httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OYAtRfFu14
Critics are calling out “The View” co-host Raven Symone for saying she would never hire someone named “Watermelondrea,” a name she seemingly pulled out of thin air to prove her point.
The host, whose given name is Raven-Symone Christina Pearman, made the remark on the ABC show while discussing a study about racial prejudice toward “Black-sounding” names.
Co-host Joy Behar included that white people tend to name their children after food – Apple, Honey – prompting her to propose to parents they quit naming their kids when they are famished.
In one particular column, “Raven Symone Rips Black Names, But Forgot About Her Own,” EBONY senior writer Jamilah Lemieux pointed out the negative effects of dehumanizing people according to their name.
“We can not have a hierarchy of black names. You are either along with your family, or you aren’t. Being named ‘Naima’ or ‘Aaliyah,’ Asha,’ or ‘Imani,’ does not make you better or more innovative or more African than someone named ‘Shatasha,’ and the individuals who are dropping Shatasha’s resume in the garbage because of her name are happy to throw yours in t also, boo.”
“Only somebody who associates ‘blackness’ with ‘badness’ would choose to disparage black names and select to throw a stereotypical reference in t, also. Which, again, is foolish, because neither having a ‘black’ name or loving watermelon while black are bad things!” he wrote in his column, “Raven-Symone Does Not Like Black-Sounding Names? How Ironic.”