Close X
Thursday, October 31, 2024
ADVT 
Interesting

‘The Obama Effect’ on the names of African American babies

Darpan News Desk, 20 Jun, 2016 11:18 AM
  • ‘The Obama Effect’ on the names of African American babies
According to new research in the journal Ethnic and Racial Studies, collective pride in his achievement also changed how African Americans named their babies, with many post-2008 parents opting for more ethnic-sounding names.
As Tracy N. Anderson-Clark and Raymond J. Green of Texas A&M University explain, names matter. They naturally represent ‘culture, family, heritage, and tradition’, but they can also reflect how individuals and groups perceive themselves – a concept called collective self-esteem (CSE).
According to Anderson-Clark and Green, the election of the first African American President was ‘likely to have positively affected the self-perceptions of African Americans regarding personal and collective feelings about being African American’. It would only follow, then, that African American parents might choose to reinforce their pride in their group identity through the names they chose for their children – a process called "basking in reflected glory."
To find out if this was indeed the case, Anderson-Clark and Green analysed the names of hundreds of African American babies born both before and after Obama’s election. They also measured their mothers’ personal and collective self-esteem with the help of questionnaires.
The results showed a significant difference between the ethnic sound of children’s names born before the election of Barack Obama and those born after, with ‘the tendency for more “African American” sounding names … accelerated for children born after the election.’ There was also a link between a mother’s CSE score – a measure of her own cultural ties – and how ethnic her baby’s name was.
While having pride in one’s ethnic or racial group is a good thing, Anderson-Clark and Green feel parents ought to be made aware of the unintended consequences of their name choices. They write: “The ethnic sound of a child’s name may affect how the child is treated by others, such as teachers. In reality then, the issue becomes a balancing act of choosing to affirm one’s racial identity through the expression of names while attempting to avoid the prejudice and discrimination that might be elicited through those names.”
Whether the constant talk about race and ethnicity in the run-up to this year’s presidential election will be reflected in the names of babies born after 8 November remains to be seen.

MORE Interesting ARTICLES

Philadelphia Set To OK Soda Tax Despite Industry Opposition

Philadelphia Set To OK Soda Tax Despite Industry Opposition
Philadelphia is set to become the first major American city with a soda tax despite a multimillion-dollar campaign by the beverage industry to block it.

Philadelphia Set To OK Soda Tax Despite Industry Opposition

Montrealer Apologizes For Throwing Soft Drink In Face Of Homeless Man

Montrealer Apologizes For Throwing Soft Drink In Face Of Homeless Man
The perpetrator apologized on his Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon.

Montrealer Apologizes For Throwing Soft Drink In Face Of Homeless Man

Mahendra Singh Dhoni Unsure Whether His Daughter Ziva Still Recognises Him

Mahendra Singh Dhoni Unsure Whether His Daughter Ziva Still Recognises Him
Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he will take some time off cricket and spend time with his daughter and family

Mahendra Singh Dhoni Unsure Whether His Daughter Ziva Still Recognises Him

Barack Obama Says He Cried At Daughter Malia's School Graduation

Barack Obama Says He Cried At Daughter Malia's School Graduation
President Barack Obama has said that he cried at the recent high school convocation ceremony of his elder daughter Malia, thinking about how she is graduating at this "extraordinary time" for women in America.

Barack Obama Says He Cried At Daughter Malia's School Graduation

Mom Berated By Customer For Breastfeeding Baby In Target

Mom Berated By Customer For Breastfeeding Baby In Target
Jessie Maher captured part of the confrontation Monday in the cafe of a store in Torrington on video and posted it to Facebook. 

Mom Berated By Customer For Breastfeeding Baby In Target

Pakistan's Transgenders Mocked By Most, Abhorred By Many

Pakistan's Transgenders Mocked By Most, Abhorred By Many
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Abandoned by family and mocked by their society, the life of a Pakistani transgender is lonely. It can even be deadly.

Pakistan's Transgenders Mocked By Most, Abhorred By Many