Raven-Symone of "The View": I wouldn"t hire someone named "Watermelondrea"

Raven-Symone says she won"t hire someone with an "Africanized" name

Raven-Symon of The View has come under fire after admitting she discriminates against ghetto names like Watermelondrea.

The host, whos given name is Raven-Symon Christina Pearman, made the comment while discussing a new study about racial bias toward black-sounding names.

She said its not racist to treat people different based on their names, its discriminatory, Mediaite reported.

And I am very discriminatory against words like the ones they were saying in those names, Ms. Symon said, referring to examples of names in the popular YouTube video Top 60 Ghetto Black names.

Im not about to hire you if your name is Watermelondrea. Its just not gonna happen. Im not gonna hire you, she said.

Her co-hosts did little to push back. Co-host Joy Behar added that white people often name their children after food Apple, Honey prompting her to suggest to parents they stop naming their children when theyre hungry, CNN reported.

Ms. Symons comment received backlash on social media and in opinion columns, with many people accusing the her of hypocrisy.

Raven seems to see no irony in supporting discrimination against non-traditional names while having a non traditional name AND appearance, one user wrote on Twitter.

Another tweeted, Raven-Symon name hits for the hood name cycle. It has two capital letters, a hyphen, alternative spelling choice, and an unnecessary accent.

In a column, titled Raven-Symon Rips Black Names, But Forgot About Her Own, EBONY Magazine senior writer Jamilah Lemieux pointed out the negative effects of dehumanizing people based on their names.

The whole world is trying to tear us apart and you want to discount the value of some other black person because she, TOO, has a black name, Raven hyphen alternate spelling of Simone? You got the nerve, Ms. Lemieux wrote.

We cant have a hierarchy of black names. You are either with your family, or you arent. Being named Naima or Aaliyah, Asha, or Imani, doesnt make you better or more sophisticated or more African than someone named Shatasha, and the people who are dumping Shatashas resume in the trash because of her name are happy to throw yours in there too, boo, Ms. Lemieux added.

Ebony.com contributing editor Damon Young said Ms. Symon added insult to injury by using Watermelondrea as her hypothetical name choice.

Only a person who associates blackness with badness would choose to disparage black names and choose to throw a stereotypical reference in there, too. Which, again, is absurd, because neither having a black name or enjoying watermelon while black are bad things! he wrote in his column, Raven-Symon Doesnt Like Black-Sounding Names? How Ironic.

Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/oct/10/raven-symone-of-the-view-i-wouldnt-hire-someone-na/