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Hotel owner makes Latino employees change their names
Taos, New Mexico, is home to a large Spanish-speaking population. There are a lot of Latino people living and working in the town. So it follows that many people there have traditionally Latino names. You would think a guy from Texas (another state close to Mexico and home to many Hispanic people) would understand that. But not Larry Whitten.
When Whitten came into town to take over as the manager of a run-down hotel, he told his Latino staff that they needed to change their names to more Anglicized versions. As CBS News puts it, "No more Martin (Mahr-TEEN). It was plain old Martin. No more Marcos, now it would be Mark." Of course, the staff and many of the town's residents were not happy. Nor were they pleased when Whitten fired several Hispanic employees and forbade those remaining from speaking any language but English around him, because he feared they were talking about him in Spanish.
After referring to the locals as "mountain folk" in an interview and then being picketed by fired employees and their families, Whitten later apologized for the "misunderstanding" and said he was not against any culture.
Whitten denied that his actions were racist and said that he asked the staff to change their names for the "satisfaction" of guests who may not be familiar with Spanish names. One fired employee disagreed. "I don't have to change my name and language or heritage," he said. "I am professional the way I am."
Filed under: North America, United States, Hotels and Accommodations, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
José Oct 27th 2009 7:21PM
It's not surprising that in this day and age we still find subtle racism being practised in the work place. My name is José but that has never kept me from placing enmphasis on the way I interact with customers and clientele.
Several times, over the phne, I've been asked if my company hired "Mexican" speaking employees. I, holding back the laughter, always answered with "I am I not exacty sure what language is "Mexican". I know that some people tend to to speak rather than think before opening their mouths. We're all guilty of that at sometine in our lives, but in hindsight, we are not really racists. At least, not those of us who always profess to having "Black or ethnic friends."
In my case, what am I to say what kind of friends I have, considering my "Mexican roots."
But thats just my opinion... My 2 cents worth. Better yet my 3 pesos worth... jejejeje. =)