[lbo-talk] Re: "black" names

[frank scott]

professional class black people tend more to think of themselves and
identify as african-american, and - perhaps - use african or islamic
sounding names for their kids...working class and working poor black
people  tend to think of themselves and idnetify as black, and often,
women-mothers get together to make up names for daiughters and
sons...that's where wonderful, musical, and sometimes off the wall names
like taneesha, tameela, etc come in, and could lead people to class-race
identification by "black" names...

you ever meet a white boy named zambika? if so, he probably named
himself, he's probably wearing very baggy pants and trying - desperately
- to sound black in his speech pattern...

I have always found that name-game played by black women of the
less-than-professional class more imaginative and spirited than the much
easier "pick an african" name, though what all parents call their kids
often leads kids to hurry and grow up so that they can drop the stupid,
if well meant parent-tag given them...

fs