Ex-Marine turned hotel manager orders Hispanic staff to Anglicize their names

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

TAOS, N.M. – Larry Whitten marched into this northern New Mexico town in late July on a mission: resurrect a failing hotel.

The tough-talking former Marine immediately laid down some new rules. Among them, he forbade the Hispanic workers at the run-down, Southwestern adobe-style hotel from speaking Spanish in his presence (he thought they'd be talking about him), and ordered some to Anglicize their names.

No more Martin (Mahr-TEEN). It was plain-old Martin. No more Marcos. Now it would be Mark.

...

Whitten says it's a routine practice at his hotels to change first names of employees who work the front desk phones or deal directly with guests if their names are difficult to understand or pronounce.

"It has nothing to do with racism. I'm not doing it for any reason other than for the satisfaction of my guests, because people calling from all over America don't know the Spanish accents or the Spanish culture or Spanish anything," Whitten says.

Martin Gutierrez, a fired employee, says he felt disrespected when he was told to use the unaccented Martin as his name. He says he told Whitten that Spanish was spoken in New Mexico before English. "He told me he didn't care what I thought because this was his business," Gutierrez says.

...

After the firings, the New Mexico chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a national civil rights group, sent Whitten a letter, raising concerns about treatment of Hispanic workers. Whitten says he sent them a letter and posted messages on the hotel marquee, alleging that the group referred to him with a racial slur. LULAC denied the charge.

The messages and comments he made in interviews with local media, including referring to townsfolk as "mountain people" and "potheads who escaped society," further enflamed tensions.

Taos Mayor Darren Cordova says Whitten wasn't doing anything illegal. But he says Whitten failed to better familiarize himself with the town and its culture before deciding to buy the hotel for $2 million. "Taos is so unique that you would not do anything in Taos that you would do elsewhere," he says.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_trouble_in_taos

[almaty 19]

The messages and comments he made in interviews with local media, including referring to townsfolk as "mountain people" and "potheads who escaped society," further enflamed tensions.

Taos Mayor Darren Cordova says Whitten wasn't doing anything illegal. But he says Whitten failed to better familiarize himself with the town and its culture before deciding to buy the hotel for $2 million. "Taos is so unique that you would not do anything in Taos that you would do elsewhere," he says.

he is pissing away his invest quicker than a cat can lick it azz..just saying

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

he is pissing away his invest quicker than a cat can lick it azz..just saying

IDK about that. This will eventually blow away and he will be left with a workforce that agrees with his rules. Besides, it's not like he's doing anything illegal. This is one case where the 'bad guy' didn't do anything wrong.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

This is not new. For years, immigrant students have been "invited" to exchange their lovely original names. During my research, I found this was a really effed up way to wage symbolic violence on their identities. Quoting a Russian immigrant "Why, if I can pronounce Christopher, Aubrey, Christa; they cannot take 2 minutes to pronounce Stanislava, and the teacher told me I would be Stacey".

I have also seen this cr@p happen to Asian students in all campuses I have taught/worked at. Hsiang Lin-Shih ends up being Lynne; Kaoru Koyama winds up as Bill; Jameel Al Hassan goes by Mike. #######.

It is not illegal, but it is arguably decent.

[almaty 19]

bullshit.,.toas is not that way.. i have been there many times on business with the loca pueblo indians..and toas is an artys uppity community

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

bullshit.,.toas is not that way.. i have been there many times on business with the loca pueblo indians..and toas is an artys uppity community

Most people book hotels online, they won't know about the history.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The manager sounds like an #######.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

The manager sounds like an #######.

Aren't most managers?

[Kevin and 10]

TAOS, N.M. – Larry Whitten marched into this northern New Mexico town in late July on a mission: resurrect a failing hotel.

The tough-talking former Marine immediately laid down some new rules. Among them, he forbade the Hispanic workers at the run-down, Southwestern adobe-style hotel from speaking Spanish in his presence (he thought they'd be talking about him), and ordered some to Anglicize their names.

No more Martin (Mahr-TEEN). It was plain-old Martin. No more Marcos. Now it would be Mark.

...

Whitten says it's a routine practice at his hotels to change first names of employees who work the front desk phones or deal directly with guests if their names are difficult to understand or pronounce.

"It has nothing to do with racism. I'm not doing it for any reason other than for the satisfaction of my guests, because people calling from all over America don't know the Spanish accents or the Spanish culture or Spanish anything," Whitten says.

Martin Gutierrez, a fired employee, says he felt disrespected when he was told to use the unaccented Martin as his name. He says he told Whitten that Spanish was spoken in New Mexico before English. "He told me he didn't care what I thought because this was his business," Gutierrez says.

...

After the firings, the New Mexico chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens, a national civil rights group, sent Whitten a letter, raising concerns about treatment of Hispanic workers. Whitten says he sent them a letter and posted messages on the hotel marquee, alleging that the group referred to him with a racial slur. LULAC denied the charge.

The messages and comments he made in interviews with local media, including referring to townsfolk as "mountain people" and "potheads who escaped society," further enflamed tensions.

Taos Mayor Darren Cordova says Whitten wasn't doing anything illegal. But he says Whitten failed to better familiarize himself with the town and its culture before deciding to buy the hotel for $2 million. "Taos is so unique that you would not do anything in Taos that you would do elsewhere," he says.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_trouble_in_taos

What an azz, but making people change their names is nothing new to the USA. Immigrants in the past have had their names changed so it was easier to pronounce.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

What an azz, but making people change their names is nothing new to the USA. Immigrants in the past have had their names changed so it was easier to pronounce.

Agreed.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Another real-life Basil Fawlty.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

A bigot and an idiot.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

What an azz, but making people change their names is nothing new to the USA. Immigrants in the past have had their names changed so it was easier to pronounce.

Agreed.

Yeah, easier to pronounce for idiots who cannot read phonetics, or ask "hey, how do I properly say your name?"

[Susita 175]

People always change my name, I don't know how hard it is to say "Suzy" but I'm always getting called Susan even after I correct people. I can't imagine what these guys are going through

[one...two...tree 2,762]

What an azz, but making people change their names is nothing new to the USA. Immigrants in the past have had their names changed so it was easier to pronounce.

Agreed.

Yeah, easier to pronounce for idiots who cannot read phonetics, or ask "hey, how do I properly say your name?"

All the men will be named Johnny and all the women, Jane.