Today's New Serious Racist Hate-Crime Is... (Spins Wheel) ...Mispronouncing Exotic or Strange Personal Names

How dare you not know how to pronounce a name chosen precisely because it was strange!!!

You know when you're standing in line at a coffee shop, trying to figure out what to order? Your mind races. How much caffeine can I handle today? Should I get that overpriced bagel?

Many people with "unconventional" names experience a different kind of anxiety in this moment: figuring out what "safe" and "easy" name they should use that day.

Having a name butchered happens beyond coffee shops. This same anxiety peeks its head in the workplace, the classroom and many other aspects of life.

In this episode of RadioActive Youth Media, hosts Zuheera Ali and Keya Roy talk to author Ijeoma Oluo and each other about their experiences living in the United States with "difficult" names. They also talk to Rita Kohli, a professor at University of California, Riverside who has done research on the effects of mispronouncing names on students of color.

Spoiler: This practice of mispronouncing names isn't just embarrassing. It has a long and racist history.

You don't say.

Click the link if you want to hear this exciting podcast accusing those who are not at-first-glance fluent in pronouncing foreign-language or frankly made-up names of being racist.

posted by Ace of Spades at 01:12 PM

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