The casual racism of mispronouncing an Asian person’s name in the West

Racial sting: Lee was nominated for Hannah and the Dread Gazebo but the organiser mispronounced her name and displayed her co-actor’s picture at the awards show. — Los Angeles Times/TNS

THE Los Angeles Times recently reported on the outcry following the LA theatre community’s Ovation Awards, where organisers mispronounced the name of an Asian American nominee and displayed a photo of the wrong actor.

If anyone doubts the racially based sting that comes with such insults to one’s professional endeavours, just read the e-mails that rolled in to The Times after publication of our article.