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Help[Facts] Re: more on same article topic (?) - edited
in reply to a message by Miss Claire
Oh. Hm. I'm disappointed that I'm not really all that surprised, after all.
Well, I can't argue with the fact that 'black' names give a certain impression, to many people. That'd be politically correct, in the bad sense -- it'd be a denial of reality! There's no question that such names are strongly associated with the traits that are, by and large, found in most bearers, including low income, segregation, & low education; which also happen to be looked down on by other segments of society.
My issue is with insecure people who feel they have to shout a judgment when they see such names.. they express horror, shock, disgust! They're disturbed, and say things like the namers should be ashamed of themselves for perpetrating a crime against an innocent child, and make such drama-queen claims that basically say: "I'm the cream, after all .. good taste is a matter of objective truth, and I should know! You and I have nothing to be ashamed of, the way those people do! Do we? Do we?"
Clearly -- well, to me it's clear -- the namers have something else in mind when they use these names. They're people, they can't be all that different.. they choose names they like for some reason. It's particularly interesting to me because they're ordinary folks living in the same country I am, but I'm a total ignoramus or alien to what the appeal of their names is. It's like a black culture secret, or something.. almost as though designed that way, to evoke the reaction it does. Well, maybe not. I really have no clue. But it's interesting.
Not "cute" or "full of local color and imagination" - that's not what I meant at all.
- chazda
Well, I can't argue with the fact that 'black' names give a certain impression, to many people. That'd be politically correct, in the bad sense -- it'd be a denial of reality! There's no question that such names are strongly associated with the traits that are, by and large, found in most bearers, including low income, segregation, & low education; which also happen to be looked down on by other segments of society.
My issue is with insecure people who feel they have to shout a judgment when they see such names.. they express horror, shock, disgust! They're disturbed, and say things like the namers should be ashamed of themselves for perpetrating a crime against an innocent child, and make such drama-queen claims that basically say: "I'm the cream, after all .. good taste is a matter of objective truth, and I should know! You and I have nothing to be ashamed of, the way those people do! Do we? Do we?"
Clearly -- well, to me it's clear -- the namers have something else in mind when they use these names. They're people, they can't be all that different.. they choose names they like for some reason. It's particularly interesting to me because they're ordinary folks living in the same country I am, but I'm a total ignoramus or alien to what the appeal of their names is. It's like a black culture secret, or something.. almost as though designed that way, to evoke the reaction it does. Well, maybe not. I really have no clue. But it's interesting.
Not "cute" or "full of local color and imagination" - that's not what I meant at all.
- chazda
This message was edited 10/19/2004, 4:41 PM
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Replies
They're people, they can't be all that different.. they choose names they like for some reason
That's a hugely good point! There is obviously something about these names that is attractive to those who use them, whether we can see it or not.
One thing that isn't "PC" which I have noticed, is that often, people in low income/welfare, poor education, downtrodden minority etc situations feel as much contempt for the well-heeled middle class as the middle class does for them (I've been on the receiving end of it from my stepmother, who has two kids by two different fathers and could barely read before she married my Dad). The names which shock and horrify the middle class may well be intended to do so - the names set up a distinct barrier of "We are Different to You", which upsets a middle class convinced that the goal of the welfare class is to attain middle classness (ie assimilate with their cultural norms).
I'm just theorising here, so I could be totally wrong! And of course if I'm right that's still just one element of a complex naming pattern. But I understand your feeling of a "culture secret".
Re the Aboriginal statistics: yes, it's the same everywhere. What I always find bizarre, being "outside looking in" on US society, is the lack of reference to Native Americans. I'd guess you'd have to watch a hundred random modern American films to see one Native American face, and even then he/she would be in a stereotyped role. Where are the ordinary Native Americans going about their daily lives in the suburbs?
Anyway, that's o/t! :-)
That's a hugely good point! There is obviously something about these names that is attractive to those who use them, whether we can see it or not.
One thing that isn't "PC" which I have noticed, is that often, people in low income/welfare, poor education, downtrodden minority etc situations feel as much contempt for the well-heeled middle class as the middle class does for them (I've been on the receiving end of it from my stepmother, who has two kids by two different fathers and could barely read before she married my Dad). The names which shock and horrify the middle class may well be intended to do so - the names set up a distinct barrier of "We are Different to You", which upsets a middle class convinced that the goal of the welfare class is to attain middle classness (ie assimilate with their cultural norms).
I'm just theorising here, so I could be totally wrong! And of course if I'm right that's still just one element of a complex naming pattern. But I understand your feeling of a "culture secret".
Re the Aboriginal statistics: yes, it's the same everywhere. What I always find bizarre, being "outside looking in" on US society, is the lack of reference to Native Americans. I'd guess you'd have to watch a hundred random modern American films to see one Native American face, and even then he/she would be in a stereotyped role. Where are the ordinary Native Americans going about their daily lives in the suburbs?
Anyway, that's o/t! :-)
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Yeah, you explained that a lot better than I could have.
upsets a middle class convinced that the goal of the welfare class is to attain middle classness (ie assimilate with their cultural norms).
I mean, yah it's sort of distant and theoretical, and is based on just a guess, but it makes a lot of sense to me too.. Even if it's not deliberate, sometimes I wonder if maybe, by 'disturbing' members of the white middle class (and thus inducing them to reveal their sense of superiority).. Well, you said it better than I can.
Although I kind of doubt that the names are given deliberately just for that reason. I'm not totally comfortable with this idea as an explanation, because it is too centered on my own world view: it says that the trend is a reaction to white culture, rather than having any primary meaning of its own. Not to be PC, folks; I'm not saying it has to be meaningful out of context. I only mean: maybe it's just my own paranoia talking, when I wonder if maybe Sirloin is laughing at me because I'm laughing at him...(since no one who's into these names has ever said anything about it being 'giving the finger' to anyone). It does make a lot of sense though, in an abstract way.
I was thinking this: how is the trend similar to the way humans generally choose names for their kids? Most names seem to come from ancestry, birth circumstance, or symbols/words of power, beauty, whatever is important to the culture (like all the Germanic names with the war & battle elements, which would be truly strange and possibly offensive if we had a practice like that now).. and 'white' names in America tend to reflect values based on white, European history. It's possible that from the most disadvantaged black Americans' perspectives, even choosing an African-origin name does more honor to 'white' middle class cultural values than to their own. Since for most Americans of any race, our ancestry in the Old World is something we have to look up, not something we feel deeply connected to -- yet the mainstream middle class judgment is that the only legitimate names are tied to those traditions.
upsets a middle class convinced that the goal of the welfare class is to attain middle classness (ie assimilate with their cultural norms).
I mean, yah it's sort of distant and theoretical, and is based on just a guess, but it makes a lot of sense to me too.. Even if it's not deliberate, sometimes I wonder if maybe, by 'disturbing' members of the white middle class (and thus inducing them to reveal their sense of superiority).. Well, you said it better than I can.
Although I kind of doubt that the names are given deliberately just for that reason. I'm not totally comfortable with this idea as an explanation, because it is too centered on my own world view: it says that the trend is a reaction to white culture, rather than having any primary meaning of its own. Not to be PC, folks; I'm not saying it has to be meaningful out of context. I only mean: maybe it's just my own paranoia talking, when I wonder if maybe Sirloin is laughing at me because I'm laughing at him...(since no one who's into these names has ever said anything about it being 'giving the finger' to anyone). It does make a lot of sense though, in an abstract way.
I was thinking this: how is the trend similar to the way humans generally choose names for their kids? Most names seem to come from ancestry, birth circumstance, or symbols/words of power, beauty, whatever is important to the culture (like all the Germanic names with the war & battle elements, which would be truly strange and possibly offensive if we had a practice like that now).. and 'white' names in America tend to reflect values based on white, European history. It's possible that from the most disadvantaged black Americans' perspectives, even choosing an African-origin name does more honor to 'white' middle class cultural values than to their own. Since for most Americans of any race, our ancestry in the Old World is something we have to look up, not something we feel deeply connected to -- yet the mainstream middle class judgment is that the only legitimate names are tied to those traditions.
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