I thought she was awesome!

a beautiful woman. Didn’t think anything of her race, at all. 😍

(that society) “taught me I existed only in the background of their stories, doing their nails, diagnosing their illnesses, supporting their love interests — and perhaps the most damaging — waiting for them to rescue me.”

in the original movie.

put in someone with a little too much melanin or non western European features in that made up world and watch out!!!

We have a significant number of ethnic Chinese people (providing service in Mandarin) and when I started there all of them had Anglo names. Previous management (Chinese) foistered it upon them, on the basis it would help integration -all done with the best intentions of course. Fast forward three years... new Mandarin speaking reps typically chose their given Chinese name rather than a Western name. One rep decided to abandon their Anglo name and use her given name instead.

Everyone in the contact center I work at has the right to choose their name and the right to be respected for it. I like to think I played a part, primarily because I was disgusted and annoyed on how an outsource partner with a previous employer decided it would be a good thing to give their employees Western names, though it was painfully obvious they were from India. Later on, when that contract ended and my employer properly set up shop in India the employees used their given name.

Now I did find out one thing: customers don't like being offshored for service, no matter where in the world... people just prefer a local accent from people in the area
Strangely, it is easier to hire bilingual Mandarin/English customer service reps in the USA than in Taiwan, where my employers have operations. Most of them are from Mainland China. So we have the double whammy of having a Mainland accent being delivered out of Greensboro, North Carolina... half a world away.

So back on topic... I hope Ms. Tran uses her given name more often. Now how to pronounce it is another thing... But I could ask...

Out of a dozen Asian students I have had in the last 5 years, only one has used her given name. (These are international students, so they are not individuals whose parents have given them anglo names.) I try to speak with each of them at the beginning of the year about what they prefer to be called, and explain that if they are angliciing their name for my convenience I am happy to learn how to pronounce the name they prefer. All have asked me to continue to use their Anglo names.

I had called for assistance with my new computer (called from So Cal)..and I could not stop myself from laughing when I heard him say his name was Carlos..

I apologized and asked him what his Momma called him when it was time to eat dinner..

I called him Sanji from that point on and he was very helpful