Just a few months ago I was rejected for a substitute position because I looked “too” Asian.
I am a mixed caucasian-Taiwanese American and was asked by a friend of a friend to substitue for her while she went on vacation for a month and a half. I thought this was a done deal. The school trusted her judgement and didn’t need me to come in for an interview to check me out beforehand.
So, a few days before I was suppose to start, I was taken to the school (which I won’t name…or should I?) by the original teacher so that she could show me around and introduce me to her students, etc. I walked in the door with her and was immediately introduced to the receptionist/supervisor, who greeted me with a shocked expression and a several nervous glances. She then took the teacher to the next room and began telling her that I was unacceptable. The woman who brought me started arguing with her saying, “But you said you wanted a teacher with an American accent!”
Meanwhile, I was sitting in the entrance way overhearing the entire conversation, but trying to act nonchalant. Voices got louder and finally I heard the foreign teacher say, “This is ridiculous! If you don’t want her to teach, then you have to tell her yourself, because this whole situation is very embarrassing for me!”
Not once did the supervisor look me in the eyes as she said that I was too Asian-looking and the parents would have a problem with that, so she couldn’t take me on as the sub. HOWEVER, if I REALLY wanted the job, they were WILLING to pay me at the local teacher’s rate for doing the EXACT same amount of work as a foreign English teacher. How kind of them, don’t you think?
I laughed openly at that obsurd offer and said, “No.” I thanked the teacher for her efforts, told her that even if the supervisor did change her mind, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with working in such an envorionment as that, and then left.
I found out later that the woman was so embarrassed and offended by the school’s attitute towards me and had quit her job at the school despite a fairly lengthy employment there.
I’ve had a few other similar experiences, but none as openly “racist” as that. After that particular one, though, I started picking up the “oh, no!” vibe pretty quickly when I would show up for some interviews. The interviewer would try to play it cool the whole time, but we both knew that, in the end, I would not be hired because of my looks.
But that’s when I would have fun with them by bringing up the appearance issue and asking if their school had problems hiring non-caucasian English teachers. Of course, they would emphatically reply, “Oh, no! Not OUR school!”
I would then go into a “friendly” rant about how ridiculous other schools were and how ignorant the local staff and parents were to base a native English speaking teacher on their appearance. Smiling the whole time, of course. During my monologe, the interviewer would look everywhere except my face and would spend the rest of the interview fidgeting. Probably breathing a sigh of relief when the pesky Asian girl finally left.
Might as well make the interview worth my time, right?