Facundo the Great!
Ramon Sanchez is interviewed by StoryCorps, 2016
https://storycorps.org/animation/facundo-the-great/
Key Points: This short video is a Mexican-American man recalling his childhood and how he and his Hispanic friends at school had their names changed virtually over the school year due to teachers feeling uncomfortable with how to pronounce it. Ramon discussed how he was eventually "Raymond" and his other friend Maria was soon to be called by everyone "Mary". Then Facundo came along and the teachers held a meeting of what they could call him instead of Facundo...they discussed shortening his name to "Fac" but then realized how inappropriate that might be due to it sounding like a curse word. Watch and see for yourself...it's actually very humorous and sad at the same time.
Intended audience: Anyone who is working at a school or perhaps meets someone with a name they are unsure how to pronounce.
Relevance: This subject of birth names has come up within our cohort in the past. It is something that many people in this country, many of them our students, have to deal with. The fact that a person does not know how to pronounce their name so they alter it in order to feel more comfortable themselves. This is something that is disrespectful and NOT harmless like many people like to say or think. This cartoon is a vital reminder that we as future educators need to remember that our students may have had this happen to them in the past and how it perhaps makes them feel when it does happen. It is a good reminder to always be respectful to others, even if it makes you a little uncomfortable.
This video brings up some solid points. Unfortunately this is something that probably occurs too frequently in our education system. I think it's important for our schools to have diversity, as it will better prepare the students for life. Watching this video makes me think about some of the people we have as teachers and administrators. We hear about some of these bad experiences students have had during their school years and it's because of poor teachers and administrators. Maybe they shouldn't be in this field if they can't accept diversity and the different populations that attend our schools.
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