Thoughts & Opinions
Just when I thought it could not get more crazy, another politician enters the “foot in mouth club.”
The Houston Chronicle reported, Betty Brown, a Texas Republican State Representative, is facing numerous demands that she apologize for having said that voters of Asian descent should adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.”
The comments caused the Texas Democratic Party 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 April 10th, 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.
Brown’s spokesman has said she was not trying to make a racially motivated comment. Her comments did, however, cause politicians as far away as New York to call on her to apologize for her statements.
As Kristv.com reports, one such complaint came from New York City Councilman John Liu:
In a letter to Brown sent Thursday, Liu called on her to either apologize or resign.”It’s outrageous and insulting for you to suggest it would ‘behoove’ us to adopt another name, to give up our birthright and a part of our own identity, in order to exercise our right to vote,” he said.
I lived for some years in Texas and know, for a fact, that Texans are not stupid and are very accepting of people but lately their elected officials are showing the “dumb side” of Texas. Can anyone explain the gross insensitivity and “broad brush” racial and cultural prejudice that this elected official has shown?
Hi Everyone, JB here! Thoughts On My Day is a place where I can sort out my thoughts and opinions on current day issues. I will post on everything and anything that attracts my attention - no forbidden topics.Sometimes it will be light and other times it will be serious. Of course, you will agree or disagree...that is what blogging is all about. As for me,I am a very young and happy 60 “something” year old family man. I have lived and traveled in many countries around the world, Having been around awhile, I will, from time to time, post some personal recollections. So,thank you for stopping by and please visit often.
