In the article “America Ruined My Name For Me”, Beth Nguyen discusses the importance of names and the power or as she found, weakness they can hold. In America, her Vietnamese name was not only odd, but followed by laughter and ridicule from everyone she met. When recalling personal experiences of hers, she writes how she often had Americans encouraging her to keep her name and how it was “special”. In the article, Nguyen describes the strong emotions she felt during these moments: “I wanted to believe them; for a long time, I made a choice to believe them. But I knew, too, that they liked the exotic so long as they didn’t have to deal with its complications” (Nguyen). America has long had the image of a “melting pot” where people of all identities, races, cultures and more could come together in a place where they were accepted. But often the acceptance of white Americans is still followed by judgement and ridicule because while we encourage diversity, we hold a power over what is considered “acceptable”. These examples are often awed at as “exotic” and “unique” but when it comes down to it, these people wouldn’t subject themselves to it, knowing that others (just like themselves) wouldn’t fully accept it. Names can have beautiful, complex meanings but in a place where only certain meanings are accepted, those that don’t fit the standard are considered lesser or even strange.