Comments on: What’s In A Name?

By: moo goo dog pan

moo goo dog pan — Wed, 20 May 2009 07:40:24 +0000

another delightful gem of racism from the great state of texas. why haven't we taken up perry's offer to secede yet?

By: GurMando

GurMando — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:26:05 +0000

Since someone posted one already – here is another great GGM where they butcher an english waiter’s name:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a42pwyL1ecc or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huSP7PtctC4 (live version)

By: vk

vk — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 23:44:15 +0000

Her excuse was well I couldn't tell which one was the male and which one was the female. WTF?

Happens often with a name like 'Aditya'.

By: SomeBodyUK

SomeBodyUK — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 22:47:02 +0000

Some western names have become Indian names:

Jarnail = General Karnail = Colonel Alexander = Sikander or Iskander

I've met Punjabis with all these names

By: DizzyDesi

DizzyDesi — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:17:49 +0000

I assume they manage to have no problem with the 300 John Smiths on the voter roster even if some of them bring official ID cards that say Jack Smith

For most puposes, you assume incorrectly. Names can change for many reasons -- the most common one being when people get afflicted by marriage. The same problems apply.

for one thing, why do people have to carry their naturalization papers - would not a passport suffice (i am assuming that most asian americans have one).

Most ID systems have a weighted point system/ guidelines. Think of the I-9 form you fill in when you get employed /open an acount, etc. INconsistent names are a big no no, and require a round about way of being dealt. (I'm guessing here that the voters here do not have a US passport, and so are using the naturaliation papers. And the problem is that the various names do not match.)

Betty Brown is such an idiot.

For trying to understand the issue and help? You do know that she could simply decide that, if the names do not match, you're out of luck, and move on to the next item on the agenda, dont you?

I do think her comments (indicating that OCA's membership is somehow "non-American") around citizenship and belonging creates a weird us/them

It is a us /them situation. Or rephased, the situation seems to be unique to many of OCA's members and creates an exception to a general rule.

By: lamy

lamy — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 18:51:46 +0000

They’ve been “Anglicizing” names for a couple hundred years. Some of the old Ellis Island records are remarkable evidence for this, should you have any doubt. The official who signed you in, set your family’s place in the phone directory forever. You wouldn’t believe what O’Leary, Mcgonaeghal, Steinberg, Schwartz, Wang and Leideren orignally looked like on paper. Immigrants often did this on their own, as I suspect many Indians have or would do anyway. This country has always been a great one for giving teachers headaches calling role on the first day of school.

By: ak

ak — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 18:02:42 +0000

@ 71 – desis do it, too. my dad changed his name to jack, my mother still introduces herself as kay. many of their friends also go by more westernised names. and for the curent generation, the prospect of having their child’s name butchered in america is a very strong, if not the dominating, consideration when choosing a name.

By: MoorNam

MoorNam — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:06:28 +0000

People who become adept and obsessed with reading between the lines forget to read the actual lines.

M. Nam

By: Camille

Camille — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 07:59:24 +0000

It's amazing how one person spouting totally unrelated rhetoric can hijack a good discussion. Ofcourse, anyone can say anything in an unmoderated forum, but it would make good sense for us to completely ignore comments left by trolls trying to forward their agenda that's totally unrelated to this discussion about language, assimilation and notions towards immigrants. I encourage everyone to completely ignore such commentors and not accord any respect. Let's just respond to people who stick to the discussion at hand.

AMEN.

While Rep. Brown's comments have been mostly quoted without the full context in other coverage/stories, I do think her comments (indicating that OCA's membership is somehow "non-American") around citizenship and belonging creates a weird us/them dichotomy that isn't really fair, is alienating to Asian Americans, and captures a misinformed notion of what an American looks like, sounds like, and is named. I'm also generally disappointed when those in positions of power ask organizations that are relatively under-resourced to take on burdensome projects such as trying to get all linguistics frameworks to conform to one narrow transliteration method for names. LAME.

By: Lusterbee

Lusterbee — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 02:01:59 +0000

Honestly? I recently voted in a local election and my father was standing in line right in front of me as we went through to get our names checked off the list. The election worker glanced at his last name and year of birth and promptly marked my MOTHER's name off the list. He was watching her and corrected her. Her excuse was well I couldn't tell which one was the male and which one was the female. WTF?

I don't think its the names that are the issue... its just plain laziness on the part of some election workers who seem to misinterpret or ignore the rules. Voter ID laws seem like a way to give more traction to workers who are seeking to disenfranchise voters.