American society has gradually improved the way that it treats minorities since the founding of this nation. The ability to attain life, liberty, and happiness has been extended to more individuals making way to create healthy and progressive environments. Despite these advancements, there are still systemic injustices that plague many academic and professional institutions. Although it may be subliminal, name discrimination is a serious problem that has stunted the educational and career growth of many people of color. This phenomenon occurs with people who possess names that are considered ethnic or “non-Western”. These people often find that they have difficulty landing jobs or gaining acceptance into prestigious programs that they would otherwise be qualified for. A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research showed that “Job applicants with white names needed to send about 10 resumes to get one callback…those with African-American names needed to send around 15 resumes to get one callback” (Francis 1). This includes only a small percentage of the people experiencing this injustice.
Victims of this practice often take drastic measures to avoid this problem, such as changing their names to something deemed more socially acceptable. A 2002 study showed that a group of Jewish individuals “sought to erase their ethnic names and replace them with more generic “American-sounding” ones” (Daley 2). Similarly, after the September 11 New York attacks, many Arab Americans opted to “change [their] name to a less demonstratively Muslim/Arabic first name” (Daley 4). The urge to change one’s name is simply due to the negative and inaccurate connotations associated with foreign names. Furthermore, the practice of disregarding someone’s qualifications based on their names enforces harmful stereotypes. These include labeling minorities as unintelligent, an inability to speak coherently, and possessing barbaric and uncultured mannerisms. As Marji expresses in Persepolis, she experiences many injustices in Austria due to the combination of her name and heritage, such as when the nun refers to Iranians as uneducated. While she eventually grows to appreciate her background, she experiences brutal discrimation in the process.
Like Marji and many other minorities, no one should have to change anything about their identity, including his or her name, to be seen as acceptable in society. Going forward, these biases must be addressed so that all people can truly have equal access to the same educational and professional tools which can allow genuine societal progression.
Learn more:
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2021/08/18/name-discrimination-jobs
Works Cited:
“Employers’ Replies to Racial Names.” NBER, https://www.nber.org/digest/sep03/employers-replies-racial-names.
Kirsten Fermaglich Associate Professor. “Why Are Some Americans Changing Their Names?” The Conversation, 1 May 2021, https://theconversation.com/why-are-some-americans-changing-their-names-102146.
Your post is very thoughtful and detailed. It touches a subject that doesn’t come to mind often when we think of discrimination. I like the examples you gave about Jews and Muslims, and that this issue resonates with Marji. It is unfortunate that discrimination can occur simply due to someone’s name.