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Old Apr 28, 2006, 10:24 AM
hillbunnyb hillbunnyb is offline
Poohbah
 
Member Since: Nov 2005
Location: CA
Posts: 1,392
A lot of people haven't paid enough attention to the power of names. Getting somebody's name correctly for instance. Years ago, when I tried to keep an office job in a big city, the white people called the brown peoples distortions of their names as a power trip. Bahari became Bacardi. Abu became Abdul. It was soooo offensive to watch.

When I would then (in my confused state as the newbie) go to the person and ask them, "What IS your name anyway?" they would practically cry because I gave a damn. (I'm white.) The lessons learned way back then are still fresh in my heart. I can still see the pain in their eyes...... Names are important. PS, my sister STILL can't call me my whole name after a lifetime of begging her for that one more little syllable........
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