On Having a Black Name

“I am a white woman, a blond, blue-eyed white woman, and I have a first name
strongly associated with black women. My mother, a southerner by birth, never
stopped telling me she made the name up. The fact that she truly could not
remember ever hearing the name before, is a testament to the strength of
southern segregation. It is likely she heard it once or twice, and simply forgot
it until later. And so, even at 50 years old, I have a name that makes people do
a double-take. “You’re _____?” is something I have heard all my life. “Yes, that
would be me,” is what I say, as they look confused. I have upset the social
order. Names, I have learned, are a big, big part of it.”

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