Identity and ethnicity are tricky things to deal with, especially when you have non-inclusive people around you!

Imagine having a Korean name, and a coworker dislikes your name so much that they try to force you to use a different name at work. Would you give in, or would you insist on using your actual name?

This woman is facing this exact situation, and she’s not sure if this is a hill worth dying on or not.

Let’s read the whole story.

AITA for refusing to use an English name?

I’m 20f and I’m ethnically Korean but grew up bouncing around different countries due to my parents job.

My friend said that I’m “passively bilingual” in that I understand when my grandparents speak Korean to me, but I struggle to respond. Forget about reading or writing lol.

My parents both grew up in the US and the grandparents I have left speak English so my bad Korean never caused any communication problems.

This is where it gets tricky!

My parents gave me a “Korean name” and never gave me an “English name” (who knows why) even though a lot of ABCs usually go by an English name at school or work.

This is fine by me, I like my name and yeah it sucked when some teachers got it wrong growing up, but that’s life.

Now here’s the problem: I started a part time job and there’s another girl working there, Emma (fake name, maybe 25ishf?), is uncomfortable because of my name.

UH OH…

Thing is, Emma is Muslim and takes her religion really seriously (she wears the hijab, prays at work) and apparently my name means something bad in her religion?

She doesn’t call me by my name, it’s always “hey you” or something like that.

She recently complained to our manager, Jen (who really is just our equal with a nicer title) that my name is insulting to her religion.

She was not expecting that!

The two of them basically cornered me in the break room and asked if I can go by a nickname or an “English name.”

I said no obviously but Emma and Jen think I’m not respectful of Emma’s religion and it’s not a big deal to use an English name since so many Asians do, and it’s not like I speak Korean or anything.

I’m not sure if this is a hill worth dying on but I also feel like I shouldn’t have to go by another name???? AITA?

GEEZ! That sounds rough!

It’s disrespectful to force someone to change their name!

Let’s find out what the Reddit community has to say about this one.

This user has a great suggestion for her!

Exactly! This user knows that languages have nothing to do with a name.

That’s right! This user thinks the other Emma may have issues with other races.

This user knows that names don’t change like that overnight!

This user wants to know if the friend realizes that this is discrimination!

The coworker is the one being disrespectful!

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.