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yoja
Joined: 30 May 2008
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 Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 7:52 am Post subject: Legislator asks Asian immigrants to adopt American names |
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Lawmaker defends comment on Asians
Call for voters to simplify their names not racially motivated, Republican says
By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
AUSTIN � A North Texas legislator during House testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are �easier for Americans to deal with.�
The comments caused the Texas Democratic Party on Wednesday to demand an apology from state Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell. But a spokesman for Brown said her comments were only an attempt to overcome problems with identifying Asian names for voting purposes.
The exchange occurred late Tuesday as the House Elections Committee heard testimony from Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans.
Ko told the committee that people of Chinese, Japanese and Korean descent often have problems voting and other forms of identification because they may have a legal transliterated name and then a common English name that is used on their driver�s license on school registrations.
Easier for voting?
Brown suggested that Asian-Americans should find a way to make their names more accessible.
�Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese � I understand it�s a rather difficult language � do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?� Brown said.
Brown later told Ko: �Can�t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that�s easier for Americans to deal with?�
Democratic Chairman Boyd Richie said Republicans are trying to suppress votes with a partisan identification bill and said Brown �is adding insult to injury with her disrespectful comments.�
Brown spokesman Jordan Berry said Brown was not making a racially motivated comment but was trying to resolve an identification problem.
Berry said Democrats are trying to blow Brown�s comments out of proportion because polls show most voters support requiring identification for voting. Berry said the Democrats are using racial rhetoric to inflame partisan feelings against the bill.
�They want this to just be about race,� Berry said. |
from here: [URL] http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6365320.html[/URL]
Two things I found interesting. One, this ingenious idea is put out by someone who has gone through life as "Betty Brown," so it's not surprising that she thinks that everyone should "make life easier" by getting themselves a nice whitey Vanilla McCracker name. Two, the article notes that often, people adopt western names on their school IDs or driver's licenses but not necessarily on voter registrations...hmmm, so basically adopting a western name is at least partly why it's such a mess now. What these people need is ONE legal name, not two.
Personally, I don't see this as a racist remark as much as I see it as an indication of ignorance, spoken without any forethought by someone who has never lived or vacationed outside of northern Texas. How do people like this get elected to public office? Oh, wait...heh heh. |
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catman
Joined: 18 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Thai names are the only Asian ones I've found difficult. |
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NAVFC
Joined: 10 May 2006
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| Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:44 pm Post subject: Re: Legislator asks Asian immigrants to adopt American names |
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| Why does South Korea require new Korean citizens to adopt Korean names? |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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| When I was teaching in Taiwan, we were required to have a Chinese name, written in Chinese characters. |
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yoja
Joined: 30 May 2008
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 6:29 am Post subject: |
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Hmm, not the responses I expected, so I'll throw out two (and a half) questions.
1. Do you agree that the statements this woman made were racist, or racially-motivated? If so, do you feel she should apologize for her remarks?
2. Would you support a legal requirement for immigrants who become citizens to register an "English" name, at least for voting purposes? |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 6:37 am Post subject: |
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How is it racist?
You know, if you people keep misusing that word, it is going to lose all meaning. |
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moosehead
Joined: 05 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:18 am Post subject: |
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| yoja wrote: |
Hmm, not the responses I expected, so I'll throw out two (and a half) questions.
1. Do you agree that the statements this woman made were racist, or racially-motivated? If so, do you feel she should apologize for her remarks?
2. Would you support a legal requirement for immigrants who become citizens to register an "English" name, at least for voting purposes? |
why on earth do you think so many K students adopt E names anyway?
Ms. Brown was making a valid point. The problem is one's passport is going to have an official name on it, a legal name. Many people put all kinds of names on their driver's license, checkbooks, etc. If the names vary, it DOES make a difference and causes confusion.
How can one prove one is Betty Brown Lee if on the passport it says Su Min Lee (or Lee Su Min)?
while many people adopt an E name as a nickname, so to speak, they don't legally change their name which is where problems occur.
don't mess w/Texas, my friend, you'll lose every time.  |
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Hater Depot
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:40 am Post subject: |
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| Isn't it a problem that she impliedly refers to Asian-Americans - citizens - as non-Americans? |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 12:07 pm Post subject: |
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| moosehead wrote: |
| yoja wrote: |
Hmm, not the responses I expected, so I'll throw out two (and a half) questions.
1. Do you agree that the statements this woman made were racist, or racially-motivated? If so, do you feel she should apologize for her remarks?
2. Would you support a legal requirement for immigrants who become citizens to register an "English" name, at least for voting purposes? |
why on earth do you think so many K students adopt E names anyway?
Ms. Brown was making a valid point. The problem is one's passport is going to have an official name on it, a legal name. Many people put all kinds of names on their driver's license, checkbooks, etc. If the names vary, it DOES make a difference and causes confusion.
How can one prove one is Betty Brown Lee if on the passport it says Su Min Lee (or Lee Su Min)?
while many people adopt an E name as a nickname, so to speak, they don't legally change their name which is where problems occur.
don't mess w/Texas, my friend, you'll lose every time. |
Did you not read the article? Brown did not say that. Her office did AFTER her dumb ass remarks to cover for her. Her OFFICE made that valid point, not her.
Anyway, I wrote this e-mail to her office:
I would just like to congratulate Rep. Brown for disgracing herself, and making her look like the most ignorant politician in the country. That takes hard work these days!
I would also like to thank her for helping damage the GOP's image even more.
And if any of you would like to send her a similar message, you can do so here
She finally did issue an apology yesterday. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 12:33 pm Post subject: |
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| I don't get the outrage. These types of policies are normal in Asia. Why the double standard? Government should play no role in names, of course, but this is what makes the news? |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 1:42 pm Post subject: |
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| yoja wrote: |
Hmm, not the responses I expected, so I'll throw out two (and a half) questions.
1. Do you agree that the statements this woman made were racist, or racially-motivated? If so, do you feel she should apologize for her remarks?
2. Would you support a legal requirement for immigrants who become citizens to register an "English" name, at least for voting purposes? |
1. No, just insensitive and rather ignorant.
2. No. I do agree that all ID cards should bear the legal name. If a person has chosen a nickname that he is known by, this can be indicated with (Shorty) parentheses. My dad did something like this because almost no one knew his legal name. |
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RJjr
Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Location: Turning on a Lamp
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 2:07 pm Post subject: |
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| American names? Shit, I was born and raised in America, but my first name is Greek and my last name is British. I need to change my name to an American one too. Crazy Horse kind of has a nice ring to it, especially since one of the better strip club chains also has that name. |
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harlowethrombey
Joined: 17 Mar 2009
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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Yes everyone should have one name for all their legal documents.
No it doesnt have to be an English name.
No, I dont think it was an overtly racist statement, just a poorly-phrased and ignorant one.
Yes, Texas really is a wasteland where human thought and endeavors go to die.
Yes, Mexico can have it back.
Yes, places in Asia might require something similar.
No, that isnt a valid reason to not hold our own country to a higher standard. |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with the Legislature.
Here's why:
My Full Legal name is my Korean name, that has been "Americanized". I have an English name that I use 99% of the time.
It is a huge problem. My driver's license has my Koreanized name. My Social security card has my English name. all of my legal documents have my Koreanized name, but everyone I know only knows me by my English name.
At my high school graduation they called out my Korean name, and everyone was like, "Who the F is that?"
Getting your legal name changed is not a simple process. It would be nice if the process was a little easier.
When I was 3 years old, and my family moved to the US, if I had known this was going to be a hassle all my life, I would've told the immigration officer that my name was Jim bob Kim instead of Kim Bum Suk, |
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RJjr
Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Location: Turning on a Lamp
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| Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 1:58 pm Post subject: |
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| I always thought we had to put our real names on our licenses, checkbooks, social security cards, et cetera. I didn't know we could put whatever on them. My CB handle is Poondaddy and I would like to use that on as much of my identification info as possible going forward. |
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