Name Discrimination
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Posted By: Jasmine Spence on July 15, 2008 Names… Names always seem to capture the essence of a first impression even without a person’s identity. For instance, when you hear the name Abigail or Clifford, I’m sure that they will strike you as people who are quite intelligent, while names like Kiki and Ace may come off like the person is either a hoodlum or uneducated. Names possess a certain criteria that can define someone’s personality to a tee. Haven’t you ever noticed how a person can get slightly irritated if you may accidentally mispronounce or even misspell their name? Names hold a certain value and importance that their personalities shine through, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X sound like leaders, while others like Bill Gates and Donald Trump sound like wealthy businessmen. Throughout life, names are meant to carry great expectations and to hold strong powers. So why is it such a big deal if someone’s name doesn’t quite fit your perspective of what you think their name should be? Name discrimination has become a problem in society, by separating African Americans from Whites regardless of an individual’s background, achievements and even personal qualities. In Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus, the term discrimination is defined as recognition, perception, or an identification of a person’s differences, usually providing prejudicial outlooks or actions, while a name is defined as having an established reputation. Discrimination goes way back to the early 1900’s and peaked its ugly head mostly during the civil rights movement. Surprisingly, by the mid 1970’s whites and blacks begun to name their children similar names like Patricia and Tracie, but over time this changed dramatically into separate categories: “white-sounding” names and “black-sounding” names, creating the outlook of racial and name discrimination. With names like Maurice, Imani, Xavier, and Diamond how far do you think their own success will take them, as oppose to a Bradley, Madeline, or maybe even a Connor? Although discrimination is everywhere, it’s primarily structured between two major places: school and the workplace. In a case study that was examined in the Florida School District in 1994 entitled Names, Expectations, and the Black and White Test Score Gap, a man by the name of David Figlio investigated the actions of teachers toward their students based off the child’s name. After various evidence and conclusions, Figilo determined that those whose names “sounded different” were given to them by their “uneducated” parents… can you guess what kind of names fit under that category? In the same year, another case study was examined by the Discrimination Research Center, (a center that studies the art of discrimination and tries to provide ways in which it could be prevented and or stopped) entitled Names Make a Difference: The Screening of Resumes by Temporary Employment Agencies in California. From the months of August till November the company sent out over 6,200 resumes to temporary employment companies in California ranging from 20 different resume types, (male, female, ethnicity, etc.) all of which had combined skills that are usually needed to fulfill the positions of administration and or normal office jobs. At the end of the study, African Americans had the lowest response rate of any participating ethnic group, having 35% statewide, preferring white job applicants over equally qualified African Americans. In this study, names weren’t the only thing to hold African Americans behind, if the name wasn’t to prevailing even addresses made a difference, determining whose resume had the postal zip codes from a “rough neighborhood.” Now how do you explain this to Navaeh and Tyrone, both qualified applicants who have researched over 7,000 temporary agencies nationwide, with over 20,000 offices that need to fill over 2 million positions daily, when over 90% of those companies need temporary or contract workers. So why is there discrimination? A research paper form the National Bureau of Economic Research provided its readers with the information that “white-sounding” names have a 50% chance of receiving a call back over those who had names that would elude to them being a different ethnicity. Does this make any sense? Even with the help and positive means of equal opportunity and affirmative action, name discrimination is still a problem in society. In the book Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt, and Stephen J. Dubner, these two men explore the hidden side of this issue, with their story Would a Roshanda by any Other Name Smell as Sweet?, Levitt and Dubner discuss how people’s names are perceived differently to society. It tells the story of a man name Robert Lane living in the 1950’s, with his two children, Winner and Loser Lane… seem unique? At the end of the story Loser Lane succeeds in life as a retired detective who is now a sergeant for the New York Police Department, while his brother Winner Lane is now in his mid 40’s and holds a criminal record with more than thirty assaults including burglary, domestic violence, trespassing, and not to mention resisting arrest. Who’s to blame for this discrimination, is it the parents who named their children for their own individual reasons, then they later realize that their child’s life reflects the name that was been given to them? Or is it our society that creates a somewhat racial profile that leads to the process of name discrimination in America? Either way names still display a creative image of an identity before a person is even noticed…. But really why does discrimination exist? At a young age didn’t we all learn how to not judge a book by its cover? From the words of Zora Neal Hurston “Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.” Name discrimination against African Americans in America... Have you ever wondered…what types of signals does your name send out to the world? If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Jasmine Spence
From seattle, WA Wilberforce University class of 2010 Member Since May 2008 |
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