What makes African American names “ghetto”?
posted by Dominque Elliott | October 19, 2016 | In NewsLynishia, Laquisha, Shaqueen, Marquise, Neveah, Lucinda, Felicia. These are names that are sometimes labeled “black” or even “ghetto.” But, what’s in a name? Looking back in history may help explain.
Originally, when slaves were captured and forced to do labor in America, their ”masters” would change their names, determining they were too exotic. The slaves were given names that were like their masters or names from the Bible, for example names such as Ruth, Joseph, Mary and Noah. For the longest time, African American names were the same as White Americans.
So what changed?
According to the study, The Causes and Consequences of Distinctively Black Names by Roland G. Fryer & Steven D. Levitt in 2004,“Within a seven year period in the 1970’s… a profound shift in naming conventions took place in blacks especially in racially isolated neighborhoods.”
Another influence was the Black Power Movement. The Black Power Movement was a movement that grew out of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Black Power calls for independent development of political and social institutions for black people and emphasizes pride in black culture.
Black people also began tracing back their roots. With found information about slaves coming from Arab tribes in Africa, African Americans started name their kids with Arabic roots. Names like some of the ones above.
Although after awhile, names with Arabic roots began to slowly decline. It wasn’t until two decades later between 1986 and 1994 that there was a resurgence in “black” names.
Unfortunately also during this time there was an “ghettoization” of these names, and names with the original Arabic roots in the black community began to have a negative connotation to them. These name began to be associated as a strong indicator of socioeconomic status, although there is no real backing to this. Even more modern black “ghetto” names like Mercedes or names named after famous brands and labels, or names with no African-Arabic roots, have reasons for existing.
“The creativity that invented the smooth sounds of jazz and the unique, poetic flows of hip-hop spilled over into the naming of Black children. A mixture of Swahili-sounding names and pleasing percussive sounds gave birth to names like Lakesha, Swantezza, Johntae, Rashawn, and Shaquan. Dreams of prosperity and better lives for their children inspired parents to name their children after luxury items such as Lexus, Prada, Chanel, and Treasure. Qualities and nouns that parents felt described their children gave rise to names like Heaven, Omunique (pronounced I’m unique), and Precious,” according to the blog Data Lounge.
Distinctive Black names are not “ghetto.” In fact, they are actually unique, creative, and culturally rooted.
Bibliography:
“The Causes and Consequences of Distinctively Black Names.” NBER. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2016.
“Black Power Movement.” The Free Dictionary. Farlex, n.d. Web. 20 May 2016.
Hamer, Ashley. “Forgotten Tribes of South Sudan.” – Al Jazeera English. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2016.
“The Origins of a Black Name.” Democracy Chronicles. 28 Sept. 2013. Web. 23 May 2016.
“History and Persecution-In Defense of “ghetto” Names.” The DataLounge. Web. 23 May 2016.
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