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Originally posted by ZetaStorm
I have mixed feelings about this list. I remember the same argument being made years ago that if your name sounds black on your resume it could cost you the job, etc. Like they can't deny you the job during the interview. 
I think that if anything this list and the fact that someone needed to compile it highlights that racism still exists in this country. What I gather is that they (the powers that be) don't care if your name is made up or actually has meaning. To them there really isn't a difference between Imani and Tae Kwon Da. If it doesn't sound European then your azz is grass.
We all know that Oprah & Condelezza certainly aren't European sounding names. So that's why I don't lose any sleep over these people and their so called lists.
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Yes, you are right in what you assert: the real issue is stereotyping and racism. This phenomenon has a long history in the US: at one time many Jews changed their names to a more "Wasp-sounding" name in public life to ward this off.
But there a another issue here,too:why the preponderance of these so-called black names in a certain socio-economic strata of black society, and what does mean? And what are the linkages between this phenomenon and certain social outcomes? These are legitimate questions.