This happened to me when i was a teenager looking for work. I spoke to the hiring person on the phone and I think it's because although I present as more Asian than not (being biracial), they scheduled me for an interview. When I showed up for the interview, they were stunned to the point that they started to say something and then stopped..... names and pre-judgements over what a person sounds like on the phone are DEFINITELY a thing.

My Korean mother will tell White people her name is Mary when in fact it is not. I asked her one day why she did that. She said, "it's easier for them." I got so mad and asked her, "Why not teach them how to pronounce your name?!" The next time I heard her doing just that.

Thank you for writing and sharing this. Names have a way of either causing division or invisibility.