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June 22, 2025

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3 Top Story Point of View Al

What’s in a Name? By Al Sikes

November 12, 2021 by Al Sikes

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The name Winsome took me back quite a few decades to those magic moments when my wife, Marty, was pregnant. Driving trips in particular were absorbed in discussions about naming. And this was a time, before ultrasounds, when the sex had not been revealed. This made for a more expansive exploration.

Vaguely, but somewhat vividly, I recall those conversations. We would talk about family names. We would talk about who would be thrilled and who would be deflated. We would sound out names looking for harmony, rhythm and maybe a bit of melody.

William Shakespeare in a telling exchange revealed the naming dilemma. Spoken by Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Juliet was defiant. She was not allowed to fall in love with Romeo because he is a Montague. 

What’s in a name? Nothing and everything. The newly elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia is named Winsome Sears. And she, to the cast of Virginia Senators in their ornately appointed chamber, will be called Madame President. Not bad for a woman, a Jamaican-American who grew up in the projects.

And her election has consequences. One of the most important is to introduce Virginians and beyond to the word “winsome”. I am sure I was well into my third decade before becoming familiar with its meaning: “attractive or appealing in appearance or character.” Better that we learn its meaning earlier and most importantly its import. 

Georgetown professor Michael Dyson in the aftermath of her election said of her: “There is a black mouth moving but a white idea running on the runway of the tongue of a figure who justifies and legitimizes the white supremacist practices.” He apparently hadn’t read she is also a Marine. 

I would ask Professor Dyson: when does polarization become a winning strategy? Never is the answer. Polarization is an element that in its interplay with other elements virtually always finishes out of the money. Polarizing as a tactic can win short-term victories but in the long-term, in a democracy, action turns on some level of unification. Dyson, of course, is not running for anything; Sears did and was elected in a State not especially welcoming to Republicans in recent years. 

The hardened polarizers on the Left demean the Lieutenant-Governor-Elect while on the Right those Republican in the Congress who came to an acceptable understanding on a compromise bill funding infrastructure investments are said to be turncoats. Unity as treason?

Most people do not like polarization—the “us against them” of the human condition. When people are intensely inflexible in their point of view they want to let you know and before long you don’t want to hear more.

Former President Trump was, in my lifetime, the most polarizing figure in politics. He is the most polarizing not because he is wrong but because he insists that everybody who doesn’t share his view is wrong. And he often does so by insulting them. His loss resulted from transgressive behavior; the behavior and numbers do not lie. 

There is also a false narrative that I have certainly heard more than once. When I am with somebody who supported Trump and often still does it will be said that I helped to elect Biden. Recently I responded to this by saying “I did not vote for either”. I was then told that there are only two choices and you must choose between the offerings of the dominant Parties. One of the prevailing principles in a democracy is you get to choose, I did.

I have no idea why Winsome’s parents choose her name. But my own experience tells me it was a considered decision. Maybe it was because they understood that winsome approaches to life’s many challenges are more likely to succeed. They couldn’t have known that their daughter would one day campaign for the second highest office in Virginia, but as immigrants, they did know that their lives and America’s promise, “out of many one” would be better served by harmony not division. All Americans should take note.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books. 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Filed Under: 3 Top Story, Al

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Letters to Editor

  1. Stephen Schaare says

    November 12, 2021 at 3:46 PM

    Hi Mr. Sikes, Very well stated, a voice of reason. Steve

  2. Brice Gamber says

    November 12, 2021 at 3:50 PM

    E Pluribus Unum…. If we could only find that path Al. Thanks for the message

  3. Thomas E. Hill says

    November 14, 2021 at 9:57 AM

    Al—I so agree with your comments about Winsome and politzerization. The sooner we all accept that we are Americans and stop worrying about whether we are black, white, yellow or red the better we will be as a country. As I recall from my brief stint in law school, cases should be decided and laws should consequently be established based on the thinking of a “reasonabley prudent individual”. It says nothing of race or religion.

  4. Barbara Denton says

    November 15, 2021 at 5:36 PM

    I really thought you might be writing a column I could agree with until you got to the Republicans in Congress who voted for the infrastructure pork bill and started on Trump again. Your hatred of President Trump is well known. We did not need a further reiteration of it.

    It is too bad he still takes up so much room in your head. You cannot prove he lost the election or that the presidency of Joe Biden is legitimate. I suppose in your mind the mess our Country is in is Donald Trump’s fault. Sorry, but you are wrong again. In just under 11 months our illegitimate president has taken us down a path worse than we were on under Obama. Do not worry it is downhill from here until we take Congress back in 2022. The fourth estate will continue the polarization until they realize the American people are not buying it.

    The Virginia election was only the beginning.

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