People from foreign ethnic group have names that is difficult to pronounce for native people. A typical response they get when they introduce themselves is a curious look and subsequently a question-- How do you pronounce your name again? The way a name is pronounced, it can shape how individuals see us and define our accomplishments. When an ethnic name is Americanized or changed or given nickname, it can change how people view his/her identity. Even in the job market, the employer is likely to hire candidate like them and sometime they judge a pool of potential candidates with the familiarity of name. As name can be connection to self identity and related to ancestry, people should not be biased based on name and how it is pronounced; people …show more content…
For immigrant, minority, or English learning student, name has historical and hereditary significance. They may have stories behind their name which are suppressed when they are regularly compelled to adjust to an “Americanized” setting. However, that transition forces students to take name that do not define them. Yee Wan moved to United States from China when she was 17. When she enrolled to a school at United States, she was forced to change her name-- she had to decide whether to keep her native name or change to American name so that it would be easier for her teachers to pronounce her name. Realizing that there was no choice, she had to change her name to Winnie. (McLaughlin 1). Similarly, Michelle-Thuy Ngoc is a US born teen …show more content…
John L. Cotton argues in a paper that “Extensive research in social psychology has demonstrated that when we perceive others as being similar to ourselves, we are attracted to them”(Cotton 19). Although there are law against racial discrimination, white Americans are more likely to get job offer than black applicant, or an immigrant. When Jose Zamora applied for job at several companies, he did not get any job offer. Later, when he dropped a letter “s” in his name and changed it to “Joe” and applied for jobs at companies at United States, he got interview at several companies. Numerous job applicants and studies have found that employers subconsciously or consciously make discrimination against name that sounds Latino or Black. Broad research in social psychology has demonstrated that. How attitude relates to attraction is a major part of this research. We prefer what is similar to our character and what is known to us. (Cotton 19) Minorities are at disadvantage because they lack representation at many levels. As the discrimination is started at early hiring process and if all the employers are inclined to hire employee similar to them, people of different ethnic group and races have very little chance of getting hired. The current hiring process is the reason people like Jose are forced to change their name. As it is easier to secure a job with American name,
The essay “Being a Chink” was written by Christine Leong for her freshman composition class at NYC and was later published in Mercer Street. Leong begins with the affect that language has on people, how it can define us, make us feel, and differentiate us. She recalls the first time she saw the word chink, one summer while working in her family’s Chinese restaurant. While dusting some shelves she came across a white bank envelope with the work chink written on it in her father’s handwriting. Consequently she was upset by this finding; since she was not sure if her father was called this name by a customer and he wrote it down to find the meaning of this word. Since her family was one of two Asian families living in the area, she was not surprised
names are prevented from being able to reassimilate within society, they are the outcasts. It also
However, Xxxxxx is my preferred name and the name that relates to my culture and the land where I grew up. It is “my piko name connecting to my aina”. It also connects me to my ancestors and enables me to feel their presences. Even though I highly prefer this name, I cannot use this name openly as I want to which is a big burden for me. Nevertheless, the significance it carries and the culture that prevents me to disclose this name are very important to me. The significance of my home lanf and my cuture is what makes this name very special. Therefore I feel comfortable sacrificing my preference over my culture and belief.
Teachers should make personal efforts to research preferred terminology for students and use language respectfully. For Native American students, this can be a challenge because there is controversy both within and around the Native American community about self-identification and ethnic markers. I have used the group marker “Native American” throughout this case study because this is Eva’s preferred term, but there are a variety of ethnic names individuals and particularly teachers should be aware of within the Native American population. Historically, Native Americans have had the group name “Indians”, resulting from a mislabeling during colonization (Lowe 2005). While some Native American individuals consider this to be an ethnic slur, others have chosen to re-claim this title and identify as “Indian” or “American Indian”. “Indigenous”, “Aboriginal”, and “First Nations or First People” are other variations of ethnic identification that some Native Americans have chosen to adopt. Still other Native Americans disagree with grouping all tribes under a single ethnic group, and instead argue to identify by regional markers. These include ethnic markers such as “Pueblo-dwelling People”, “Plains Indians”, “Inuit”, and “LDN Peoples (Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Peoples)”. When I asked Eva on her personal opinion on how to address self-identification of students who are Native American, she advised that I “not be afraid to ask students what they prefer to be called”. For educators, being aware of these discrepant identifiers and being receptive to students’ individual identity choices should be considered for Native American students, and educators should keep up to date on research and professional language standards for these populations of
A name changing the identity of one is exactly what happened to Firoozeh “Julie” Dumas. Before her name change, Dumas was regarded as being one of those immigrants with a name no one wanted to learn. But after changing her ...
There are many reasons why people may feel self-conscious; in which, others may or may not, be able to relate to. “My Name’’ is the fourth chapter in The House on Mango Street and in this chapter, Esperanza and I share some similarities. Being named after a relative, born in the Chinese year of the horse, and a dislike in our own name are similarities we share in this chapter. [Esperanza] “In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means to many letters’’(10). Esperanza expresses a dislike in her name due to the length stating, that her name it is too long. When I was younger, I felt the same as my parents placed upon me three middle names at birth. I to felt my name was too long. I would feel embarrassed when my family would address me by my full name although, they would only do so if I was
A name such as Lakshya or Dashawn may seem to be “ghetto”[ a poor and economically deprived community where minorities typical reside] would possibly be rejected in society due to their ethnic name. An ethnic sounding name is commonly viewed with negative connotation thus being, “non-educated”, “poor”, “criminal”, and more. Cosgrove- Mathers asserts a study given by the University of Chicago’s Marianne Bertrand and MIT’s Sendhil Mullainathan, they discuss how a black sounding name may be impediment in Cosgrove- Mathers article. They [ Bertrand and Mullainathan] state, “ White names got about one callback per 10 resumes; black names got one per 15 … having a white sounding names[ Carries and Kristen 's thus being they sound more educated along with having skill in the field,and higher quality resume in general.] 30 percent more likely to elicit a callback, but only 9 percent for black-sounding names”(qtd. In Cosgrove - Mathers). Cosgrove-Mathers alludes to the issues of how jobs often are bias towards names that are “black” sounding when mention the studies done by Bertrand and Mullainathan. The stereotypes that are often represented of ethnic sounding names is unfair and bias in all means. On the contrary people who oppose that “black” sounding names carry a stereotype that reflect possibly back on the company they work for. This may seem like a valid point. However, a company shouldn’t chose an employe based off the name given on the resume, but what qualities the employer has, and can offer to the company due to an outstanding resume. Therefore, parents of color should name their children ethnic names to bring an end to the negative stereotypes that are often associated with their “black” sounding
Amy Tan’s ,“Mother Tongue” and Maxine Kingston’s essay, “No Name Woman” represent a balance in cultures when obtaining an identity in American culture. As first generation Chinese-Americans both Tan and Kingston faced many obstacles. Obstacles in language and appearance while balancing two cultures. Overcoming these obstacles that were faced and preserving heritage both women gained an identity as a successful American.
Institutions in the businesses sector are swarming in racial discrimination, much of which is covert and difficult to detect and prove. Racial discrimination excludes, marginalizes and exploits those citizens who are discriminated against, ceasing any opportunity for economic progress and development. Under certain regulations some businesses are required to diversify their workplace by hiring certain amounts of people of color, but in reality these small quotas do not do much for the overall condition of the people who are being discriminated against. Businesses that fail to take action on racial discrimination tend to have lower levels of productivity. This stems from employees not being interested in working hard, or because people with exceptional talents and skills choose to shy away from certain places of employment due to the fear of racial discrimination. Employees who feel wronged also tend to switch jobs, forcing the organization to spend more time and resources on hiring and training new employees, besides coping with the low productivity of a new employee. (Nayab)The effects of racial discrimination in the American work force could be identified with funded research on the topic. With ample data employers will be able to better understand the negative affects that racial discrimination have
The middle name that appears on my birth certificate is Cristina and I’m quite fond of my middle name because to me the name sounds utterly cheerful and friendly. Maria and Cristina complement each other. Many people when I tell them how my middle name is spelled they tend to believe my mom made a mistake and spelled my name incorrectly. The truth is she meant to spell it like that not because she decided to be slightly unique and spell my name without the letter h but because she decided to commemorate someone or something.
In Chinese culture, names are not merely "labels" to distinguish one from the other nor are they used as "mediums" that "reflect" one's identity and individuality; names represent all the long-term greetings and expectations from parents to children. A name is the essence of a person, and it is a gift (the first gift) from parents to be carried for the rest of one's life.* A person's name is like a title of a book or poem: we use a title to identify the nature of the book and its "essence", while we use a name to identify a person and his/her individuality. Chinese name is distinctive in a sense that each name has a story behind it, e.g. June's mother named her twin daughters in China "Chwun Yu" and "Chwun Hwa" since they were born in spring ("Chwun"), "Yu" (rain) was given to the first born and "Hwa" (flower) to the second which indicate their sequence of birth ("rain comes before flower": par. 88); furthermore, rain and flower are nature's elements that exist for one and the other, indicating these twin daughters would stay inseparable.
The election just happened and there were a lot of emotions in the air, whether it was on campus, the airport, or back home. My mother informed me of who she voted for almost immediately after I walked into the door--Trump. Shocked, but not surprised, I asked what incited her to vote for him. My mother is a part of the white blue-collar working class that is often called racist and ignored by the public. Whether or not the name-calling is warranted, my mother feels ostracized. She questions why affirmative action is in place, giving jobs to minorities, where white people are unemployed and barely scraping by. Rather, she fails to see how being ignored gives her the power to succeed in modern-day America. Brekhus (2015) details a study done by Nancy DiTomaso (2013), where racial inequality compels hiring processes. Although minorities are discriminated against often, the deliberate issue is how white people are discriminated for. Part of the hiring process is social networking--who you know--and a critical component is homogeneity. Since managerial positions are dominated by white people, and white people monopolize other white people 's social networks, a never-ending cycle is created. The cycle’s consequence is that it “reproduc[es] racial bias in hiring practices” and we fail to focus on “situations where whites habitually, but unintentionally, favor members of their own
From the time of slavery up to now, race has been the element that gets between better opportunities. America is said to show equal opportunity for all, yet there are still signs of inequality within society. African Americans, Hispanic/Latino descent usually works minimum-wage jobs. “The income of 2.1 million African-American families (26 percent) was below the poverty level” (Mujahid). This proves how African-Americans are not given the same opportunities of employment, which takes away their chances to be successful in life and stand where they vision to be. Yolanda Spivey in the article, this woman got a lot of job offers when she pretended to be white, asserts that racism in the job market is real. Spivey supports her assertion by doing an experiment where she changed her name to Bianca White, to see if people had a different response. The author’s purpose is to show how racism still is a big part of the American culture so that people open their eyes to the true reality of many cultures when it comes to job opportunities. The author writes in a formal tone for all audiences. This experiment showed how it limits people from great opportunities. Furthermore, the internet often allows the world to see what the expectations for people depending on their color are. This is evident because it shows how society only has one image in their head when it come to the word
I have read an account called " 'What's in a Name? " ", which is composed by Henry Louis Gates. This account demonstrates to us a youth experience of the creator that happened amid the mid-1950s. In the article, Gates alludes to an occurrence when a white man, Mr. Wilson, who was well disposed with his dad, called his dad "George", a name which was a prominent method for alluding to African Americans in those circumstances. In any case, Gates' dad needed to acknowledge this separation and couldn't make a move around then. By utilizing sentiment to bring out individuals' enthusiastic reaction, and utilizing suggestion, Gates effectively communicates his claim that name shapes individuals' discernments
As we have seen so many stories of people not getting hired or being discriminated. As a result this people get discriminated because of the color of their skin or ethnicity. Many people face this issues when they go to places, and apply or attend interviews. When people go and apply we always put our race, and if you don’t summit that well in the last name, and first name we can identify . What I’m trying to say is if people refuse to do that part in the application sometimes with the last name people get discriminated as well. For these reasons people get discriminated and don’t get hired. I want to point out a store that is really famous is called Hollister. This store used to be racist when people went to the interviews they would only hired white people and Hispanics, blacks and Asians were not allowed. Over the years the employers that were discriminated sued this company. Now there’s more diversity in the stores and people of all races have