3 ms·

Avoiding racism, anti-semitism, etc.

• Mountain_Skies 7y ago
  In contrast to people like John Stewart who changed his name to sound less Jewish, Whoopie Goldberg (born Caryn Elaine Johnson) changed her name to sound more Jewish. She said she changed her name early in her career to sound Jewish because it would help her career. It's interesting that both of these very successful actors/comedians started from very different assumptions but in the end both ended up being top people in their field.
  • prostheticvamp 7y ago
    > It's interesting that both of these very successful actors/comedians started from very different assumptions but in the end both ended up being top people in their field. Who says they started with very different assumptions? Order of preference: 1. White non-jew 2. White jew 3. Black He changed his name so he could get by more easily as the top-ranked preference. For her, a non-jew white name would be hard to distinguish from black. She chose the name that more affirmatively promoted her above the lowest ranked spot. I doubt either of them would disagree with the above ranking order, though.
    • lonelappde 7y ago
      #2 is Jew, not White Jew. Black Jew is rare and intriguing in a way that Black or Jew alone is not.
      • wolco 7y ago
        Less rare thing you think back then. Drake, Lenny Kravitz, Lisa Bonet, Nell Carter, Sammy Davis, Rashida Jones are famous names.
    • Mountain_Skies 7y ago
      What sounds "black" about her birth name?