Since Obama began running, I've heard average folks on radio and TV during "man on the street interviews" say things that remind me that there is always something deeper going on here more than a simple slip of the tongue. Take this example(roughly adapted here) from a nice well meaning white lady in WI on some NPR show: "Obama or whatever his name is." Beeyatch, you know his name!
Think about it...How much stranger is the name Obama than say the name of that southern bastion of tolerance ALABAMA? As for his first name, Barack, certainly some Americans HAVE to be familiar with the former Israeli PM Ehud Barach. Sure the spelling is different but since Hebrew and Arabic are BOTH Semetic Languages, (Gasp!) guess what? The names are the same.
But here we go again. American intolerance rearing it's ugly, name-mangling head like the tar pools that bubble up from underground along Wilshire Boulevard. You never know where it's going to happen but you are never surprised! Remember when Papa Bush warned during his run at the White House that his opponent certainly couldn't be presidential with a name like Tsongas!
Jesus, people! There are many European ethnics folks in this country with names full of Z's and C's and K's back to back yet no one bats an eyelash. So how come a brother with a nice phonetic name rolls up and all hell breaks loose?
A Vietnamese friend of mine once posted an FAQ on the door of her office. Among the answers on the list of FAQs were the following two items...
a simple pronunciation key to her name and the following admonition:
NO, you may not call me Jane or Ann or any other simpering Anglo* name (*my addition)just because you find them easier to pronounce..
"You go girl!" I said. Unlike many folks she didn't adopt an "American" name. I really feel bad that some people feel that they have to do that. Bahram becomes "Bob" or Pushpinder become Paul. I do understand the assimilation pressure and I am sure some folks get tired of correcting people over and over and over again! Sadly though, I think this only encourages those whose natural tendency might be to simply just negate people by trampling over their names. I don't believe that it's always just "honest" mistakes, when people muck up the names of other. I think it is an attempt, whether explicit or implicit, to rob people of their very identity and culture, to belittle and minimise them. I especially abhor the presumptuousness of those who would, out of their great kindness, bestow upon others, "convenient" nicknames because "honey I can't say your name right!" It tells me a lot about a person when they do not take the simple effort and time to learn how to say another person's name correctly. It's a big "ef" you! To those people I sing my anthem--Beyonce's hit song--"say my name, say my name." And if you can't, F-U too!
