This really shows Republicans for the xenophobes they are: A GOP state Representative in Texas, Betty Brown, asked a representative from a Chinese-American group if they could just adopt new names that would be "easier for Americans to deal with."
From today's 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.
http://www.chron.com/...
Should caucasians with "difficult" names also change them so that poll workers can more easily identify them?
Why are Republicans so small minded and xenophobic? This country is only 233 years old....their families arrived her not too long ago from countries far away...but they seem to have forgotten that little factoid.
How long before people like Betty Brown ask the people with "difficult" names to change their religion, too?
How long before people like Betty Brown suggest "concentration camps" for people with "difficult" names?
Changing a name is a serious matter, not a casual act so that the GOP can pass some bill to let them win elections easier.
Whenever the phrase "you people" or "your citizens" as in this case, is used, nothing good is going to come of it!!
I would hope that Betty Brown's district has to be embarassed by this comment.
http://www.house.state.tx.us/...