Was I being racist?

[bullywee]

In work today we were going through a list of names, discussing each person. The vast majority were English names and were easily pronouncable. There was one non-English name which was a difficult to pronounce (to me). Prior to saying this name, I said apologies for any mispronounciation and attempted to pronounce the name.

Anyway, long story short, my line manager pulled me aside after the meeting and said I was being racist because I implied it was "unpronouncable".

Was I? I was genuinely only pre apologising for any mispronounciation but not sure after the verbal bollocking I got.

Teaandcrisps maybe you should add a chip to your name; like the one you are so obviously carrying around on your shoulder. You sound ridiculous

I’m a lecturer, and often teach international students. At the beginning of the academic year when I do an induction I always say something along the lines of “now, I’m sure I am going to get some of these names wrong, so please do correct me”, then after any names I don’t know I will ask if it was okay - the student will then say yes, or more commonly no, it’s pronounced XYZ, or even, it’s pronounced XYZ, but I go by Q. One of my colleagues was really caught out by Saoirse last year, and another by Siobhan, so it’s not just “foreign” names that can be tricky. I don’t think you were being racist, OP.

You are not ur op. What is so hard for some people to understand that names can be difficult to pronounce? And even the ones that look phonetically correct some times aren't!
I used to work with a lady with a similar name to Michaela. Everyone pronounced it "Mic-ay-la". It was years before she corrected everyone that it was pronounced "Mick-eye-ella'. Similarly to a girl.i went to school with her name was spelt "Raechelle" most thought is was the same as Rachel, nope. It was pronounced "ray-shell". The same as David can be "Day-vid or Da-vid".

I would have possibly apologised at the start of the list as opposed to just before that name though. I have a name that is very easy to pronounce yet very few people can spell it correctly. They add or remove letters, they some times even lengthen my first name to a completely different one.

My (real) surname can be tricky ... I would be fuming if anyone were to be criticised for saying it was hard to pronounce in good faith.

Anyway, I wouldn't change it for the world. It's a rare day it doesn't lead to conversation.

I work in a company with a lot of international employees. It's generally the eastern european names that many struggle with, not related to skin colour at all.

Some people on this thread are quite frankly ridiculous. Of course you were not being racist OP. It was a perfectly natural thing to say.

I'm sure you weren't being racist, OP, but I can there may be some people who get a bit tired of hearing white people say 'Oh gosh, I'm really sorry that I'm probably going to say your name wrong' and might honestly rather you gave it a go and got it wrong. But by the same token, some people would rather people said exactly what you said!

But your boss was being unreasonable by bringing you up hard about it, they can't speak for everyone.

Ask your manager to pronounce.....Milngavie, Culross or a few other names of your choosing.

Apologies if this misses the point, but was this reading out of names at a graduation ceremony?
If so then I think the university has missed something massive there (not you as an invidivual). The universities I attended sent us all an email before the ceremony asking for any specific pronunciations. Anyone i knew who had a tricky name would email across and then it was said correctly on the day.

Of course, the university might already do that and someone has decided that nobody would stumble on their name, in which case it's on them really.

Like other posters have said, ignore the goady one.

It sounds like it was just 4 people in the room going through the list of students to confirm the award they received.

*5 people in the room

Not a graduation ceremony, just a room where staff confirmed degree classifications given individual course marks and GPAs.

Thanks for advice. In future I will start with a blanket apologies if I mispronounce any name and get on with it, that is the best advice on this thread.

It’s not racist. Rude-yes. But definitely not racist. Also Chinese names are pretty easy to pronounce for English speakers. What makes you assume you’d get it completely wrong?

In that case it's not racist.

Welcome to Britain 2019, you must pronounce every single name correctly first time or you are a racist. Incredible, but not surprising. My brother worked for a London local authority and was given a talking to for responding when asked if he wanted a coffee, that he said can I have black coffee no sugar...That's not a joke. It was considered insensitive...It's trash like this what OP says and that what happened to my brother that diverts and even devalues real racism.when it actually occurs. It's sad that especially here where I live, everything's racial to the point where even other minorities are saying why does everything have to be racial. It's like we have now become so focused on race that I think it's done more harm than good. I've always said if the human race can eventually get past trivial biological differences, it will be the greatest advancement in the history of the human race.

Depends on what you said in their exact words. I often find people try to pin the blame of their own mistake on the person with the difficult to pronounce name. If you made a stupid comment you were right to be pulled up.

Just to clarify I have a name that actually is unprouncable in English without lots of practice. The best approach is to give it your best shot. If you don’t think it came out right (and it won’t draw attention as it did in your situation) you can apologise and ask whether that was correct. But don’t just assume you’ll get it wrong. That’s almost as bad as just not bothering.

My brother worked for a London local authority and was given a talking to for responding when asked if he wanted a coffee, that he said can I have black coffee no sugar.

He did aye?

Funny you should mention this was for a degree - when I graduated, I was asked how to pronounce my surname (yes it's foreign but I am white) ahead of going on stage to collect my degree. Isn't this just sensible?!

I don't see how what OP did was rude like a few people have suggested. Personally I think it's a lot nicer to apologise before you have a go if it's unusual or whatever, rather than potentially mangling it to the point the person doesn't know you're addressing them.

I see though that @BogglesGoggles thinks the opposite!

@ElizaPancakes that’s different though isn’t it? OP asked in the middle of reading out in front of everyone.

My extremely racist aunt has this affectation of making out that she can't pronounce perfectly pronounceable and straightforward foreign names. So it does depend on what the name was,