This I Believe...

It is inevitable that I will face questions of conscience in my capacity as a teacher about which I will necessarily have to make up my mind to act, or not to act, and in so doing will define myself as a professional either for whom integrity is plainly manifest or as one for whom it is inconstant or absent. I will need to reflect on my whole lifetime’s learning to make tough decisions when it is not clear which choice is the right one. I must be aware of social inequities and how I am connected to, and living within, societal structures that privilege some while depriving others of opportunity and resources, as well as basic human dignity. I will do my best in all of those situations to take direct action in defense of, or in solidarity with, those who are facing injustice, whether it be the direct consequence of an individual’s actions or the indirect and unintended consequence of all of our actions. My guidance will come from both personal experience and all that I have learned from my own study, as well as what I have learned from my peers, teachers, and mentors. Although I have what I believe to be a large level of exposure to information relevant to social justice I have no experience with combating injustice firsthand at my own workplace. I have assisted others as an outsider offering support but I have yet to put myself on the line in support of, or in criticism of colleagues to whom I am familiar when I might be subject to obloquy and the loss of my position. If I become established in an institution or in any one academic field become a respected personage I may find it difficult to call into question accepted practices that I consider to be unjust. My comfort will likely need to be sacrificed for the sake of those people who are being denied it. I may garner enemies and lose the support of long time friends and colleagues if I comport myself with integrity that is unwavering and steadfast. However, if I succeed in this undertaking my conscience will be sound and my integrity, the wholeness of my beliefs as reflected by my actions, will remain intact.

The Wikipedia page on NNESTs is a fairly good intro to the subject with good references: Wiki

If you are a NNEST in Seattle experiencing discrimination at work I would encourage you to contact the Seattle Solidarity Network, an organization that has had a great deal of success fighting employers and landlords who violate the rights of, or otherwise mistreat, their employees or tenants: seasol
Seasol, will work with you to make and secure any demands that you may have, monetary compensation, a position that was terminated unjustly, etc.

If you have been reprimanded or threatened for seeking to better your position through collaboration with your coworkers, whether or not that action has been union related, contact these organizations as well: National Labor Relations Board Industrial Workers of the World

 Here are some Youtube videos of ESL/EFL teachers addressing the issue of discrimination against NNESTs, questions of legitimacy, and comparing them with NESTs in the field (I don't agree with all the opinions expressed here):
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
 Here's a short documentary on the subject:
Documentary

 Here are a couple of related dissertations:

Mahboob, A. (2003). Status of nonnative English speakers as ESL teachers in the United States. (Order No. 3094117, Indiana University). Proquest Dissertations and Theses, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/305332597?accountid=28598.(305332597)

Reis, D. S. (2010). Non-native English-speaking teachers and professional legitimacy: A sociocultural theoretical perspective on identity realization. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.seattleu.edu/pqrl/docview/217742439/84BBADDB3B68409DPQ/2?accountid=28598

 A few relevant books:

Braine, G. (2010). Nonnative speaker English teachers: Research pedagogy and professional growth. New York: Routledge.

Davies, A. (1996). Proficiency or the native speaker: What are we trying to achieve in ELT? In G. Cook, & B. Seidlhofer, (Eds.), Principle and practice in applied linguistics (pp. 145-157). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Holliday, A. (2005). The struggle to teach English as an international language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Recommended resources:
   Articles:
Alford, R.L., & Strother, J.B. (1990). Attitudes of native and nonnative speakers toward selected regional accents of U.S. English. TESOL Quarterly, 24: 479-495. Retrieved from http://jstor.org/stable/3587231

Cook, V. (1999). Going beyond the native speaker in language teaching. TESOL Quarterly, 33: 185-209. doi: 10.2307/3587717

Florence Ma, L. P. (2012). Advantages and disadvantages of native and nonnative English-speaking teachers: Student perceptions in Hong Kong. TESOL Quarterly, 46: 280-305. doi: 10.1002/tesq.2

Gluszek, A., & Dovidio, J. F. (2010). The way they speak: A social psychological perspective on the stigma of nonnative accents in communication. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14: 214-237.

Ilieva, R. (2010). Non-native English speaking teachers' negotiations of program discourses in their construction of professional identities within a TESOL program. Canadian Modern Language Review, 66(3): 343-369. doi: 10.3138/cmlr.66.3.343

Moussu, L., & Llurda, E. (2008). Non-native English-speaking English language teachers: History and research. Language Teaching, 41(3): 315-348. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0261444808005028

Samimy, K., Kim, S., Ah Lee, J. & Kasai, M. (2011). A participative inquiry in a TESOL program: Development of three NNES graduate students' legitimate peripheral participation to fuller participation. The Modern Language Journal, 95: 558-574. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2011.01247.x

Shin, S. J. (2008). Preparing non-native English speaking ESL teachers. Teacher Development, 12(1): 57-65. doi: 10.1080/13664530701827749

White, L. & Genesee F. (1996). How native is near-native? The issue of ultimate attainment in adult second language acquisition. Second Language Research, 12(3): 233-265. doi: 10.1177/026765839601200301

I'll post some references for good books and dissertations on the topic soon.