Asian-Americans should change their names because they’re too hard to pronounce

[PETERPOOP]

http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bettybrown.gif


Texas lawmaker: Asians should change their names to make them ‘easier for Americans to deal with.’

On Tuesday, State Rep. Betty Brown (R) caused a firestorm during House testimony on voter identification legislation when she said that Asian-Americans should change their names because they’re too hard to pronounce:

“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 [Organization of Chinese Americans representative Ramey] 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?”

Yesterday, Brown continued to resist calls to apologize. Her spokesman said that Democrats “want this to just be about race.”



http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/09/brown-asian-names/

[eTiMaGo]

oh wow... really, wow, I'm at a loss for words...

if this were ever to go through, they should ALL change their names to "John Smith" out of spite...

[YarisSedan]

I was going to comment and then i decided i better keep my comments to myself on this one.

[tomato]

I have a few choice names for her, too! :hitcomputer:

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Ummm, I thought English was one of the harder languages to learn? Also, if people are already learning a different language, the other side should at least try to learn how to pronounce their names. Thirdly, I thought that America was the "melting pot" or "salad bowl", not "you must conform to everything we do."

Also, my name is Lazandro, and I give out Anton, yet people still can't pronounce that. I've gotten "Okay, you're order is under Wanton." Wtf?

Brown, please, do shut up. You're making yourself look like a complete ass.

[eTiMaGo]

Actually Lazandro, apart from some nonsensical rules and exceptions, English is a very easy language to learn, compared to other major western languages like French or German...

[1NZYaris1]

HMMMM :barf: :evil: :help:

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Actually Lazandro, apart from some nonsensical rules and exceptions, English is a very easy language to learn, compared to other major western languages like French or German...

hahaha, well, that's what my French teacher told me (and for the same reasons you mentioned). I never had a problem with it (as do with many Filipinos).

[SilverBack]

Sieg heil!

[Kaotic Lazagna]

^

LMAOROFL!!!!!!!

[SilverBack]

And for the record, I don't see what's so hard about pronouncing Asian names. All my roomies are Asian, and I got their names down by the 2nd try

[Ferret_san]

I don't know what all the fuss is about really...I don't.

After all, EVERYBODY is Australia is called Maaaaaaaate.

[eTiMaGo]

and your name isn't even that complicated! Try getting any non-native French speaker to pronounce my last name, I have heard a dozen versions :laugh:

[mrbond]

Wow. I'm part Japanese and I don't think my name's hard to pronounce at all. I really dislike ignorant, or in this case - lazy, people that want to change society to better suit their own needs. I can't say I'm surprised where this garbage came from, though.

[contraband831]

What else would you expect from a Texas Politician, she must have forgotten her dementia meds

[LtNoogie]

Ok, here's a short lesson.

You pronounce my name, Long, this way.

"Long"

[mrbond]

^lmao

[kargoboy]

Wow, she's an idiot. I guarantee those of us of Eastern European descent
have harder names to pronounce.

[mrbond]

This is a great comment from that article, made me laugh so loud that my boss came in and asked what the hell was going on:

[Tell that to Zbigniew Brzezinski.

Betty Brown: “Your name is too difficult, Zabooboo, you should change it to make it easier for us Americans.”

Brzezinski: “But I’m an American, too.”

Betty Brown: “Yeah, I’m going to call you Bubba.” ]

[eTiMaGo]

Ok, here's a short lesson.

You pronounce my name, Long, this way.

"Long"

A short lesson from Long, very appropriate :biggrin:

[big_chef]

i got some comments too but i rather keep it to myself coz i might get banned if i said it.

btw, my friend's old name was xaysan. how would you guys pronounce that?! lol, i used to work with him as a front desk person at a hotel and town car drivers would come in and called him "susan". we never had a susan work there..lol

[jdinrc]

I have an English last name and almost everyone gets it wrong, so I guess we should all change our names.

Except LtNoogie. Even I can say "Long" correctly 2 out of 3 times.

[Sabretooth]

Hell I am an American, with a traditional Irish-American first name, and a general last name

"Kyle Pace"

Its all in who the hell is listening, Some people hear your name, and still mess it up.
I went to the DMV and had them do all the papers over the phone, for some reason I get there and my name is Kyle Case.

Its all depends on the moron your dealing with, this lady's elevator prolly doesnt reach the top floor, if you catch my drift.

[Rain]

I get the opposite reaction since I have an "American" name... people often ask me if that's my real name or whether I have any other names that I go by :iono:

[devinlamothe]

i got some comments too but i rather keep it to myself coz i might get banned if i said it.

btw, my friend's old name was xaysan. how would you guys pronounce that?! lol, i used to work with him as a front desk person at a hotel and town car drivers would come in and called him "susan". we never had a susan work there..lol

Wouldn't that be pronounced "Shai-san"? Or is my rudimentary understanding of Asian language not compute. :tongue:

[ddongbap]

My Korean name is, Kjejmi e os oe mgo nksd m eo am iufn me o bao ifm Kim.

[SilverBack]

We'll just call you "Rob"

[ddongbap]

We'll just call you "Rob"

Word.

[LEGATO``]

wow this is such a shame
instead of trying to pronounce something you cant
wouldnt the best thing to do in the first place is ask how to say the name?

[Phaeton]

Try having Christoph Lukens for a name in the most redneck town in America.

[GeneW]

http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/bettybrown.gif


Texas lawmaker: Asians should change their names to make them ‘easier for Americans to deal with.’

On Tuesday, State Rep. Betty Brown (R) caused a firestorm during House testimony on voter identification legislation when she said that Asian-Americans should change their names because they’re too hard to pronounce:

“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 [Organization of Chinese Americans representative Ramey] 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?”

Yesterday, Brown continued to resist calls to apologize. Her spokesman said that Democrats “want this to just be about race.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/09/brown-asian-names/

I've heard some equally foolish things from Democrat legislators - for example the Stimulus Package.

Most Asians I work with will "westernize" their names and are pretty tolerant of mispronounciation mistakes. A LOT of Chinese I know if they have a hard to pronounce name will adopt a "western" first name.

We have Muslims in the shop who sometimes will take other names. One fellow is named Achmed Ibrahim. People were butchering his first name. Ah-med, Ak-med and so on.

One day I said to him, "Ibrahim, like the Prophet Abraham?". He smiled and nodded and then I said to him, "Mind if I call you Ibrahim?".

He must have figured it was a good idea because before long he had it on his cubicle. I think he realized that a name that emphasizes a common root with Christians would be helpful.

Gene

[mrbond]

^ true, some do adopt a "westernized" name, but all the rest either take pride in their name or resent people telling them that they should change their name for everyone else's convenience. The thing about this is that Betty Brown proposed forcing others to change their name, if even for "electoral purposes." That would piss me off royally if I had to.

[MadMax]

Not that I agree with Brown's proposal, but there has been a precedence for this. Many early immigrants to this country changed their names to a simpler, "Americanized" version. In the days of Ellis Island (where most immigrants entered the US), some names were changed during the immigration process as trying to spell it from a native tongue to English was a phonics exercise. Others were purposely changed to better fit in within their new homeland.

I don't think her intent to be racist, it was more likely about a lack of knowledge on how to pronounce names and a desire for an easy solution.

It all reminds me of this scene from one of the greatest movies ever, Office Space...


http://www.freewebs.com/footballthoughts/laq.jpg

Samir: No one in this country can ever pronounce my name right. It's not that hard: Samir Na-gheen-an-a-jar. Nagheenanajar.
Michael Bolton: Yeah, well at least your name isn't Michael Bolton.
Samir: You know there's nothing wrong with that name.
Michael Bolton: There was nothing wrong with it... until I was about 12 years old and that no-talent ass clown became famous and started winning Grammys.
Samir: Hmm... well why don't you just go by Mike instead of Michael?
Michael Bolton: No way. Why should I change? He's the one who sucks.


Cheers! M2

[GeneW]

^ true, some do adopt a "westernized" name, but all the rest either take pride in their name or resent people telling them that they should change their name for everyone else's convenience. The thing about this is that Betty Brown proposed forcing others to change their name, if even for "electoral purposes." That would piss me off royally if I had to.

I suggested to my man Ibrahim, in a kind way, because I was concerned if the US ever got really hammered in ME someone might hassle him. He's from west Africa, friendly, but easily hurt. He's a proud man and does not take insults lightly. So I figured I'd help him adapt a bit.

As it is some of the guys in the technical group are from offshore, and the yahoos in the shop will call some of the guys from africa "7-11" and other ignorant stuff. One said, "They come over and take our jobs". I said back to them, 'If you did more than smoke dope and screw in high school you could have gone to college and be up there in the office now". I won't burden you with the rest of that "exchange".


Mrs. Brown is being a jackass. There is a lot of that in politics, but our "enlightened" Media is more concerned with ethnic slurs and racism than substantive stuff like earning a living. To wit is putting the American people another trillion in debt so the Chicago Bagman can pay off his patrons.

Gene

[ChinoCharles]

I've heard some equally foolish things from Democrat legislators - for example the Stimulus Package.


What about the first one? :rolleyes:

Republicans are getting really, really good at alienating young adults. Things like this, the gay marriage issue... at this rate in 10 years they'll be losing elections by 20 points.

[GeneW]

What about the first one? :rolleyes:

The first "stimulus" package was passed by a Democratic Party controlled Congress and was endorsed by Obama.

Let's not re-write history, Charles. Obama was for both stimulus packages - the one that bailed out Wall Street and the one that is attempting to bail out Easy Street.

Republicans are getting really, really good at alienating young adults. Things like this, the gay marriage issue... at this rate in 10 years they'll be losing elections by 20 points.

You think so? I don't see it, not around here.

Most kids under thirty that I know don't give a hoot in hell about gay marriage or multiculturalism. I have met a bunch who are inculturated into being covert with their bigotry but it's still there. They whisper it rather than say it aloud. To me that's not progress - progress is when you see the common thread of humanity in human beings who don't look like you or your family.

I've noticed what does to piss kids off are limited job opportunities and other economic issues. A LOT of them are angry about high taxes, especially the responsible ones who have kids, bought homes and own things.

Democrats have a proven record of screwing up job opportunities. They speak of education being the key but forget that schools don't hire too many people, and that the USSR was chock full of very well educated people. Punishing risk for irrational or political reasons is how the USSR screwed itself, something that we're starting to do here.

Democrats love to raise taxes - it's an article of Faith to them that the State or at least the "democratic process" can manage affairs better than any free market or voluntary mechanism. Once again the USSR proved otherwise.

The War in Iraq was the breaking point for a lot of people. I knew a lot of kids who said, quietly, about the "screwed up people" who came home. They wondered about the costs of the war. If the GOP lost on anything it wasn't their "provincialism" but their very Wilsonian (that is early Progressive) campaign to save the Middle East from itself whether it wanted it or not.

Obama's next budget will have a deficit that will exceed the cost of the entire Iraq campaign up to date. He plans to partially fund it with a tax based upon a policy which has not been proven scientifically and which is being bitterly resisted by many - the carbon tax/carbon exchange. The rest will come from beleaguered tax payers, fines and fees and borrowing from China and Japan.

We're still in Iraq and Obama plans to expand operations in Afghanistan. Whatever reasons that Bush had for invading Iraq are apparently good enough for Obama not to pick up and leave. Meanwhile, our own citizens and many other peoples are being harassed and kidnapped by pirates from Somalia. Let's hope that our Military is tasked with punishing these brigands and not more "nation building".

I guess the "change" some of you wanted so much was more of the same? Enjoy.

Gene

[mrbond]

^ This was quite unnecessary. We were talking about a Texas lawmaker trying to change Asian-Americans' names, not what Obama plans on doing.
If you want to tout around your political beliefs, there's a blog function on this forum.

[GeneW]

^ This was quite unnecessary. We were talking about a Texas lawmaker trying to change Asian-Americans' names, not what Obama plans on doing.
If you want to tout around your political beliefs, there's a blog function on this forum.

If you're gonna hand out speeding tickets Mr. Netcop how about taking to task the person who compared that Rep to a Nazi or the one with the cute remarks about "central Texas politicians? Maybe their sentiments mirror your own while my specific issues with the Spendthrift in the Executive Branch struck a bit of a nerve?

By the way, did you vote for Obama? How do you feel about the change, so far anyhow?

Gene

[mrbond]

Mmm, nope, not quite. I'm simply saying that you're going way off topic. No need to name-call.

[ChinoCharles]

Welcome back Gene. :laugh: :drinking:

[GeneW]

Mmm, nope, not quite. I'm simply saying that you're going way off topic. No need to name-call.

Calling people Nazis and rubes is okay, but calling you "Netcop" isn't? Sure you're not indulging in just a little bit of selective outrage here?

I was doing rhetoric before your parents heard about the Birds 'n Bees, let alone before they had some fun and you came along nine months later. You're either sloppy or partisan but in either case I'm on your ass.

Gene

[ChinoCharles]

ROFL! The angel on my shoulder says close this but the devil says keep watching.

[ChinoCharles]

... BAH damn angel.