The Kansas City Star has the sad story of a 19-year-old woman who’s gotten a long-awaited — and unusual — early Christmas gift from her white mother: a name change.

The woman, formerly known as Keisha Austin, said that she faced bigoted bullying from classmates and teachers because of her name, which people associated with "video vixens, neck-rolling and Maury Povich tabloid fodder." In short, having a recognizably "black" girl’s name would up being an emotional and social hazard.  "In our society, names like Abdul and Muhammad get flagged for security checks," noted the writer, Jenee Osterheldt. "Tran and Jesus get labeled illegal immigrants. Deonte and Laquita? People see baby mamas, criminals and affirmative action hires. Billy Bob and Sue? Hillbillies and trailer parks."

For years, Keisha begged her mother to change her name.

"It’s not something I take lightly," she told the paper, crying. "I put a lot of thought into it. I don’t believe you should just change your name or your face or anything like that on a whim. I didn’t want to change my name because I didn’t like it. I wanted to change my name because it didn’t feel comfortable. I don’t connect to it. I didn’t feel like myself, but I never want any girls named Keisha, or any name like that, to feel hurt or sad by it."