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I don't think I was even really directly asserting it. But when it was offered up that the reason people gave their kids the names was as an anti-authority statement, I wasn't sure that we could reasonably expect that to be regarded in a value neutral kind of way.
(Even if parental influence is only 50%, I think it probably still matters, but again, don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that it's alright to screen out resume because you're making assumptions about people's names. I'm just saying that it MIGHT not be race alone that is getting screened out when people do this. Again, not that this is okay.)
It's not that I think we SHOULD discriminate against people because of their names, but if we know it happens, then I think parents ought to consider these effects when they name their kids.
Honestly, it hadn't even occurred to me that it was any kind of deliberate political statement before this thread. I thought that people usually named their kids along the lines of how people in their families were named and how people they knew named their kids, so I don't have a lot invested in the whole "what names really indicate and how important are they" aspect.
If you can choose a way to keep your kid free from one form of prejudice or bias, why not choose it? Sure, the world would be a better place if you could depend on people not showing the prejudice, but I, personally, wouldn't want my kid to have to count on it.
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