
What it's like to be a white woman named LaKiesha - curtis
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/15/us/white-black-names-blake/index.html
======
koolba
> It happened when Bouraoui went to a busy restaurant one evening with a group
> of family and friends. As they waited outside for a table, a white waiter
> approached Bouraoui and asked for her name along with the number of people
> in her party.

> "Yasmina, party of six," she said.

> "I need something easier to pronounce," he said.

> She repeated her name but he didn't want to try to pronounce it. And then
> she was no longer there.

> "He looks at a 12-year-old in our party and he says, 'What's your name?' ''
> says Bouraoui, a manager with the Michigan Department of Health and Human
> Services. "Now he's just ignoring me."

That’s some terrible customer service. I’ve heard many people give aliases or
single syllable westernized names by choice to simplify things, but having the
employee you’re dealing with insist on it is particularly insulting.

~~~
the_narrator
> That’s some terrible customer service.

If true, yes.

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
And your reason for doubting it would be?

~~~
the_narrator
1\. It doesn't sound realistic 2\. It is an article trying to push the
narrative that everything is racist 3\. CNN

~~~
jjeaff
Doesn't sound realistic? And is this coming from a position of experience?
Where you have had to deal with prejudice and everything else that comes with
being singled out as a minority?

Or is this coming from a upper middle class white male that has always lived
amongst people who look and sound like they do?

~~~
deogeo
Tangential, but _most_ people live among people who look and sound like they
do, it is in no way limited to whites, and even less to males.

If anything, it's _less_ likely for whites - most Western countries have
above-average diversity.

~~~
jjeaff
Right, so _most_ people probably don't experience much prejudice. And yet,
some people belong to marginalized classes and do experience it.

So _most_ people should probably not cast dispersions about the validity of
the claims made by the marginalized.

------
jumasheff
`but by law in the US she is considered white -- and she looks white as well`
-- as a non-American I have a hard time understanding why the law in the US
should distinguish your race?

Maybe I am missing something?

~~~
orkon
I also found the following sentence strange:

> That belief is partly why many Irish, Italian and Polish immigrants who came
> to America in the early 20th century whitened their children's names to
> avoid persecution and increase their chances of social mobility.

> Tim Machuga is a software engineer who also knows what it's like to be black
> for a minute. He is a white man with an African name.

A typical Eastern European last name to me.

I wonder what does my first name (Oleksii) sound like to folks in the US?

~~~
rhino369
Does Oleksii sound like Alexy?

~~~
orkon
yeah, similar, but with 'O'-sound instead 'A'

------
YeGoblynQueenne
This is a very interesting article that offers a unique insight into the
experiences of people with non-traditional names, that the majority of users
on HN will not be familiar with.

It absolutely aligns with HN's goal of promoting intellectual curiosity.
Furthermore the comments so far have been civil and uncontroversial.

With this in mind, could the person(s) who flagged it please unflag it?

------
bovine3dom
A different experience from the UK: my uncle is known by a Ghanian name as my
grandmother lived there for many years. He is Caucasian.

He's not once mentioned any discrimination he has experienced because of his
name.

I'm not saying there's no prejudice here but I think it is less extreme.

------
k__
Reminds me of a song by "die feisten" called "ich heiße Ranjid" (my name is
Ranjid)

It's about a German guy whos hippie parents named Ranjid and now he has some
of the problems usually only immigrants have.

------
ivanhoe
Why is Yasmina so hard to pronounce to Americans? Where's the problem, in a
leading Y, or because it finishes with A?

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
There isn't a problem. Some people just look for reasons to bring out their
inner asshole.

