proclaim ourselves with a name and we're very defensive about them, it is a major part of our identity. Well, that may be, but the names too long. Id never bother myself. Id call her Mary if I was you, said the speckle-face friend who had asked the question. The very next day, Mrs. Cullinan called Marguerite by the wrong name, and her dignity and pride, forged amid poverty and racism, became at stake. Mary?Miss Glory asked, Who?Mrs. Cullinan, sagging a little, knew and I knew. I want Mary to go down to Mrs. Randalls and take her some soup. Shes not been feeling well for a few days.Miss Glorys face was a wonder to see. You mean Margaret, maam. Her names Margaret.Thats too long. Shes Mary from now on.African-Americans, in particular, have a hellish horror of being called out of name. After centuries of being called niggers, jigs, dinges, blackbirds, crows, boots, and spooks, anything that does not closely resemble the name either given to us at birth or chosen by us to represent how we see ourselves, is construed as insulting. Being renamed for the convenience of some white person had been happening since the slaves first came over, and Marguerite Johnson was not going to let it happen to her. She had to get out of that job, and soon.In real life, unlike in Shakespeare, the sweetness of the rose depends upon the name it bears. Things are not only what they are. They are, in very important respects, what they seem to be. Hubert H. Humphrey (1911 - 78 AD)After Mrs. Cullinans renaming, Marguerite became a different person. She looked the woman in the eye as she called her Mary. She came late and left early. She left egg yolk on the dishes and wasnt putting much heart into polishing the silver. She hoped Miss Glory would complain to Mrs. Cullinan, so she would fire her, but she didnt. Finally, Marguerite couldnt take any more. Her brother Bailey gave her the perfect solution to her dilemma. When she had again been instructed to serve the ol...
