First semester as a college freshman my professor refused to call out my name because it was a “racial slur” even after I spelled out and pronounced my name several times and explained the origin of it. He refused to accept my name for what it is, asked me if I had a nickname

or alternative (I did not) he said he’ll call me by my last name and I was like ugh whatever. One day out of the blue he stopped the class and proceeded to introduce me to everybody as, AND I QUOTE, “N*****” and that the rest of the students should understand that when he calls-

out that name, he’s referring to me specifically. I think you can imagine how traumatic that experience could be for a 17 year old middle eastern girl in a predominantly white institution. Now imagine experiencing similar things every single damn day of your life.

So I’m sorry if I’m fed up with the dumb ass jokes. My ethnic name is perfectly fine and I refuse to ever go by a nickname or change it. Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk.