Racism, 2009 style By Michael Yaki http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/yaki/detail?entry_id=38309
A Texas state representative, Betty Brown, recently suggested at a legislative hearing on voting identification (a dubious proposition since the rate of voter fraud at the polls is infinitesimal) that it would be easier on Texas voting officials if Asian Americans changed their names to make it easier for officials to identify them on the voter rolls. To quote her directly: "Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese -- I understand its 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 stated: "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?" Last I checked, one of the most common Chinese surnames was still Wong. And Chin. And Lee. One syllable. I guess I'm a bit confused as to how these names are "difficult" for voter officials in Texas to figure out. I'm not sure what century Representative Brown is from, but the fact that she said "your citizens" -- as if somehow the quality of being an American is distinguished by national origin, accent, or skin color -- is pretty scary. If the standard is "easy to deal with," then Brown has pretty much closed Texas' borders not just to Mexico, but pretty much the rest of the United States. Apparently, if the University of Texas basketball team offered the riches of croesus to the current coach of Duke, it would be conditioned on Coach Krzyzewski formally changing his name to "Coach K" so as not to stump Texas broadcasters and sports journalists. And the Rangers have a catcher named Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who clearly needs to alter his surname to just plain "Salt" for the ease of Texans' fantasy league picks. Surpringly, however, given her concerns about the burden on Texas voting officials, she evidenced no such concern about any other ethnic or national group, despite the apparent difficulty, for example, of saying, much less spelling, Ahmadinejad. Representative Brown was revealing, in effect, that in her mind Chinese were not welcome. You don't need to to "learn" Chinese to check a name against a voter reg list any more than you have to "learn" French to verify, say, a Madeleine DuBois. Nearly a hundred years after the Chinese Exclusion Acts, there are still public officials all too ready to relegate us to second-class citizen status. Piling on Ms. Brown is rightly and justifiably occurring -- most of it from her fellow Texans -- but there are broader issues to contemplate than the ignorance or bigotry of a single legislator. She is the metaphorical first iceberg, the warning that augurs the stormy seas ahead for an issue that President Obama has signaled he wants to navigate -- immigration. When President Obama talks about immigration reform, it will be the Betty Browns of the world -- people who actually have policymaking roles in state and local governments across this country -- that he must be mindful with his rhetoric. It will be the Betty Browns who will misinterpret the tough talk, who will twist the firm resolve, and begin lighting their torches for the mobs. We cannot, however unintentionally, feed into the paranoia, racism, and intolerance that still simmers below the surface, especially during economic downturns that historically let loose scapegoating, hate crimes, and anti-immigrant fervor. There are no easy answers on immigration reform. Luckily we have a President known for his cool demeanor, because our history shows that the pursuit of a solution historically devolves into a level of discourse that only serves to push that very solution out of reach, and induces the Betty Browns and her ilk out of the shadows. Posted By: Michael Yaki (Email) | April 10 2009 at 10:23 AM Listed Under: Politics --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [email protected] OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
