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I would like it to be true that "L'Shonda Jones" will be treated no differently than "Sharon Jones", but wishing for a thing does not make it so.

"L'Shonda" could have graduated from Beverly Hills High, but any prospective employer will assume, in the first millisecond after reading her name, that she more likely went to Compton. There is a difference in the quality of education one gets at these two L.A. area high schools. That difference is understood by employers and goes a long way toward whether or not a potential employee is desirable. (It's kinda like showing up for an interview with purple hair and a nose ring; only worse. Hair grows out and jewely can be removed.)

Do you know that old saw about not having second chances to make a first impression? Like it or not, this is as true for "L'Shonda" as it is for anyone else. But in her case, it will have been her mother who made that first impression.