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I don't find bad white names cutesy. They are just as embarrassing/poor choice for them as for anyone. If I'm in an HR position I'm going to put Rufus Elrod Spudknocker in the same pile as Malik Jamal Smith if they have the exact same qualifications. I've been surprised more than once assuming a person's race or ethnicity by their name or the way they sound on the phone, only to discover my assumptions to be totally wrong.
And I don't associate Malik or Jamal with poverty or crime, at all. So maybe it's where you grew up and who you were exposed to (Rufus, et al).
Our life experiences shape our expectations.
I agree with you. There is nothing "cutesy" about bad white names.
Malik and Jamal are not names that I would personally use, but I certainly do not associate either one with "poverty and crime".
those people who talk about affirmative action being a big advantage to blacks are liars. white women are the group that gained the most from affirmative action programs.
...which is only because that is white men's way of getting around affirmative action mandates that were put in place to even the playing field for African Americans.
I did an experiment in sending out my resume. It turned out that the name mattered a lot. One name got a lot of responses. It's just that people picture someone of a specific culture, I think, when they hear a name. Our bias' are well hidden.
Curious: Did you ever call anyone out on this? Or next time, have the less desirably named person clearly be more qualified.
Not "anglo american" names what ever that is supposed to mean. They were Christian names. Taken from the Bible. It was once common to ask for last name & Christian name.
American Baby boomers, both Black & White decided to break away from the habit and started naming their kids all kinds of things. This is why many now have last names for first names and all sorts of nonsensical names.
God bless us Boomers! I HATED my given name, in the 50s, and one every other girl got. I hated it enough the the minute I graduated from HS and moved to my own apt I changed it to one that I liked and 'fit' me better (legally changed, too). My Mom had a 'fit' of a different kind, but after 20 yrs and the rest of the family calling me my by chosen name, she too did so most of the time. My Dad called me by a shortened version of my middle name always. He made that incorporated with my new chosen name and I allowed him to 'play with it' because I loved him so.
I chose an 'ethnic' name for my son, who is Cuban and Lumbee Indian, but one that is generic, too. His middle name is my maiden name, as he is the only male grandchild to carry that name forward. Once, when he was a toddler, he wanted to change his name to our cat's name along with the name of his favorite train on TV, Thomas. I giggled then, and do still when I think about it...and my Ma who is probably still laughing from wherever she is after this life. I told him once he was 18 and had the cash to do it, he could certainly REname himself and to just let me know what he wanted to be called.
He's 23 now. I haven't heard any news, but he still goes by his birth name.
If you don't LIKE your name, enough that you'd 'fake' one on a resume, I'd say think about taking a new one. Just a note if you do, check the legals on it, as most judges will allow you to change it only one time. It may differ in different states.
This "study" by the University of Chicago sounds phony or flawed to me.
Companies want minority employees so that they won't be accused of discrimination.
So it makes zero sense that they would rule out people with minority-sounding names.
But, if they discard resumes that have been mailed in, how would anyone ever know they were not given a chance due to racism?
Is there no racism in hiring any more? I doubt you would get anybody to say there is no longer any racism in hiring. Yet many of the same people that complain about it still being out there are saddling their children with names that could result in them being unfairly discriminated against by HR and no one would be the wiser. It shouldn't be happening, but most would agree that it could be.
The company I work for does no such thing. I've never worked for a company that does that. Maybe some disgusting Klan-based company (Sheets R Us) might do that. I'm in HR and we try for the BEST person for the job, regardless of age, disability, race, religion, etc.
Do you have someone in HR strip the candidates names off the resume for someone else to do the evaluation? Can you guarantee that no one reviewing the resumes has even the slightest bit of bias, even at the subconscious level?
So you would be willing to automatically stereotype and disqualify a potential candidate based on their name, a name they had no decision in choosing, a name given to them by their parents?
And people wonder why Affirmative Action was created.
Problem is you cannot control what other people think, and if you aren't there when they toss your kids resume, how would ever know what they were thinking in the first place?
I'm sure there are some out there who might discriminate on the basis of names for A American people. I suspect that people of E European descent with non anglicized first and last names face obstacles as well if their names are somehow too out of the "mainstream".
Come to think of it an Irish guy named Sean would probably get more callbacks than a Scottish guy named Seumas.
I suspect some businesses do, especially if they are menial small entry-level positions. They hired a "fake" white candidate on the spot and wouldn't entertain black ones, also refused service to several "colored people" areas in town because "coloreds don't pay their bills".
This is an extreme example. Consider the number of mildly biased employers between the extremes of your example and an employer with no bias whatsoever. Only the extremely biased employers tend to get caught at it. The best way to combat the ignorance in these cases is to avoid identifying yourself as a minority in the first place. Once you get to the interview, at least you have an opportunity to dazzle the interviewer.
That just sounds as if you didn't give a crap or the baby came as a surprise and you didn't have time to think of a better name.
haha nooooo its so generic that no one who has an issue with creative names ought to have anything against such a name. You cannot tell the nationality of a person with that kind of generic name.
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God bless us Boomers! I HATED my given name, in the 50s, and one every other girl got. I hated it enough the the minute I graduated from HS and moved to my own apt I changed it to one that I liked and 'fit' me better (legally changed, too). My Mom had a 'fit' of a different kind, but after 20 yrs and the rest of the family calling me my by chosen name, she too did so most of the time. My Dad called me by a shortened version of my middle name always. He made that incorporated with my new chosen name and I allowed him to 'play with it' because I loved him so. 
its so generic that no one who has an issue with creative names ought to have anything against such a name. You cannot tell the nationality of a person with that kind of generic name.
