How to build a new, broad-based GOP

[headscratcher4]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6365320.html

Tex. Legislator wants Asians in America (and Asian Americans) to change their names so that they are easier to pronounce....Yikes.

 

[Brainster]

I just noticed this story myself and would point out that the lawmaker in question, Betty Brown, is getting scorched for this, despite the fact that her point is actually quite reasonable when you put it in context. The context is a legislative hearing on Voter ID, and a Chinese American raised an interesting argument against Voter ID requirements:

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.

So, was she asking them to change their legal names to something easier to pronounce? Or was she asking them to change their legal names to what appears on their driver's licenses and school registrations? The first might appear racist but the second seems quite reasonable.

Look at her comments as quoted in that context and while they're not particularly elegantly formed (and easily twisted) they are clearly not racist:

“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.

As Ko himself had already said they do on driver's licenses and school registrations.

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?”

Ditto.

Now you can argue that people should be allowed to vote with a different name than appears on their driver's licenses. Especially if you like voter fraud.

 

[theprestige]

stuff

You know, posts like this make it a lot harder to smugly bash the GOP...

 

[Holler Hoojer]

I just noticed this story myself and would point out that the lawmaker in question, Betty Brown, is getting scorched for this, despite the fact that her point is actually quite reasonable when you put it in context. The context is a legislative hearing on Voter ID, and a Chinese American raised an interesting argument against Voter ID requirements:



So, was she asking them to change their legal names to something easier to pronounce? Or was she asking them to change their legal names to what appears on their driver's licenses and school registrations? The first might appear racist but the second seems quite reasonable.

Look at her comments as quoted in that context and while they're not particularly elegantly formed (and easily twisted) they are clearly not racist:



As Ko himself had already said they do on driver's licenses and school registrations.



Ditto.

Now you can argue that people should be allowed to vote with a different name than appears on their driver's licenses. Especially if you like voter fraud.

You obviously haven't hung around with enough SE Asians. No matter how many times you ask them, they never know what their Christian name is. Go figure.

 

[brodski]

I just noticed this story myself and would point out that the lawmaker in question, Betty Brown, is getting scorched for this, despite the fact that her point is actually quite reasonable when you put it in context. The context is a legislative hearing on Voter ID, and a Chinese American raised an interesting argument against Voter ID requirements:



So, was she asking them to change their legal names to something easier to pronounce? Or was she asking them to change their legal names to what appears on their driver's licenses and school registrations? The first might appear racist but the second seems quite reasonable.

Look at her comments as quoted in that context and while they're not particularly elegantly formed (and easily twisted) they are clearly not racist:



As Ko himself had already said they do on driver's licenses and school registrations.



Ditto.

Now you can argue that people should be allowed to vote with a different name than appears on their driver's licenses. Especially if you like voter fraud.

Wait, you can get Government issued ID in a name which is not considered your "legal name"? That seems to be an odd quirk of US law.

 

[casebro]

One family I knew had names of 'Steve' for Chee, and an uncle named 'Man'. I don't see why they anglisized, Chee and Man are easy names. Just spell your oriental name phonetically and be done with it. It's not like if they named there kid Jimmy, we wouldn't notice that he is oriental? Or just get off the fence, pick a name and stick with it.

Hey, anybody ever met a Robert E. Lee?

 

[Brainster]

Wait, you can get Government issued ID in a name which is not considered your "legal name"? That seems to be an odd quirk of US law.

It appears that was what was being claimed; I don't get it either.

 

[mhaze]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6365320.html

Tex. Legislator wants Asians in America (and Asian Americans) to change their names so that they are easier to pronounce....Yikes.

Now, if this is an attempt to smear the GOP, it shows either shows idiocy, or ignorance.

Start explaining what you know and don't know about English translation of Chinese characters, the sort of stylized names that are required on immigration forms and citizenship documents, driver's licenses, and voting records.

GO!

 

[theprestige]

Wait, you can get Government issued ID in a name which is not considered your "legal name"? That seems to be an odd quirk of US law.

Driver's Licenses are issued by the state governments. They're not governed by some monolithic body of "US law". It is, in a sense, symbolic of the whole point of the United States: that each state is to a certain extent free to enact whatever legal quirks it likes--and believe me there's plenty of legal quirks out there.

 

[mhaze]

One family I knew had names of 'Steve' for Chee, and an uncle named 'Man'. I don't see why they anglisized, Chee and Man are easy names. Just spell your oriental name phonetically and be done with it. .....

No.

Chinese Mandarin use four intonations, Cantanese about 12. So what is expresive in English, is meaning to Chinese.

Short story: it does not translate and if your name pronounced falling tone instead of flat was an insult, wouldn't you opt for "Steve" ?