EPISODE 579 - Assuming Race by Name

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Jezebel Staff writer Kara Brown joins Andrew all this week to answer some racism questions. Today they talk about people assuming race by a person’s name. Be sure to call us at (323) 389-RACE to ask if anything is racist.

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YASSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I read her on Jezebel all the time. Not only is she a good writer and residing judge of Shade Court, she is also very beautiful. This week is going to be great.

 

Andrew, good get. I you should get some people from racialicious or bitch magazine as well.

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I'm so tickled that Andrew chose my question for this episode! I wanted to fill in some gaps that, in the interest of brevity, I left unexplained in the voicemail. And while I'm here, I'll pay a compliment to both Kara and Andrew for their masterful pronunciation of "Saskia" - most people have to mouth-breathe about it for a minute before even attempting to say it.

 

It was questioned whether I'm bothered by others assuming it's a black name. To clarify, no, it's not bothersome to me. My intended question was whether the person making the assumption was being racist. My phrasing was ambiguous - sorry about that!

 

The only reason I know people make the black-name assumption is because people have straight up said it to me in the past (not recently, but back in high school before people fully developed the social grace not to blurt shit like that out). I'm in my mid-30s now, so the hints I get from people talking to me on the phone for work (but who haven't met me in person), as an example, run along the lines of them fishing for what "ethnicity" I am. To be fair, they could very well be trying to surmise whether I'm a Russian mail order bride who's learned to approximate an American accent.

 

Andrew & Kara both remarked that the name sounded European to them, and I did mention it was a Dutch name; but what I did NOT mention is the fact that I live in Alabama. Does that piece of information change the conversation? Andrew alluded to the fact that it probably does. I don't think it would be inaccurate to say that a big slice of the native demographic here is not super cosmopolitan; thus, for many people in this region, the go-to assumption is that it's a black name. I don't think it occurs to most of them* that it could be European. I mention this only because, as Kara stated, if you meet someone named "Ying," it's probably a safe bet to assume they're Chinese. But with a name like "Saskia" in a place like Alabama, well.... you can draw your own conclusions.

 

*The exception tends to be people living in the University-based communities, which truly are cosmopolitan. They've actually been to, came from, or at least heard of Europe.

 

 

 

Anyway, I literally LOL'd at the bit about whether I found out about this assumption of blackness in the course of applying for jobs. And then I got real sad because now I'm wondering if I missed out on a job because someone assumed I'm black. Goddamnit. Oh well. I don't really give a shit if anyone thinks I'm black, and I guess if anyone DIDN'T consider me for a job based on that perception, I probably would hate working for them, regardless.