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All the discussion on what's in a name and how it affects employability, how about the command of English Language? For all the people lamenting their inability to be hired because of (fill in the blank) stop and figure out how you speak. When going for a job interview it matters how you dress, present yourself and your background/education.
Not "defending" what the corporate world does about applicants with ghetto names. Just recognizing that that is the way it is. Anyone who wants to better their own circumstances needs to know what life in the big city is all about and how to play the game. If a name change will get a foot in the door and improve one's chances for winning the game, why not go for it? On a REAL battlefield (i.e. a military battlefied) strategies for winning are fluid and realistic. "Ideals" and "the way it should be" don't enter into it--it's all about whatever it takes to win.
I'm glad I don't live my life on a REAL battle field either.
Yes, they are. And they all carry connotations in the minds of their hearers. "John" and "Mary" are considered traditional, perhaps stodgy; "Brayden" and "Cyndi" are modern, faddish, and (to some) a bit annoying; "Sonnet" and "Lyric" (to borrow a couple examples from another thread) are pretentious; and "LaKeisha" and "Mo'Quanda" are ghetto.
Most corporations are fine with traditional and stodgy, and can live with modern and faddish. But they'll be leery of pretentious, and will want to actively avoid ghetto.
These posts all sound like cop outs to defend an action that deserves no defense.
You completely misunderstood the intention of my post. It was meant to highlight the simple fact that one can't control the actions/beliefs of others. We can only change/control ourselves.
It's also a name that give him an unusual perspective on questions of identity, race and cultural stereotypes.
When he goes out in Des Moines for drinks with friends who are black, the waitress or bartender often hands his debit card to someone else — someone black.
"They're making an assumption based on the name on the card and not paying attention to who handed it to them," Allan says. "They say, 'Jamaal, oh that must be the black guy sitting here.' "
If I were black, and had one of those names, and was SERIOUS about getting ahead in life, I'd legally change my name ad get every last remnant of THAT culture out of my life. Ghetto culture is the antithesis of success. It's not that the name is "strange" (as in Indian or Chinese), it's what the name REPRESENTS in the real world.
I worked for the federal government for 33 years, and met a lot of people with names which initially made me wonder if they were good workers. Turned out some were wonderful, and some were awful. Just like people with regular names. Here's a sampling:
Beyonker (meant to be Bianca?)
Queenie
Quovadis
Prince
Sir Richard
Angel
Quoneshia
Dollie
Mister
Shonevia
Babbie
I have met a "Queenie" before, along with "Winter", "Jewelry" and "Cannon".
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