There are two of us in the office who are black, and we get confused a lot and I have no idea why because we don't look alike. Is there any way this can be handled on an HR level or a good reply to someone when they call me Andrew?

likefunny
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I dont know if escalating to HR will be helpful or harmful in this case. Of course, I don't know all the team dynamics or othe forms of micro aggressions being made.

What I would recommend is just calling it out when you hear it. You can deliver it with humor ("Andrew is far better looking than me" or "do i look like [Andrew's title] to you?"). You can also deliver it straight forward- My name is X. Please stop calling me Andrew.
Either way, people will get the point. It will probably be embarrassing for them and they will stop

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Start mistaking them for a random white person back,

I am sorry you are going through that, its very demeaning. You aren't alone though ❤️

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It's important to address confusion in a sensitive and constructive manner. You can talk to your HR department about implementing diversity and inclusion training to help colleagues recognize and respect individual differences. As for handling it personally, you can politely correct someone when they mistake you for Andrew by saying something like, "I understand the confusion, but I'm actually [Your Name]. We're two different individuals." This can help educate your coworkers and promote better recognition of your uniqueness while also maintaining politeness.

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I had two Asian peers this happened to CONSTANTLY at my previous job. On a team of fewer than 40 people, where they were the only two Asian women, they were constantly called by one another's names. Enough of us complained on their behalves to leadership (because once is a mistake but constantly? That's blatantly disrespectful to both of them) that the people who repeatedly did it started getting written warnings. We call people by their names and not whatever we feel like out of respect. So calling people things that are NOT their name? Not respectful. If you feel comfortable doing so, please brazenly correct people when they call you the wrong name and call them out if they have done it more than once (something like, "I've noticed you call me the wrong name a few times; just to clarify, my name is [XYZ].") If they have any tact they should take a hint and either not address you by name or get it right next time.

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Happened to me constantly. I told some repeat “offenders(lack of better term) “ multiple times to clarify my name and my role but they still got us mixed up.

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I know it’s irksome but I sometimes do this with white people too. I genuinely get them confused and mean no harm by it; but I should do better.

funny

I would escalate it because it’s a micro aggression that demands action by your ER/HR. The rest of the office that is either doing this or not correcting it when they hear it needs some education asap.

Obv it’s super-common in workplaces as evidenced by the fact that there is a tv show based on a novel about this phenomenon. There is also a funny scene in the otherwise stupid movie Grownups where the Tim Meadows character and the Chris Rock character size each other and the line is “oh, it’s the other Black guy.”

Good luck addressing this. You most definitely deserve to be called your name at work

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Oof. I'd be really tempted to start wearing one of those "Hello, my name is..." name tags with "NOT ANDREW" written on it, but I also have a low tolerance for stuff like this.

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This happened all the time with me at varsity residency. Worse still the other party was my fierce competitor from the school benches

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Definitely report because if your job is ever at risk you may have a retaliatory claim. I would consider this is micro bias/aggressive act that could cause some distress/stress/etc.

smart

Happens all the time, and I'm white. We have 2 white guys with glasses, and we are always mistaken for each other.

funny

Agree that HR won’t be helpful here. I would call them some random person’s name (literally doesn’t matter if the expected gender/race suits them). They will either realize their mistake or correct you, upon which I would respond, “oh, I thought we were playing a game by addressing them with someone else’s name”. What are they going to do, report you??

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lol what? The response is “oh haha nah, it’s all good. Have a good one!”

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I would just correct. Like if someone calls you “Andrew” - ask them if they want you to go find him…?

Idk about anyone else but I'm not about to offer to do a favor (even facetiously) to someone who is disrespecting me by calling me someone else's name. I'll just correct them.

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