So Who Gets to Belong in Today’s American South? It’s a Question We Need to Answer

“I’m not even going to try this name. It’s spelled A-D-I-T-I?”

I was on a Zoom meeting with 30 of my peers, waiting to be introduced, and I could feel my face get hot.

I felt both minimized and embarrassed, as if the facilitator’s lack of willingness to try to pronounce my name was somehow a problem I had caused.

With that feeling of discomfort in my mind, I had to quickly react.

After I unmuted, I ended up asking the facilitator to practice saying my name with me before the meeting continued.