I am seeing a lot of examples of the ways POC end up suffering from “unintended” microagressions & ignorance from white people in positions of power. Going to share something that has followed me for the last 19 yrs. The work is not done & it is up to those in power to do it(1/9)

I moved to the US from India in 8th grade. I had never shortened or changed my name, even though it is an uncommon name in India too. My first American teacher took one look and decided to call me “S” the rest of the school year. She never asked how I felt about this. (2/9)

On the first day of 10th grade, a teacher said “you’ve gotta give me a nickname or I’ll never call on you.” It was AP English Lit. Participation in class was 20% of our grade. She chopped my name in half & started calling me Shrey. She never asked how I felt about this. (3/9)

In college, I roomed with a girl from my high school, who always called me Shrey. I introduced myself to every new person as Shreshtha. My roommate continued to call me Shrey. Everyone else started calling me Shrey. They never asked how I felt about this. (4/9)

Interviewing for grad school, the first question was often “do you have a nickname?” I continued to introduce myself as Shreshtha, but produced Shrey when asked. I wanted to get in so bad. Every single program asked for a nickname. They never asked how I felt about this. (5/9)

In grad school, people asked for a nickname constantly - supervisors, students, teachers. 1 person asked “how do I pronounce your name?” When I explained it to them, they said “wow that’s hard” & have called me Shrey since. They never asked how I felt about this. (6/9)

4 yrs ago, I moved to San Francisco, a fresh start. I never said yes to a nickname again. My parents named me Shreshtha after months of deliberation. They took into account the meaning - pinnacle, or the best of a group, BTW. That’s what Shreshtha means. I feel PROUD of it. (7/9)

I'm back in Chicago now, and I constantly correct people, asking them to call me Shreshtha. I work with students & I don’t ask for a nickname. I ask “how do I correctly pronounce your name?” I ask, “What do you prefer to be called?” I ask how they feel about it. (8/9)

I know to do this, cuz I was in it. I know that “do you have a nickname” can sound the same as “I do not value your name.” There is tons that I do not know about, though, so I am trying to do the work. Let us ALL do the work, esp with experiences we can't possibly share. (9/9)