
Once Teased for Her Name, Marijuana Pepsi Turns Her Challenges into a PhD - evo_9
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/21/734839666/dr-marijuana-pepsi-wont-change-her-name-to-make-other-people-happy
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>"A lot of other people were thinking [my mom] was smoking marijuana and
drinking Pepsi," she tells NPR. "In the black community, we're used to having
names that are more cultural."

I'm not a native English speaker, so I might be in the wrong here, but is she
using the word _" cultural"_ in a different way than normally?

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RIMR
No, African Americans have a unique culture in America, and whites are
notoriously judgmental about it.

The only reason you might find this "different" is if you don't consider Black
culture to be legitimate.

We call this "racism".

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maxheadroom
> _No, African Americans have a unique culture in America, and whites are
> notoriously judgmental about it. The only reason you might find this
> "different" is if you don't consider Black culture to be legitimate. We call
> this "racism"._

...but he's not American?

It's quite a stretch to arrive at an honest question about the use of a word -
by someone outside of your own country's culture - to it being equated to
racism, merely because it's from a egocentric (American society) point of
view.

The world is _a lot bigger_ than just America.

Maybe tone down the racist accusations until you have some qualitative context
to use it. Otherwise, if antagonising people that might otherwise be
sympathetic to your plights is your end goal, then by all means, carry on.

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currymj
Naming people after flowers is actually incredibly common if you think about
it.

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RIMR
Or intoxicants.

"Brandy" is a name, why can't "Marijuana" be a name?

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sdinsn
It's a common misconception that the name Brandy comes from the drink. All
evidence shows the origin is just a feminine form of Brandon.

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ykevinator
The lesson is you can overcome the legacy of your parents bad decisions.

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bitlax
So what's the takeaway here?

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iampims
Literally the last paragraph:

"We can't always go through life-changing things to make other people happy
... and I had to learn that early on."

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devoply
You could also spend 10 mins like my brother did and just change your name to
something you like, maybe even name yourself after a celebrity, rather than
the one assigned to you.

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RIMR
You shouldn't be forced to change your name just to be treated with dignity.

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allannienhuis
But your name is something you have the ability to change once you're an adult
(and even earlier in some cases if you insist on being called by a preferred
name or nickname).

You don't have the ability to change how someone (everyone?) else reacts to an
unusual name.

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princekolt
Literally the last paragraph:

"We can't always go through life-changing things to make other people happy
... and I had to learn that early on."

