From: ronaldd@cbnewse.cb.att.com (ronald.h.davis)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african.american
Subject: Re: African names-why aren't there more of them?
Date: 2 Oct 92 20:55:50 GMT
Organization: AT&T

In article <5858@ucsbcsl.ucsb.edu> 6500ursa@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Disco Junkie) writes:
>I have a question that I would like to ask the people on this newsgroup
>about.  This concerns the issue of names.  I am an asian-american, and
>my family name reflects the heritage of my ancestors.  This is something that
>I can be proud of, and one that I would be proud to pass onto my children.
>
but there are a lot of asian-americans and other <iyfeg>-americans who change
their names to make them sound more "americanized".  how many people do you
know named "lee" who changed from the spelling "li"?

>Yet, isn't it true that for most african-americans, the family name is that of 
>the slaveowners from time past?  If so, why aren't there more african-americans
>that change their name to an African one?  I would not want to give my children
>the name of a slaveowner.
>
well, first there's the issue of parents and other family members who do not
view their names as "slave" names.  should one of their offspring choose to
change name, a lot of them would be real upset.  since a lot of asian-americans
seem to make an issue of not displeasing their parents i'm sure you can
relate to this consideration.  for daughters this name changing thing is
rather moot [since parents typically want their daughters to get married
and most of them, for reasons i don't understand, actually *change* their
names to that of their husbands].

next, assuming that one decides a name change is in order there is the
obvious question of to what does one change his name.  after most af-am's
trace their family trees into the period of slavery further tracking becomes
unreliable, and somewhat speculative.  therefore it's difficult to know
which african ethnic group from which one should pick a name.  as i'm
sure you know, africa is a continent comprised of diverse groups and
cultures and is certainly no less diverse than say europe.  let's follow
this for a moment.  let's say one want to get rid of his "americanized"
name and return to "european" one.  well, if he has know idea where in
europe to go for this new name he could pick one "out of a hat" and come
up with one that is polish, german, italian, french, or british.  if his
family came from poland [and we will, for the sake of argument, assume that
he does not know his culture of origin], a last name of "mimeaux" would
seem ridiculous.

therefore, for an african-american to chose an "african" sounding name
just because it sounds african does not really say a whole lot.  if said
person really could trace his ancestry back to a specific family/location
on the continent, then the name begins to have meaning...

>If I was an african-american, I would definitely change my "family" name,
>because it would not represent my family.  From what I've studied, enslaved
>Africans were often given the name of their slaveowner.  This name was used in
>an effort to strip the African of his ties to his culture.  To me, this name 
>would thus represent the name of the person who stripped me of my culture 
>
well, i might say that i don't denounce "american" culture as being white
since the reality of the matter is that while some white americans tout
common heritage with europe [most specifically england], this culture is
something completely different.  some of the many contributors which make
american culture so different come from the continent of africa as the
cultures of that continent *have* influenced this nation's culture.  the
problem is that the propaganda vehicle which is commonly called "history"
will have you believe that just about anything worthwhile is this country
was achieved thanks to the efforts and contributions of white people.  in
reality, this is a bunch of crap.  the way i see it, african culture was not
"stripped", parts of it were appropriated and claimed by white people as
their own.

>and freedom, whipped me at will, raped my great grandmothers, and split apart 
>my ancestor's families.  Surely, if I was an african-american, I would not 
>wish to honor such scum by holding onto their name.  Instead, I would adopt an 
>African name, or at least change it to a name other than that of the 
>slavemaster.  Wasn't this the idea behind why a Malcolm Little changed his 
>name to Malcolm X?  As far as I can tell, most african-americans I've met have 
>
i think that it's more important to set the historical record straight [by
teaching history from the perspective of cultures other than just eurpoean]
so that the broader society does not continue to honor the scum that committed
many of these attrocities against other human beings.  i think then we can
start to chip away at some of the racist-based underpinning inherent in our
society.

>1)What do you think of this name business?  Do you agree with my opinions?
>  Do you think that african-americans should always strive to have a name
>  that reflects the african culture of their ancestors? 
>
there's only so much you can do with a name and depending upon what you're
ultimately trying to do, you eventually get into one of these deals where
"a rose is still a rose by any other name".  if a person choose to think
negatively of an af-am, a name change probably won't change that too much.
after all, this is ultimately a world economy based upon money, not names.
unless this name change stuff somehow ties into that, i would say you're
somewhat missing the boat here [no pun intended].

>2)If you are an african-american, why did you change/not change your
>  family name?  Or is their a point to keeping the slaveowner's name?
>  kinda like "so that we shall never forget the ordeal that our ancestors
>  went through" (akin to Holocaust survivors keeping their tatoos to remind
>  the world of their ordeal)
>
no i wouldn't.  see above discussion as to why.

>3)Even if one's ancestors were free blacks, don't you think it would be
>  good to adopt an African name, so that one can begin the process of
>  renewing one's ties to one's roots in Africa?
>
renewing one's ties to "africa" has nothing to do with changing my name.  the
reality [which i think anyone would see with a moment's thought] is that the
way i am viewed in the world is directly tied to the view held of africa by the
rest of the world.  just like the way niseis are viewed in this country is
also directly tied to the way people view japan.  you'll find this is consistent
with other groups, regardless of their surnames.

>4)Or do I err in assuming that most african-american's family names of today
>  are necessarily that of the slaveowner of the past?
> 
i dunno, you've lost me on this one.  i'm not sure what you're saying [unless
this question is a tautology with one of the earlier ones].

>Sorry if these questions seem so dumb.  It's just that after reading up on
>black history, I wonder why most african-americans don't change their name,
>the way some black leaders did in the 60's.  Thank you for your answers.
>
>Disco Junkie 
>
well, the questions do sound a bit two-dimensional.  you might want to
consider interacting with af-am's outside the disco.  :-)

note:
-----
iyfeg==insert your favorite ethnic group

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