GOP stupidity reaches a new low level

[Hepburn]

Unreal:

Betty Brown to Asians: Why can't you be more like us?

Terrell lawmaker Betty Brown has made a joke of herself with her comments yesterday about Asian-Americans. I hope she's ready to be made fun of from NPR to Letterman. Here's what she said about Asian names while discussing the voter ID bill:

"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?"

What's worse, she's standing by the comment and sees nothing insensitive about it. The problem is that Asian names are often translated to what they sound like in English. Then some Asian people go by common "American" names. So sometimes their IDs don't match. So Betty Brown's solution: Just pick an American name and stick with it.

http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/04/betty-brown-to.html

:wow:

And...this "official" is from a town whose paper REFUSED to report that Obama had won the presidency!

I don't know whether to :rofl: or :cry: !!

[fishnfla]

1. wherin i pick at nits

dont you mean a higher level of stupid?

[Hepburn]

2. That works, too!

Just plaing fuckin' stupid any way ya' looks at it! :hi:

[Warpy]

3. A lot of Chinese students I knew in grad school

went by their initials. Because the letters in Chinese aren't pronounced the same as they are in English, never mind the different tones, it helped them avoid being inadvertently insulted by colleagues.

They got to keep their own names and we got to be blockheads, in other words.

Bigots never see anything insensitive about their comments. Since they tend to associate with other bigots, they see the idiocy is simple common sense.

[Hepburn]

4. I live in SoCal...and there are a lot of Asians...particularly Vietnamese.

Most I know have changed their names when they became citizens. Most try to take something close to what their given Vietnamese names, but some are very hard to pronounce.

I have to say that oriental words are VERY difficult for me to say and I can see why your Chinese friends did what they did. Something about how nasal the words are that I simply cannot do. And I really have tried to learn how to do this.

[Johonny]

9. I agree

Since many of the languages in question are Tonal languages and English isn't a Tonal language... it's very easy to not pronounce the name in the correct tone. Frankly most Chinese I know have a "English" name they'd rather go by when conversing with native English speaker particularly if they are engaged in business. Many non-English speaking Europeans did similar things a hundred years ago. It's not a new trend. Which is to say most of the people in question do exactly what the person is complaining they should do. Which begs the question, what exactly are they complaining about?

[Kerrytravelers]

5. I am certainly no linguist, and not fluent in any language outside of English and some bad French,

but I have never never never had any problems pronoucing people's names. I may ask them to repeat is slowly once so I may be sure to hear it correctly. And I may politely ask them if I am saying it incorrectly. But to just tell people to change their names? NEVER.

When I was a substitute teacher, I'd always tell kids if I mispronounce their names, to please correct me. Some kids would say, "oh, you can just say {fill-in-the-blank.}" I'd always say, "What would you like me to call you. It's your name and I should be saying it correctly." Now, that is no great act of kindness on my part. It's just common sense. And it's not insulting, which is what that idiot lady is. Just insulting.

People feel connected to their names. It's who they are, both personally and culturally. To suggest that they should change it is just ... well... are there words for people like this?

Of course. Bigots.

[Hepburn]

6. I agree totally with you....

...and I always try to say someone's name correctly!

[Kerrytravelers]

7. It's the least you can do.

If I were in another country, I'd want them to give my name their best shot. It might come with an accent and slightly off, but I'd knownthey had the minimal amount of respect for me to give it a try.

To publicly stand up and say what this woman did! Whew. That takes a special kind of stupid.

[Ilsa]

8. Betty Brown Name Generator!!! ROTFLMAO!

http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/toys/namegen/12054

My new approved name is Louise "Chicken and Dumplings" Brown! :rofl:

[Kerrytravelers]

10. I'm LaVerne "Pabst Blue Ribbon" Brown

It fits me perfectly!

:rofl: