Names are important. They encompass a big aspect of one’s identity—they are a part of us. When another person tries to properly pronounce a supposedly difficult name, it allows us to see the effort they are willing to undertake to respect our identity. The trying in itself is a respected effort; asking how to pronounce it is even better. Similarly, when a person mispronounces a name intentionally and refuses to attempt to pronounce it correctly, their intention of disrespect is clear.
Sen. Kamala Harris is no exception or stranger to this phenomenon. When she ran for the U.S. Senate in 2016, she posted a campaign video that showed children explaining how to pronounce her first name correctly. "It's not CAM-EL-UH. It's not KUH-MAHL-UH. It's not KARMEL-UH," the diverse group of children said in the video. The video spelled out each incorrect pronunciation and led up to the correct way to say her name.
Born to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, Harris is a biracial Black and South Asian woman who represents the diversity of America. Her first name is pronounced "'Comma-la,' like the punctuation mark,” according to Harris. “It means 'lotus flower,' which is a symbol of significance in Indian culture. A lotus grows underwater, its flower rising above the surface while its roots are planted firmly in the river bottom," Harris wrote in the preface of her 2019 memoir, The Truths We Hold.
Children of immigrants nationwide often struggle with the pronunciation of their names as they try to understand what it means to be American, and what it means to have a “normal” sounding name. Having what is considered a unique name gives you a lifetime of mispronunciations, misspellings, and outright refusals to attempt saying the “difficult” name the way you ask that it be said. It may even make you ashamed to have a name considered “other” as you search for your name on a keychain or can of Coke as a child. This makes correctly pronouncing someone’s name so important.
At a certain point, some of us (like myself) can no longer dismiss the requests to go by a different name or shorten it for other people’s understanding. People continue to butcher “ethnic” names without regard or sensitivity, thinking nothing of a request for an alternative option. It then becomes necessary to demand the fundamental respect of being addressed accurately despite the accusations of being “defiant”—especially true of the experiences of women of color—for providing a simple correction or instruction. We cannot become conditioned to tell the world who we are in an apologetic tone, as if our very existence is an imposition. Providing someone the correct or phonemic model of how to pronounce a name is not degrading to them, but it is dismissive of you as a person if they refuse to try.
If white individuals with equally “foreign” and unique names can be given the respect of correct pronunciation, people of color should not have to be required to jump through verbal hoops to be given that same respect. This not to say that white individuals do not experience spelling errors or mispronunciation, but these mistakes do not carry the same weight of otherness as when occurs with people of color. It does not manifest as negative stereotypes, racial profiling, or institutionalized racism that questions one’s nationality or “American-ness.”
Following presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s announcement to choose Harris as his running mate Tuesday, mispronunciations of her name resurfaced amongst both politicians and media officials. Donald Trump alone mispronounced Harris’ name at least twice during a press conference, and Fox News' Tucker Carlson became the prime example of individuals who intentionally perpetuate microaggressions of racism by refusing to correctly pronounce Harris’ name. "So I'm disrespecting her by mispronouncing her name unintentionally. So it begins, you're not allowed to criticize Kuh-MAH-la Harris, or CA-muh-la, or whatever," he said when a guest politely corrected him Tuesday. Instead of understanding the significance of correctly pronouncing someone’s name as serving as the bare minimum level of respect, Carlson chose to whine.
Harris, should she be elected in November, will serve as the United States’ first Black vice president, first South Asian American vice president, and first female vice president. Like her name, her identity encompasses all three of these “labels,” and whatever else she identifies with. She does not have to choose one. Yet some people think they have the authority to decide her identity for her, claiming that she wouldn't be the first “African American” vice president but the “first vice president of color.”
“Give your daughters difficult names. Give your daughters names that command the full use of tongue. My name makes you want to tell me the truth. My name doesn’t allow me to trust anyone that cannot pronounce it right.” — Warsan Shire
Just like you don’t get to decide whether or not Harris is Black or South Asian enough, you don’t get to decide how to pronounce her name. No one should have to change a part of themselves for the sake of your comfort.
