Say My Name

Subgroup Size

Entire group

Duration

30 minutes

External Cost

No

Lesson Plan

Source

Yan, H. [Huhe Yan] (2017, Feb. 7). Say my name [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C62wFXybl0

Toomey, M., & Lim, J. (2017, March 7). 'Say my name': The Chinese students fighting racism [Video]. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-39139033/say-my-name-the-chinese-students-fighting-racism

In Links, there is a clip from The Ellen Show, where Ellen interviews Ziqi Li (aka Lil' Mushroom), a seven-year-old dancer from Beijing. In one portion of the segment, Ziqi attempts to teach Ellen how to pronounce her name. There is the potential for this interaction to be interpreted as positive or negative, because she does "try" to pronounce her name correctly. However, some may interpret her attempts as mocking the pronunciation and the sounds within the Chinese language. Also, she gives up trying after awhile, which is something Americans commonly do when they encounter a name from a different language. The facilitator may decide to incorporate this video in with the activity and discuss its various interpretations and how Ellen's reactions may potentially contribute to the racism and stereotypes that Chinese individuals encounter.