What’s in a name? We all were given our names for a reason—be it a family name, a name with a special meaning, or a name that was just made up by innovative parents. Whatever the reason, names often define who we are.
For hundreds of years, black people in America have been called all sorts of names—slave, three-fifths, colored, Negro, nigger, black, Afro-American, African American, boy, George, gator bait, Ann, ape, Aunt Jemima, Buffie, coon, crow, gable, jigaboo, Jim Crow, jungle bunny, Leroy, Macaca, monkey, mosshead, mustard seed, nig-nog, nig-jig, nigra, powder burn, quashie, Sambo, smoked Irish, sooty, tar baby, thicklips, Uncle Tom, and host of other names that were used by America to try and define a “race” of people (go to Wikipedia for a full list of ethnic slurs and their meanings).
Black people have now been able to define for themselves what it means to be black in America. With the emergence of hip hop, there has been much controversy surrounding the word nigger—who can say it, who can’t say it. Many of the names black people have been called over the years have been offensive at best and totally negate the sticks and stones malarkey we all grew up hearing. But I do believe in the wise words of many elders and Whoopi Goldberg when she says, “It’s not what you’re called, but what you answer to, honey.”
So why ask the question of what’s in a name now? Well, I have two reasons really. First the use of names in the current presidential race, and second, the younger generation’s attempt to relate through a total lack of respect. I know Hillary is no longer in the race, but I’m going to throw her up in the mix because this applies to her as well.
Next time you get a chance (if you own a television, this won’t be difficult), listen to the way the media talks about the candidates, and more importantly, how they refer to them by name. Now I can’t take the credit for this observation because I really hadn’t thought about it until my sister brought this to my attention. The media always refers to John McCain as McCain, Senator McCain, or John McCain. However, they feel comfortable occasionally referring to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as Barack and Hillary. Is the media showing a lack of respect because he is black and she is a woman? I don’t know, but we do know that this presidential race has been full of isms—racism, sexism, and ageism. So anything is possible.
I did have to be honest with myself and my sister and ask her what we call them when we talk about them—Barack, Hillary, and McCain. Let’s examine why we do this. We don’t call John McCain “John” because the name is too common, so to avoid confusion, we just call him McCain. We don’t call Hillary Clinton “Clinton” because we would have to distinguish between her and Bill. We don’t call Barack Obama “Obama” because we feel familiar with him, and as the media reminds us every now and then, Obama sounds too much like Osama.
Something about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama makes us feel like we can connect with them, but regardless of whatever it is that makes us more familiar with them and less familiar with John McCain, we need to show them the same level of respect. The media has the responsibility to show all of the candidates the same amount of respect regardless of how easy or hard it is to pronounce their names, right?
Wrong! The media can obviously call people whatever they want, as Fox News demonstrated when they referred to Michelle Obama as “Barack’s baby mama.” Talk about offensive!
Growing up, my husband and I were taught to respect adults and people in general. We learned to say “Yes sir” and “Yes ma’am.” Somehow, the younger generation missed the memo on this. And I don’t feel like this has anything to do with race. I blame it on pop culture. Cultural lines are being openly crossed now more than ever before—from relationships to clothes to music. People are more comfortable with each other now and are less fearful people who are different—great, right? Why is it that my husband (a wonderful black man) can go into a store or restaurant and be greeted by some youngster with, “Hey man” or “Wassup man, what you need?” But when a white man walks into that same restaurant or store, he is greeted with a “Hello sir, how may I help you?”
