<p>^I don’t live in the city so I don’t know - just suggesting it as a possibility. I know in housing there is a pattern of immigrants not complaining about problem landlords. It’s an even bigger problem in the construction industry which uses a lot of undocumented workers and then treats them very poorly.</p>
<p>I do know the Straphangers are very active and they advocate for the entire subway and their reports get covered in all the local media.</p>
<p>A lot of black people I know are changing their first name because how it sounds and makes them look unprofessional in the work environment. You have a German middle and your last name isn’t common compared to other Asian last names. I would say you will be okay in the job interview.</p>
<p>I don’t have a problem with people changing their names if it makes them feel happier for it. We don’t get to choose our names, and some are a real burden. </p>
<p>OP could legally change her name, and let her references know about the change, so when they get the call about “Jane Andersen,” they know it is “Jane Soong” who is being referenced.</p>
<p>I see the biggest challenge for OP as explaining to inquiring minds why her last name is Andersen when she is Asian. If they don’t ask, most will assume she is adopted or divorced. Nothing wrong with that so long as she is comfortable with those assumptions. Otherwise, if asked, OP needs to have a better answer than “I expected you to discriminate against me for my Asian last name, so I changed it.” People will be offended by that and may label OP as deceitful. That would not be good.</p>
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<p>Old-fashioned girl that I am, I would simply assume that she was married – to a guy of Scandinavian heritage.</p>
<p>^Some may do that, but without a wedding ring, most old-fashioned people will not.</p>
<p>The major logic flaw in the OP’s plan is that if the OP’s assumptions are true and there actually is rampant employment racism against Asians (which of course is a ridiculous assertion) to the extent that the OP wants to change the name to fool the employer, as soon as the OP goes in for a personal interview, which is necessary in the majority of the cases, the racist employer would take one look at the OP, see that the OP is Asian, and soundly reject the OP. This would actually be more invasive to the OP than if the OP used the Asian name in the first place to sort of ‘screen’ employers and not waste the OP’s time with the racist ones - this assumes the OP will be able to find any employers who would even consider hiring an Asian of course.</p>
<p>I think the OP really just posted this to argue and have some fun with CCers since the racist premise and the OP’s proposed resolution are both ridiculous.</p>
<p>Names are names and that is it. Back when the dinosaurs roamed I was in my undergrad physics for dummies class. The professor was calling attendance the first day so he would know who everyone was. It went like this:</p>
<p>Prof: Won Lee…oh where are you from?</p>
<p>Won Lee (from the back of the room) :<br>
Cleveland.</p>
<p>^How do you know it wasn’t spelled “Juan Leigh?” ;)</p>
<p>By the way, please don’t tell Senator Dan Inouye, the chair of Ways and Means in the US Senate that he doesn’t have power because he’s Asian.</p>
<p>I was the 1st woman my law firm ever hired as a non-clerical employee. I was their first female law clerk & then first female attorney. The other female attorneys they hired after me became HI supreme court justice, HI circuit court judge, HI Lt Governor & then HI congressional representative. Two of the three were Asian women–a double-whammy in your eyes but still managed to do quite well for themselves!</p>
<p>I had a friend in junior high whose name was Annabel Lee. Her sister was Vivian Lee. I always thought if there’d been a brother he’d have been Robert E.</p>
<p>I was in the class and I actually knew WON. His name was not Juan.</p>
<p>I live in an area with many Asians. There are families going back generations ( well before WWII), from Japan & China. Thirty years ago, my daughters favorite nurse in the hospital was a Hmong woman. One of my favorite profs was originally from Bangladesh. I have old friends from Taiwan & new friends from Korea. Saying someone is “Asian” is about as specific as saying someone is " white".
Our state had a Chinese American governor for eight years- he was very popular and is now ambassador to China.</p>
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<p>My last name doesn’t reflect my ethnicity. And I’m married.</p>
<p>There are many many people whose last names don’t reflect their ethnicities and did not have a name change. We shouldn’t assume we could tell (or worse, know it all) a person’s origins on the basis on their names, especially now there are so many children of mixed race marriages.</p>
<p>My neighbors have an Asian last name and they don’t look a bit Asian.The dad’s grandfather was Asian, reverse case of OP’s situation.</p>
<p>Maybe you can be like Cher and Madonna and only go by one name professionally… (just injecting a bit of levity)</p>
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<p>That makes sense.</p>
<p>If a person looks Asian, is unmarried, and his/her last name is Andersen, what should we think?</p>
<p>Many would say we should not think anything about it, but we do because we want to predict and explain and understand people around us, and names do, in fact MEAN something. (Otherwise, why not be assigned a number or color or something else?)</p>
<p>When they meet an Asian-looking person named Andersen, the vast majority of people will assume that such person either was/is married to a person of Scandinavian heritage, is adopted, or has a sliver of Scandinavian heritage on the paternal side. What is wrong with making those assumptions and inquiring about it when we first meet?</p>
<p>We gave our girls Asian first names because H is Caucasian. We didn’t want them to be Susan Smith because they don’t look like Susan Smith.</p>
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<p>Well, if you look in the early pages you will see various people suggesting reasons why someone might not interview someone with a “not average sounding” name.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>They might not speak or write English well.</p></li>
<li><p>They might not have a work visa.</p></li>
<li><p>Their accent might be hard to understand.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The problem isn’t a bunch of HR people sitting around saying, “Now remember, we don’t want to hire any ASIANS. Because we haaaate theeeeem! <em>evil cackling</em>” It’s an HR director making assumptions, based on an Asian-sounding name, that they wouldn’t make for a name like “Jane Doe” or even “Marie Grande.” (Would they assume that Marie must have a thick French accent? Probably not.) The danger is that they will go, “Weeeeell, I could interview them and see what they’re like . . . OR I could interview Todd Smith, who has the same qualifications.”</p>
<p>Never underestimate the ability of good people to make small, discriminatory decisions in every day life. I have a relative who locks her car doors whenever she sees a black person walking on the sidewalk. And yet in the 60s she traveled down to march with Civil Rights protesters, and I have never heard her use a racial slur. She gets very indignant whenever a politician makes a racist remark about black people. But . . . she locks her car door.</p>
<p>It’s complicated.</p>
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Because you could be very mistaken and why would you WANT to make any assumptions?
Can’t we accept anyone without assumptions?
By the way, my maiden name is my last name and no I am not adopted either. And thought you were correct in your assumption?</p>
<p>Lots of people came through Ellis Island with their names changed and their ethnicities don’t match their last names. Someone upthread mentioned lots of Jews and eastern Europeans changed their last names they don’t look their Anglo sounding names either.</p>
<p>Swimmer Nathan Adrian is 50% Asian and could have been Nathan Wong as easily. And yes, he’s 6’7".</p>
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<p>We can TRY to accept everyone without prejudice. That is an American ideal.</p>
<p>As humans, it is natural for us to try to predict our world based upon perceptions and assumptions, including self-labels and visuals. These assumptions are based upon historical knowledge and logic, and do change over time. We can’t thrive in a world that is in a constant state of unknown/chaos. We must make the most efficient decisions we can based upon the most logical interpretation of information we are presented with. These can later be readjusted once we get the facts.</p>
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<p>What business is it of you or anyone doing the interview to be making such assumptions in absence of any data/volunteered information/valid documentation? </p>
<p>On what basis would it be ok to make assumptions of that individual in such a scenario before actually running a background check and/or conducting an interview?</p>
<p>Moreover, unless the labor laws I’ve read have recently been rendered invalid…isn’t it illegal to inquire about someone’s marital status…even in a roundabout manner?</p>