This is sad for so many reasons...

mylilwildflower

https://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/biracial-teen-changes-name-8220-keisha-8221-8220-195300489.html

Helenahhandbasket

I saw this.  I feel terrible for this girl. 

Scarlett&Gatsby

I don't like to judge other parents because I'm not in their situation, but I don't think I'd let my teenaged daughter change her name. Race-based bullying is inexcusable and I'm shocked by what she's had to put up with (from a teacher, even!), but high school isn't the whole world, and the way you feel about your peers significantly changes as you get older and more confident in who you are. I can't help but think she'll regret that choice someday, but since it's a choice she and her mother were comfortable with, I hope the change is a positive one for her.

brownmouse

At first I was thinking the same thing as Scarlett&Gatsby but I thought about it a minute and I think that if I was in that situation, and my daughter was feeling tortured by her peers because of her name, I would probably let her change it. I feel like if Basil is getting teased because of her name, I will most likely tell her to let it roll off her back, and that high school isnt everything, but because of the racial bit of this story, I have to say I feel differently about it. No mother wants her child to endure  torment and teasing but the fact that they are teasing her because she is biracial and causing her to feel uncomfortable in her own skin is a different story than run of the mill high school teasing, If changing her name would help her feel more confident in her life, then so be it. I am sure it makes her mother very sad, because she named her that for just the opposite reason, but I think it's great that she can put her feelings aside and do that for her daughter. And it's not like she couldn't always change it back later if she wanted.

Scarlett&Gatsby

brownmouse said:

At first I was thinking the same thing as Scarlett&Gatsby but I thought about it a minute and I think that if I was in that situation, and my daughter was feeling tortured by her peers because of her name, I would probably let her change it. I feel like if Basil is getting teased because of her name, I will most likely tell her to let it roll off her back, and that high school isnt everything, but because of the racial bit of this story, I have to say I feel differently about it. No mother wants her child to endure  torment and teasing but the fact that they are teasing her because she is biracial and causing her to feel uncomfortable in her own skin is a different story than run of the mill high school teasing, If changing her name would help her feel more confident in her life, then so be it. I am sure it makes her mother very sad, because she named her that for just the opposite reason, but I think it's great that she can put her feelings aside and do that for her daughter. And it's not like she couldn't always change it back later if she wanted.

That's true, and I hope it does help. I just can't help but think this is about her being biracial, not her name. Choosing a "whiter" name doesn't change her heritage, and if that was the source of the teasing, it'll persist. But maybe it WAS just about her name and they'll leave her alone now. I'm not close enough to the situation to know. I'm just skeptical racial teasing is going to start and stop with her name. ETA: On the flipside, she's being raised by her single white mother, in a predominantly white area. She might just identify more with her white heritage because of that. She said that she doesn't feel comfortable being a Keisha, and that could easily be why. Other biracial people feel similarly; Halle Berry has said she identifies as black because she feels more connected to that part of her heritage. So perhaps for Kylie, there's deeper feelings of that than just being teased. Again, pure speculation.

diamondduck13

All kinds of sad. It is hard to know what one would do if they were the parent.

I've seen what serious teasing/bullying (not just the innocent teasing all kids may face) can do to a kid, and it breaks my heart every time. How disgusting that this was racially motivated.

As PP said, she can always change it back later in life. Names arent as permanent as they may seem. Heck, lots of women change their last name when they get married. But I know FN can feel a lot more personal than LNs, and this is an incredibly sad situation the girl was in

I think if my daughter came to me upset her name had resulted in serious teasing/bullying, and it was clear she had given serious thought to the decision, I think I'd have a hard time not giving in, no matter how important the name was to me and I thought it should be to her.