City of Brass

Asian American names are "too hard to deal with"

Friday April 10, 2009

Categories: Republican Fitna
This is probably more worthy of mockery than scorn:

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 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.

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?"


God forbid that Americans learn someone's name. No, if your name is too ethnic, then it's your responsibility to make it simpler, i.e. less Asian. What is particularly ignorant here is that the whole point of the confusion that Ko alluded to is that Chinese and other oriental immigrants often do adopt english names in public to make things easier - my childhood Korean friend (citizen born in the US just like myself) Yongsuk goes by Dave, for example. Other asian friends and acquaintances of mine are James, Johnny, Phil, even a Rosemarie. The problem arises not because the legal, transliterated name is too complicated, it's because new and/or elderly immigrants might get confused by the process because it is sometimes unclear what name to use. The desire is to have their vote expressed and counted; it's easy to see why someone might be worried that if they used their real name, then no one mihgt know who they are, because everyone calls them Jim. It's a matter of voter education and some effort at simplifying the registration process to accomodate this pootential confusion so no citizen - especially an immigrant - is excluded from this basic democratic function.

However we desis, admittedly, are pretty stubbborn about insisting on our full names in all their glory. So in the spirit of compromise, I am doing my part. Henceforth I will be known as Osbourne Piszczatowski.  Call me Ozzie P for short.

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Comments
GT
April 10, 2009 3:42 PM

I don’t see it as particularly racist myself. We’ve done the same thing in the past to unarguably white populations too.

For example, I’ve been assured by one fellow, who’s last name is Loudermilk [no I'm not kidding], that his family name was something nearly incomprehensible to Americans when his family immigrated in the 1800’s.

Now his last name is meerly funny.

I’ve had Asians mangle my real name often enough and, got slapped one time with ‘nephew’ in their language instead. My only issue with it then was I couldn’t say the word they called me ^_^”

nahamee rasheedhia
April 11, 2009 8:45 AM

i think you should keep who you and and stand strong i dont let society deidate who you are or who you should become inshahallah (swt) ameen

Aamer Jamali
April 11, 2009 2:01 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DotComGuy

Wasn't Texas also the home of Dotcom Guy? Wonder what he would say about that?

Your Name
April 11, 2009 9:03 PM

The Grand 'Ol Party. Gotta love 'em.

TJJ
April 12, 2009 5:09 PM
http://name

My name has been pronounced with a D, or a P, but never correctly with a T, and it is so simple - just read is as it shows - Tasneem.

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City of Brass by Aziz Poonawalla approaches issues from the perspective of a Muslim of the West. Aziz, a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, has been blogging since early 2003. His other major Islamsphere projects include the group weblog Talk Islam and the annual Brass Crescent Awards. Aziz currently resides near Madison, WI with his wife and children.

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