I saw this article earlier today and have been trying to formulate a coherent, well thought-out response to post here.
I can’t do it. I simply don’t have anything positive to say in response. I have been rendered speechless! And anything negative I have to say…well. I won’t.
What do you think?
Uhm… you want coherent? Don’t know if I can help you there. I read it a few times, and tried to read “between” the lines.
While I have to say that her word choice, delivery, and… shall we say lack of tact (?) were horrible, one line in the article caught my eye.
“they may have a legal transliterated name and then a common English name that is used on their driver’s license”
I’m reading this as them showing up and providing 2 forms of ID, with each one showing a different name. If that’s what it actually means, then I think there’s a valid point.
I had a problem myself when I showed ID for something or other, and one form was in my maiden name, another in my married name. In other words, pick ONE name and stick to it. (Which I still haven’t done after 14 years of marriage, btw.)
If I’m wrong in my interpretation, then I’m just as speechless as you are. There’s a reason they stopped changing the names of immigrants at Ellis Island, and that’s not a practice we want to go back to. But if what she’s saying is that they need to stick with one of their two “forms” of their name, then I think that makes sense.
Since I can’t read or speak any of those languages, I’m not sure what the difference between the “literal” translation and the “common English name” would be, or why there would even BE a common english name thrown in there. I know if I were a poll worker and someone showed up with one ID saying “Ramey Ko” and the other saying “Joe Smith”, I’d be confused and reluctant to accept them both.
As I go back and read again, I still can’t figure out what she was trying to say.
Thanks for a thoughtful comment. It’s given me a new perspective to think that some might have two forms of ID with two different names on it. But if your interpretation is indeed true, then I why would she say:
“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?”
and
“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?”
Um. If they are voting, aren’t they American citizens? And if they are American citizens, why is she saying, “…you and your citizens…”?? And if they are American citizens, why would she ask they adopt a name that’s easier for Americans to deal with if it is indeed their names and, again, they are American citizens?
I know you don’t have the answers. I’m just truly baffled and irritated with this!
I am willing to concede that her comments were taken out of context and perhaps this is simply media spin. If that is indeed the case, I’d like the full story.
Those are the same parts that made me wonder if I were seeing it wrong also…
Now, no one is asking the English speaking citizens to speak Chinese, or to read it. The names are translated into English, at least somewhat. We’re not expected to learn the Chinese alphabet, obviously. So once that’s “translated”, you should wind up with something along the lines of a first and last name. Granted, they may be considered “unusual” to those of us that speak English only. But the only difficulty I can see is in pronunciation, which… let’s face it, we can screw up the pronunciation of almost ANY name, so that shouldn’t be an issue.
True – they’re voting, therefore they’re citizens. My interpretation of “you and your citizens” (totally BAD choice of wording, btw) was to mean the people represented by The Organization of Chinese Americans. There had to be a better word choice for that sentence than citizens, though.
The second paragraph you quoted… yeah, I’m not sure about that either. For a few reasons -
1)implying that they are something other than american citizens.
2)almost seems like she’s advocating for them all to become “Joe Smith” or something similarly generic. But we don’t ask that of the Polish, Russian, or Arabic citizens (I picked those 3 because some of those names are damn hard to spell and/or pronounce).
3)It also seems like she’s FOR them having 2 different names there – while elsewhere it seems like she was pushing for ONE name. Again, there should be no reason for them to need a second name just for ID purposes. Really, most oriental names are not that difficult. They tend to (for the most part) be short, and basically phonetic. So if it says “May Lo”… then, well, that’s the name. End of story.
I think if a transcript of the meeting were available, it might make more sense… I’ve started believing less and less of what I read/hear/see from the media, as it always seems to have some sort of spin to it, rather than just presentation of facts.
Either way, she needs a better speechwriter (or someone whispering responses into her earpiece), and serious help with learning to word her comments in a less offensive way. And maybe some lessons on not contradicting herself 3 times in what seems to be about 4 minutes worth of talking.
These people have come to this country for a reason, same as our ancestors did however many generations ago. They’re making every effort to integrate themselves into American society, by immigrating legally, registering to vote (which is a huge thing for many immigrants – they see it as a duty and a privilege, rather than a burden like so many American-born citizens). Why would we want to make it any harder on them than it has to be? If they’ve gotten that far, it means they’ve at least started learning English, and want to be contributing members of society.
The whole being Politically Correct thing irritates me most of the time, to be honest – but some people (like this lovely woman) just seem oblivious to the fact that you don’t need to be insulting and demeaning in order to get your point across. I don’t think it was intentionally a racist comment, but it’s certainly the way it came out. The area she’s representing (I believe) is pretty non-diverse, so I don’t think she worries about the racism angle all that much. That area is north Texas, so the immigrant population is fairly low as compared to the southern part of the state. Seems like she’s gotten used to not having to watch her words, since the demographics show that’s a pretty… “good ole boy” area.
I’m interested to see where the media goes with this, since the basis for the meeting/hearing was regarding requiring identification for voting purposes – something I think is important. Where I live, no ID is required to vote, and that’s kind of frightening. All you need is to give your name, they check the book, and then you vote. Last year, I was in line behind a woman who came in to vote, gave her name… and was told she had already voted. But, she hadn’t. Seems someone else voted under her name. So showing ID isn’t a bad idea. But shouldn’t a drivers license/state ID and a social security card be enough? All of which should match.
Now I’m going to set up a google alert for this story, because I can’t wait to see if it gets picked up nationally, or if she apologizes.
Kay
Well, I haven’t a coherent response to this. Being of Asian descent myself, I find it distasteful…to say the least.
All I can think is that she is belittling the poll workers, not giving them enough credit for being able to read accurately. And, if they actually CAN’T read accurately, should they really be manning the polls??
*Sigh*
Without sounding too insulting about it, I’m not totally surprised to find out WHERE this is happening. That part of the country isn’t as culturally diverse as others. I don’t think this would be an issue, in say, New York.
I wonder if this is an attempt to get a foot in the door to change immigration laws. Maybe taking a dig at the Asian community will somehow make it easier to pass legislation when it comes to Mexican immigrants.
Then again, maybe she’s just an ignorant racist.