I will give my children names from the East that have a meaning and sound that I like. For instance, I like Leilah which is Arabic for Black Beauty. I like the sound of it and since the original people in that region were Black and spoke Arabic, I feel that this is a name that is part of our heritage before coming to this country.
The bottom line is that since I am pro-Black, I will give my children names that are related to our history as Black people before we sank into this craziness in the U.S.
It pains me to think that Black people are running out trying to find "white" names in hopes that it will help their children assimilate when that Black person may not even really like the name "Meaghan." I guess that I would be a little more ashamed to explain to my child that I intentionally tried to name her a name that is traditionally given to a group that has been seen historically as superior. I guess I would not want to inadvertently send my child the message that the other folk's ice is colder and you must bow to and try to become that in order to make it in life. Maybe I'm too naive but my approach is to give my child the name that I want and to work to remove the inequalities - basically doing things on my terms, not other folk's terms.
***I would also like to encourage us not to be so quick to correlate the words "Black name" with some name related to alcohol or some other negative connotation. Why is that the automatic assumption that is made? Positivity people!!
I associate "Black name" with names that are related to our cultural heritage and our cultural heritage has nothing to do with alcohol or any of the other negative things that people associate with being Black.***
Ok, off my soapbox
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