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Pride vs. Prejudice

Baby Names and the African-American Experience

By Mark Stackpole

"When I discover who I am, I'll be free." – Ralph Ellison

A name is inextricably linked with an identity. As such, names often take on an important social and cultural context. Does Cindy say something different than Cyndee? What is the impact for parents who choose to name their son DeShawn rather than David? For African-American parents, choosing names can be a way of expressing cultural pride, but it may also lead to prejudice.

In their famous study, "Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakesha and Jamal?", economists Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan found that resumes with white-sounding names received 50 percent more callbacks for interviews than those with black-sounding names. Given the conflict between cultural pride and racial discrimination, what are the issues facing African-American parents as they choose a name for their baby?

"Afrocentric baby names are a wonderful way to provide a daily cultural reminder of your child's roots," says Boyce Watkins, a professor at Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y. "The social stigma of these names is unfortunate and is something our country should stop and think about. But I find that the negatives of the social stigma are outweighed by the pride of having a very unique name."

Watkins points out that all names are connected to a culture, and our perceptions of them tend to change based on our notions surrounding that specific culture. "If your name is 'Jihad' – and I actually know someone with this name – and you are a young Muslim, then you are going to be associated with Islam and perhaps terrorism," he says. "If your name is Irish, then people might assume you drink a lot. If your name is Peter, then you are probably not going to be misperceived in any negative way."

Want to see more?

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• Talk about it!

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