It's not racism, it's just dumb. You might set yourself up for short-term success, but the alienation of your employees is a long lasting thing that, unless you plan to have the highest employee turnover rate ever, is one of the most negative effects you can ever create. I have a friend who has an exotic name and he was made to change his name to fit the employer's requests. He hated the f***** place. He told me numerous times that the only thing keeping him from beating the s*** out of his boss was the paycheck and he ended up quitting. Do you really want to foster an environment like that for any business?
Come on. I soft pedaled it in my first post, but this guy's thinking is clearly racist. He may not consider himself one and probably doesn't even realize it. Some of his best friends are probably people of color. I'd be curious to view the racial makeup of his past hotel enterprises.
It's funny that he assumes that people speaking in Spanish around him are talking bad about him. Does he talk bad about people who don't speak English knowing they can't understand him?
Fatty, let's say a customer from New York calls this inn in Taos, New Mexico. Will he change his mind and stay in a different hotel in Taos, New Mexico if the person who answers the phone his name as "Marteeen" and not "Matrin"? Or does this really give them a competitive advantage? So their tagline will sound like: "Come stay with us, we're the only inn in Taos, New Mexico where no one has a hispanic name just english names."
He works in the hotel industry? An industry which predominantly employs recent immigrants to our country, specifically because the language barrier suppresses their job opportunities and wages? Then he has the gall to make them Americanize their names? (Agreed: paranoid or not, he has the right to request that subordinates speak to customers and himself in English only. Though what language of familiarity they use with one another should be their own business.) Change their own names? Roughly 15% of Americans are Hispanics. I'd wager "Marcos" is right now infinitely more popular, and American, a name than "Whitten," in good old American English. (An aside: why is evidence of his Scottish heritage acceptable? The English did a pretty thorough job of Anglicizing the Scots: from now on, he should be called simply "White," or maybe "Whitey.")
How can this be considered good business in a New Mexico town. It's actually better to be bilingual in any border state.
I was thinking... man, who in the word travels to Taos, New Mexico and not expect hotel employees to have Spanish names? I am Chinese and use a common English first name after arriving in the U.S. because my Chinese name cannot be pronounced by English speakers without them screwing it up. But Marcos and Martin? Dude?
In almost every country in Asia, people at hotels use western names. Many of Mexican colleges that live in Mexico city use english versions of their names because its good for business. It maybe a little racist but its good for business.
I'm disappointed with you. I thought you should known me by now. I forgot to that last statment of mine
