge. Also, lots of minority students are assumed to have received acceptances b/c of minority status. I by the way, graduated from UCLA law school many years ago and, at least at the time, UCLA LAw reserved 40% of the incoming class space for diversity applicants. You can bet a lot of students assumed that it was easier fro AA students to get accepted. Is this racist or is it a fair conclusion in many instances and just why there is such a thing as stereotypes.

I think it is too easy to call someone racist that admits to a kind of joking that many people do with no ill will at all.

By the way, I resisted looking at this thread for days and finally had to look because it would not go away.

[Anonymous]

"I read through 10 pages of this thread and all I got was a lousy dose of DC random musings."

OP, what is the friggin' name?!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"My husband always joked about giving our kids "AA" names in the hopes that it would help them get into a good college when they're trying to fill the minority quotient, since you're not required by law to disclose your race. He thought it was so funny. "

You and your husband are racists. Congratulations.

I agree. Such comments are prejudiced. Guess what, there are many AA people with higher IQs than both of you who would get in on merit, believe it or not.

[Anonymous]

Don't assume ANYTHING in this area. This area does NOT have the market on smart people, as some might think More often than not, this area has the market on idiocy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"I read through 10 pages of this thread and all I got was a lousy dose of DC random musings."

OP, what is the friggin' name?!?

Is it Mulva?

[Anonymous]

hells bells, my heritage is english and spouse is burmese (look it up) and we named our daughter melanie paige... she looks like her dad but her name will probably give her an advantage...I admit when I see a resume for a laquita or jeutanoya coming across my desk I think twice but I also consider the choungs and the jansky's of the world and try to keep an open mind about their skillset.

[Anonymous]

How would you react to the name Condoleezza?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:hells bells, my heritage is english and spouse is burmese (look it up) and we named our daughter melanie paige... she looks like her dad but her name will probably give her an advantage...I admit when I see a resume for a laquita or jeutanoya coming across my desk I think twice but I also consider the choungs and the jansky's of the world and try to keep an open mind about their skillset.

If you are all about names on resumes, you should have given her an Asian name. People would have thought she was smarter. Asians have higher IQs on average than anyone else, and they make more money on average in the US than anyone else.

[Anonymous]

Asians have higher IQs

I bet you were the type to go up to the Asian kid at school to ask him for help with your math,just because he was Asian, weren't you? This isn't much different than when Amy was claiming that Jews were funnier than non-Jews.

[Anonymous]

Again, I'm pretty sure OP was a troll. He/she hasn't weighed in ONCE since starting this convo and was probably just trying to rile people up about racial issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"My husband always joked about giving our kids "AA" names in the hopes that it would help them get into a good college when they're trying to fill the minority quotient, since you're not required by law to disclose your race. He thought it was so funny. "

You and your husband are racists. Congratulations.

Why is this racist? Serious question. I do not know the latest on court ruling for affirmative action in colleges, but I thought that schools are allowed to account for "diversity" which is another way of saying affirmative action. So, it is simply a fact (or it was prior to the rules being struck down if they have been) that schools would like to have diverse student bodies and an applicant gets bonus points for having particular heritage. It is also a fact that there are names that are more popular with various ethnicities including AA and they are often distinct. It is just like the Seinfeld episode with the girl who was not actually chinese. (I am setting aside the point made my a PP that you actually have to check a box to get credit for racial diversity).

People make jokes about what they could do in various facets of life, that is human nature. So, here we have someone that takes two facts (affirmative action and distinct cultural names) and makes a joke about it.

Is it offensive because it implies that minority applicants can only get into competitive colleges because of affirmative action? I think it is. And many minority applicants could get into competitive schools without affirmative action and this stereotype is not fair to them. Some applicants do, however, get an edge because of minority heritage and frankly, it does not always benefit students that have disadvantages growing up. I am not AA , but I live in DC and if my children graduate from a DCPS high school (its a long was off, but it could happen), they will get an edge in college application because of the diverse makeup and socioeconomic challenges of DCPS. Does my child have the same educated parents and familial support and encouragement of the children of a family that lives blocks from me in Montgomery County, I think so. Is my well regarded upper NW school really socially or economically diverse, not really. Nonetheless my child will get credit for graduating in a urban district and my understanding is that it kicks your acceptances up a notch (not why we live in DC by the way).

So, some minority applicants get an edge. Also, lots of minority students are assumed to have received acceptances b/c of minority status. I by the way, graduated from UCLA law school many years ago and, at least at the time, UCLA LAw reserved 40% of the incoming class space for diversity applicants. You can bet a lot of students assumed that it was easier fro AA students to get accepted. Is this racist or is it a fair conclusion in many instances and just why there is such a thing as stereotypes.

I think it is too easy to call someone racist that admits to a kind of joking that many people do with no ill will at all.

By the way, I resisted looking at this thread for days and finally had to look because it would not go away.

I made the initial comment and I'll tell you why it was racist:
A- implies that all PoCs who are achieve anything are simply there as a function of their name
B- ignores all of the racism/prejudice/opposition that PoCs face
C- cultural appropriation is never funny

Basically, what it boils down to is discounting, in this case, the African-American experience in this country and reducing it to the "two facts" you spoke of: names and affirmative action. It also undermines the intent of affirmative action. Lastly, it represents general stupidity. While names of applications do factor in (largely AGAINST people with non-European-American names), the idea that simply giving your kid a "black name" is going to get them into college is just plain dumb. Are they simply going to avoid checking off the boxes in the demographic section of the application? Apply black face during their interview?

You can say their was no ill will, but there absolutely was. The fact that people feel so comfortable joking about this demonstrates the general contempt they hold for people different then themselves. Racism pervades our society. To stand by on the sidelines only allows it to continue. Jokes like this make more blatant forms of racism acceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Giancarlo Esposito.

I think that is a french name