By Mairen Brown

Months. That is how long it has taken the majority of my teachers, from middle school to high school, to get my name right. They get the White students’ names correct with ease, but for some reason, an overwhelming number of teachers fail to get the pronunciation of minority students’ names correct. Now, I understand that the name Mairen (pronounced m-air-in) isn’t common, so to expect the perfect pronunciation on the first, second, and even third try isn’t fair. But what is fair, is to expect teachers to put in the effort to get it right on the fourth try. To ask, instead of assuming. But from my experience, this doesn’t happen. Instead, teachers call me Ms. Brown, struggle to pronounce my name, laugh every time they get to my name on the attendance, call me by my middle name, or ask if I have a nickname. And the answer is no. I don’t have a nickname. Minority students, especially Black students like myself, should not have to compromise our names, which are so key to a person’s identity, for the sake of appeasing a teacher. We should be able to be acknowledged by our unique names. Not forced to face yet another microaggression that comes with being a person of color in an American school. 

To show how this issue affects North Springs students, I decided to interview a few who have faced the same microaggressions as myself. 

Starting off with Tahje Livest, a North Springs sophomore. 

Mairen: What is your name and how is it pronounced?

Tahje: Tahje Livest (Pronounced Ta- Je).

Mairen: How often is your name mispronounced?

Tahje: It’s mispronounced a lot.

Mairen: Do your teachers put in the effort to learn your name?

Tahje: Some do. 

Mairen: Do you feel your race has anything to do with the pronunciation of your name or the lack of effort teachers put in to understand it?

Tahje: Somewhat, but not necessarily, because my name isn’t necessarily an ethnic name.

Mairen: How does the mispronunciation of your name make you feel?

Tahje: No way in particular. Everyone mispronounces it. 

Mairen: Would you say the mispronunciation of minority students’ names is a microaggression? 

Tahje: Depending on the situation, yes. 

Next, I spoke to North Springs’ sophomore Zitzijani Uvera-Castro. 

Mairen: What is your name and how is it pronounced?

Zitzi: My name is Zitzijani, it’s pronounced Zit-si-han-e.

Mairen: How often is your name mispronounced?

Zitzi: Oh, all the time.

Mairen: Do your teachers put in the effort to learn your name?

Zitzi: Hmm.. some do but others prefer calling me by my nickname or they’ll give me one.

Mairen: Do you feel your race has anything to do with the pronunciation of your name or the lack of effort teachers put in to understand it?

Zitzi: My mom speaks Spanish and so when she made it up she wrote where it’s pronounced in Spanish, so I can see how others’ efforts in pronunciation could vary.

Mairen: Do you have any teachers this year who don’t know your name, or fail to pronounce it together?

Zitzi: Yeah every year, all my teachers call me zitzi or Z.

Mairen: How does the mispronunciation of your name make you feel?

Zitzi: It used to make me mad in elementary and middle school, but I understand and I don’t get offended because I have met others with harder names and not been able to pronounce their names.

Lastly, I spoke with North Springs’ senior Nyarje Lindo-Holdipp.

Mairen: What is your name and how is it pronounced?

Ny: Ny- Ar- Jay. 

Mairen: How often is your name mispronounced?

Ny: All the time. But it’s definitely something I’ve grown used to over the years. 

Mairen: Do you feel your race has anything to do with the pronunciation of your name or the lack of effort teachers put in to understand it?

Ny: Definitely. I feel like teachers are apprehensive about mispronouncing more ‘ethnic-sounding’ names because of the repercussions of being labeled ignorant. 

Mairen: How does the mispronunciation of your name make you feel?

Ny: Because I’ve grown used to it I don’t take too much note of it when it happens, but it definitely isn’t fun to have to explain my name to every new person I meet. 

Mairen: Would you say the mispronunciation of minority students’ names is a microaggression? 

Ny: Definitely. Like I said before, people very often look down on people with names that sound ‘ethnic’, or even just different from common ones. I feel like people definitely use purposeful mispronunciations as a way to express their prejudice and frustrations in a form of rebellion they can’t be explicitly reprimanded for. 

Learning the pronunciation of every student’s name should be a priority for every teacher. And if it isn’t, it becomes the responsibility of the student to let it go, or speak up, and this is no easy feat.  Balancing the act of wanting to stick up for myself when my name is repeatedly pronounced incorrectly is always a battle. Deciding to be that “angry black girl” and correct the teacher who couldn’t care less about what I have to say, or just sit there and let my teachers laugh at my name on the attendance, or just whisper it under their breath in the hope I don’t realize they never call me by my name. Teachers need to do better and open their eyes to the power of their words, because minority students deserve more than careless and ignorant teachers who fail to recognize the value of the key to one’s identity- your name.