Recently names in the workplace have become a controversy. Raven Simone, a commentator on the show ‘The View’, recently noted that if someone had a certain name that she would not hire them based on their name. AS the conversation came up in the round table discussion, she stated how someone with the name ‘Watermandraya’, would be someone that she would not hire. She will more than likely apologize for it; however, there has been backlash from it. There may be an assumption that if a person has a certain name they may be perceived as being a certain ethnicity or some may associate them with a particular religion. A person who is hard working and wants to be a good employee should not be discriminated against because of their name. This makes …show more content…
These names have caused issues because they do not have meanings and they seem to be made up. As stated prior the name ‘Watermandraya’. From the outset, most would say, “Who would name their child that?”, however, there is an argument that this sounds like an African name and it should be respected. There are others that argue that names like these are baseless and they do not have any association with the African culture. “Moreover, these new African American names serve not only as identifiers but also as race and class markers. Therefore, Mary and Kimberly will be hired while Ronesha and Latonia will probably not even get an interview. That’s the rub. Are these names emblems of racial and ethnic pride or obstacles to employment and upward mobility?” (Cooper 3) The answer to the question posed here might be, are these names ethnic pride or, obstacles to employment. Some may side with the later and say that they are obstacles to employment. Raven Simone herself, is stating that she would not hire someone with an Afrocentric name, and she is a person of African-American descent. Is she discriminating? Or is she making a point that a person should have a name that falls within what society considers