TX State Rep- "Asians should simplify names"

[sitzpinkler]

http://www.mashget.com/politics/2009/04/09/betty-brown-texas-republican-asks-asian-americans-to-simplify-names/

This was originally reported in the Houston Chronicle but I can't find it now.

Here's her apology:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-apology_12tex.ART.State.Edition1.4a52240.html

I searched and didn't see anything on this. I'm surprised this went unnoticed on here :D

[sitzpinkler]

For the lazy:

"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."



Apology:

"State Rep. Betty Brown has apologized for her remarks regarding the names of voters of Asian descent.

During a hearing last week on a bill that would require voters to provide a photo ID, Brown asked whether Asian-Americans could "adopt" names that "we could deal with more readily here."

She said in a prepared statement that she appreciates testimony about problems faced by Asian-Americans when acquiring identification and that she understands the "diversity of Texas" and the "enrichment" that Asian-Americans have brought to the state.

Jordan Berry, a Brown spokesman, said Saturday that Brown's comment is being used by the bill's opponents to obscure the real issues involved.

"Ninety percent of Texans – Republicans and Democrats – want the voter ID legislation," he said. "Let's move forward."

[C&CDean]

Meh. They should change their names. I work with a guy whose name is Leung Chiu. He changed it to Leon. Works for me. If I went to live in China, I'd change mine to Dung or whatever the hell they want.

[OUDoc]

How about not constantly demanding apologies from everyone. This is obviously how she feels. It makes no difference if she has apologized or not.
And it was a pretty stupid remark. Everyone knows it's people from India whose names are too long. :)

[sitzpinkler]

Meh. They should change their names. I work with a guy whose name is Leung Chiu. He changed it to Leon. Works for me. If I went to live in China, I'd change mine to Dung or whatever the hell they want.

Well, my problem with it is that she said "to make it easier for Americans to deal with". As if there aren't Americans of Asian descent that have names like that.

[sitzpinkler]

How about not constantly demanding apologies from everyone. This is obviously how she feels. It makes no difference if she has apologized or not.
And it was a pretty stupid remark. Everyone knows it's people from India whose names are too long. :)

Yeah, I agree. Don't apologize, be who you are.

[TUSooner]

Meh. They should change their names. I work with a guy whose name is Leung Chiu. He changed it to Leon. Works for me. If I went to live in China, I'd change mine to Dung or whatever the hell they want.

That would seem appropriate. :pop:

[TUSooner]

Everyone knows it's people from India whose names are too long.
Whoa, have you read the news from Thailand?! Those 9-syllable tongue-twisters are the root of all their problems.

[olevetonahill]

If yer gonna Be Merican then BE merican
:mad:

[sitzpinkler]

If yer gonna Be Merican then BE merican
:mad:

define "Merican"

[yermom]

i'm changing my name to "Subaru Drives Without Seatbelt"

[Howzit]

i'm changing my name to "Subaru Drives Without Seatbelt"

I shall henceforth be referred to as Yells at little bastards on lawn.

[Frozen Sooner]

She's got a point. Henceforth, I wish to be known as Squanto.

[Scott D]

I've known about this for awhile.

[Vaevictis]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/national_language.jpg

[picasso]

The Cherokees were conquered years ago.:)

[Jacie]

As is Texans don't have any they-don't-sound-like-they-look names.

Correctly pronounce these:

Bexar

Seguin

Waxahachie

Mexia

__________________________________________________ ________


The "x" in Bexar and Mexia has an "H" sound.

Seguin is seh-GEEN (hard "G")

And that town on I-35 south of Dallas is Walks-uh-hatchie

[BillyBall]

I didn't know Lee was so complex?

[SicEmBaylor]

The Cherokees were conquered years ago.:)

I'm no fan of the injun either.

[Rhino]

It's like a real-life tinyurl!

[Chuck Bao]

Whoa, have you read the news from Thailand?! Those 9-syllable tongue-twisters are the root of all their problems.

Heh!

Thai last names (from a google search) like:

Souphanousinphone
Meitheeratanaphipat
Saysanavongkhamchanh
Thepsouvanchanmansyvongsa

• I can’t spell any of my colleagues’ last names. Thank god for cut and paste.

• Most Thais have single or double syllable nicknames and they just go by those nicknames. In my office, I have an A, Bee, Bea, Ben, Big, Chai, Dum, Jew, Joe, Lek, Noi, Nung, Peach, Piek, Vee and Yen.

• Thai last names are actually easy to pronounce if you know Thai and know that some of the names are a construct beginning with phonetic spelling of a Chinese surname and ending with faithful spelling of old Sanskrit with a different modern Thai pronunciation. Okay, they are not easy to pronounce.

• The guy that came up with the bright idea of abbreviating last names for the phone book made a fortune.

I got the following from a google search and it’s interesting that the long last names are because they had to be Thai and unique.


Family names were only introduced in Thailand in 1913 and are always used only in very formal situations, in conjunction with the first name.

Even good friends often don’t know each others' surname.

Ethnic Thais generally have short surnames like Somboon or Srisai, while the long, multisyllabic family names - such as Sonthanasumpun - usually indicate Chinese origin, not because they are phonetically Chinese but because many Chinese immigrants have chosen to adopt new Thai surnames and Thai law states that every newly created surname must be unique.

Thus anyone who wants to change their surname must submit a shortlist of five unique Thai names - each to a maximum length of ten Thai characters - to be checked against a database of existing names.

As more and more names are taken, Chinese family names become increasingly unwieldly, and more easily distinguishable from the shorter old Thai names.

The grandfather of one of my best friends was a court official and was somehow last in line for the King of Thailand to bestow an auspicious last name. He got “Last name”.

Nope has a short last name of Khonkaew because he is native Thai (Lao). I'm not sure what the name means.

[OhU1]

How about poor little "Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo"? (And that's just his first name)

[OU_Sooners75]

Democrats (aside from myself) are freaking stupid and put their nose where it does not belong.

Why demand an apology? I see nothing wrong with what the politician stated.

[soonerspiff]

Why demand an apology? I see nothing wrong with what the politician stated.

Eh, I personally wouldn't demand an apology for disrespecting another people's culture and heritage either. It's not worth it in the long run. Ignorance will always prevail.

But if someone asked me to change my surname (Whitaker), I'd be pissed, and then I'd make it an issue. Luckily, it's English, so I guess I'm safe? But this country was first founded by indigenous tribes and then British, German, French and Spanish settlers. So... what is this American ethnicity? Just because I'm too stupid to read a name, shouldn't be a reason for another individual to rename themselves for my benefit.

*steps off soap box*

[Crucifax Autumn]

I had the hardest time of my life trying to pronounce an emplyee's last name when I was managing a bookstore years ago. It was Nguyen, a Vietnamese name.

Luckily Betty Nguyen, the CNN anchor came along to give me insight I didn't have when I needed it.

I never suggested that my employee change her name though and I was in texass at the time.

[SicEmBaylor]

As is Texans don't have any they-don't-sound-like-they-look names.

Correctly pronounce these:

Bexar

Seguin

Waxahachie

Mexia

__________________________________________________ ________


The "x" in Bexar and Mexia has an "H" sound.

Seguin is seh-GEEN (hard "G")

And that town on I-35 south of Dallas is Walks-uh-hatchie

You're right about the proper pronunciation of "Bexar" but the Texans themselves simply pronounce it "BEAR." I've had that argument with them ad-nauseum. They also incorrectly pronounce San Jacinto.

[SicEmBaylor]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/national_language.jpg

Not to quibble about this too much, but English is the native language of the United States. This is obviously not true of "America" but "America" is not a country. English is founding/native language of this country and it should be made so officially and the government should cease using any other language but English in any official capacity.

[Crucifax Autumn]

So tell all yer pals to stop calling the country called the United States America! lol

Just messin' with you, but yeah...we are a country, not a continent!

[Crucifax Autumn]

Oh yeah...forgot to mention...Texans are retarded

[Scott D]

Heh!

Thai last names (from a google search) like:

Souphanousinphone
Meitheeratanaphipat
Saysanavongkhamchanh
Thepsouvanchanmansyvongsa

• I can’t spell any of my colleagues’ last names. Thank god for cut and paste.

• Most Thais have single or double syllable nicknames and they just go by those nicknames. In my office, I have an A, Bee, Bea, Ben, Big, Chai, Dum, Jew, Joe, Lek, Noi, Nung, Peach, Piek, Vee and Yen.

• Thai last names are actually easy to pronounce if you know Thai and know that some of the names are a construct beginning with phonetic spelling of a Chinese surname and ending with faithful spelling of old Sanskrit with a different modern Thai pronunciation. Okay, they are not easy to pronounce.

• The guy that came up with the bright idea of abbreviating last names for the phone book made a fortune.

I got the following from a google search and it’s interesting that the long last names are because they had to be Thai and unique.



The grandfather of one of my best friends was a court official and was somehow last in line for the King of Thailand to bestow an auspicious last name. He got “Last name”.

Nope has a short last name of Khonkaew because he is native Thai (Lao). I'm not sure what the name means.

I went to high school with a guy named Wuttachai Chimchowadee.

Everyone called him Woody. His mother was a str...exotic dancer.

[mdklatt]

I had the hardest time of my life trying to pronounce an emplyee's last name when I was managing a bookstore years ago. It was Nguyen, a Vietnamese name.

Luckily Betty Nguyen, the CNN anchor came along to give me insight I didn't have when I needed it.


Nowadays, Nguyen is as common as Smith in Houston and D/FW.