Shaniqua Johnson

Imagine being turned down from a university, job, or other opportunities because someone doesn’t like your name. Sadly, many people who have names that might suggest their race have to face this reality when it comes to interviews, selection processes, or interactions where a name is the first thing someone sees. In the 2004 movie Crash, a police officer was harassing a clinic about care for his father and asked for the supervisor. The woman simply stated “I am my supervisor. My name is Shaniqua Johnson.” To which the cop replied, “Big fucking surprise that is.” Men and women who have names that suggest race are judged too quickly with stereotypes after just their names are given.

In a recent study by the journal Evolution and HumanBehavior, men with black-sounding names are perceived as dangerous and violent. Individuals who hear these “black” names automatically make judgments about these men that they are dominant, have a temper and can hurt someone if angered because of the typical black make power stereotype.

Many times, when people hear names that can suggest race, people make assumptions about their socioeconomic status. People who have names that sound “black” are thought to be less educated and more looked over than white names. When applying for jobs, black applicants have to send out 10 resumes before getting a callback compared to white applicants who only have to send 10.

  

Walton, Alice. ChicagoBooth. December 16^th, 2014. https://review.chicagobooth.edu/magazine/summer-2014/think-youre-not-racist.

Our society attaches bias with these name stereotypes and is a form of discrimination. In the same journal study by Evolution and Human Behavior, they performed a similar experiment with Latino and East Asian names and they were similarly viewed as more violent and lower socioeconomic status. How long will it be till names like Shaniqua receive the same respect as names like Mary and Jane?

Course Concept Citation: Bertrand, Marianne, and Sendhil Mullainathan. 2004. "Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal: A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination.: American Economic Review, 94(September): 99-1013.