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Texas Pol to Asians: Make Names 'Easier for Americans'

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 9, 2009 3:24 PM CDT
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(Newser) – A Republican Texas state legislator has drawn the ire of Democrats, and others, for suggesting Asian voters change their names to ones “easier for Americans to deal with,” the Houston Chronicle reports. The comments from Betty Brown came Tuesday, when the legislature heard testimony from a Chinese-American group on voting difficulties. Asian voters’ names often show up differently on different documents.

“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese,” Brown asked a representative from the group, “do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” A Democratic official called her comments “disrespectful,” but a rep for Brown said she was simply trying to solve an ID problem. It’s the Dems who “want this to just be about race,” he said.

A Texas lawmaker thinks Asian names are little too hard to understand.
A Texas lawmaker thinks Asian names are little too hard to understand.   (Shutter Stock)
A Texas lawmaker thinks Asians should change their names to make them easier for Americans to understand.
A Texas lawmaker thinks Asians should change their names to make them easier for Americans to understand.   (Shutter Stock)
A group of Asian-Americans joins others that support reform of immigration legislation at a rally in New York.
A group of Asian-Americans joins others that support reform of immigration legislation at a rally in New York.   (AP Photo)
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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? - Texas State Rep. Betty Brown

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 10 comments
riffran
Apr 11, 2009 1:28 AM CDT
I always wanted to learn german, and spanish...but just never got around to it
riffran
Apr 10, 2009 6:24 AM CDT
hell They out to try to read some of the Names in swedish...wow...that is some unusual stuff.....I don't know what the hell That woman was thinking. I have no problem with keeping in touch with your native roots, and encourage people to be proud of where they came from. But IF you move to a different land, it is in your best intrest to learn the language of the land....but not at the cost of your native tounge.....She was out of line
Zorro
Apr 10, 2009 6:11 AM CDT
Hmm... as an American that lived over seas for many years I find it interesting that I was actually in the minority of Americans that actually attempted to speak the local language... so the argument is that everyone should speak English/American in the US and its ok for Americans to speak English/American everywhere else... gosh, could there be a flaw in that logic?
US • Politics

 
Texas • race relations • voting rights • Asian-Americans • name change • Chinese Americans • Betty Brown

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