By Ankur Kayastha ‘15

Ethnic names are seen all over classrooms in the United States, so it may not come to be a surprise that there may be inherent bias when teachers tend to call on easier-sounding names like ‘David’ than, for example, my name, ‘Ankur’ (un-koor). Originating from western India, my name has proved difficult to pronounce for nearly all of my teachers I have had to date. Ranging from ‘anchor’ to ‘uncle,’ the struggle of others trying to pronounce a student’s name commonly happens to those with an ethnic name.

Of course, this is not something to get angry at – it is a name that is from elsewhere in the world and it is completely understandable to mispronounce, but the issue emerges when teachers avoid saying my name to deter embarrassment.

Teachers undoubtedly have one of the most difficult professions in the work force. They deal with kids each and every day and have to follow a strict curriculum in order to stay on schedule with students’ learning in class. Unfortunately, in the classrooms of some teachers, some students may be at a disadvantage in class not due to their effort in school or background knowledge, but rather their name.

I am not alone in this observation. Senior Dotun (doe-toon) Adegbite also shares his insight on the issue and his experience of mispronunciations. “In all seriousness, I have been called Daquan. My name has been butchered so many times, I gave up trying to correct it,” said Adegbite.

There are teachers that attempt to learn one’s name and its pronunciation so that they can treat you as a part of the class and perhaps make you feel more comfortable in the classroom, and then there are teachers that are simply unable to pronounce names and therefore resort to not making eye contact in class so that mutual embarrassment does not ensue.

Junior Ashmiu (ash-mew) Koroma has had his fair share of nicknames created for him throughout his school career. His name has been known to being shortened to ‘Ash’ by teachers and substitutes (a whole other phenomenon), which is fine if preferred, but not being able to pronounce a name is not an excuse to assign a nickname to an unwilling person. “Teachers have resorted to calling me ‘Ash’ because apparently my name is too complicated,” said Koroma.

Students with ethnic names are proud of their names for the most part, and their names offer a new cultural aspect to classrooms. Most teachers are intrigued by the uniqueness of some names, but a few struggle with what to call a student.