I really do not like my name. When I was a teenager, I always longed for a black name. and wondered why I was stuck with Shannon whereas others were Monique, N'Quita, Tamika, and many other more interesting names. Even my parents have unique names(which is probably why me and my brothers have very plain names). I think if I had a nicer 'white' name I wouldn't be so annoyed- Britney, Ashley, and Catherine were favorites at my school, for blacks and whites. But I was stuck with Shannon, which in my mind wasn't as sex specific as I would have liked. This impression came from the time that a boy with my same name was in my class. He was a lot more girly than me, to boot.

So I never did understand people who disparaged black names. Yes, some people are prejudiced. But those people's attitudes are their attitudes. If they didn't have the names to complain about, they'd complain about something else. It's like the people I call douchebags. Everyone has to conform to some narrow arbitrary standard. Women have to be exactly 110 pounds, or they are fat hosebags. Your only interests have to be celebrities, gossip and boys. You have to make at least 70,000 a year, or you are a failure. I am not going to lie, I'm frightened of these people. But I understand that you're not supposed to be, and anyway, if we as a people sit around cowering about what a bunch of overstuffed shirts think, how are we going to make any progress at all?

You can't change a relationship if you think you're the only person who has to change. It's a two way street, and plus who respects someone who is willing to change their whole culture and life to satisfy the unsatisfiable?