Wed, April 22, 2009
LOS ANGELES, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Texas State Representative Betty Brown's recent statement that voters of Asian descent should adopt names easier to deal with for Americans has prompted the Los Angeles County Democratic Party to request a formal apology.
Some Chinese here also called the statement "ridiculous" and "stupid" and efforts should be made to stop such anti-immigrant sentiments.
During a Texas State House Elections Committee hearing on voter identification held on April 7, 2009, Brown, a Republican, said: "Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese ... Do you think that it would behoove ... you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here."
Brown's statement was directed at Ramey Ko, a representative of the Organization of Chinese Americans. It was criticized as racially insensitive by Texas Democrats, and they are demanding an apology.
The Los Angeles County Democratic Party said in a resolution that Brown's statement was both racially insensitive and intolerant and reflected a total disregard and lack of understanding of the fundamental tenet of equal rights and treatment under the law for all Americans.
"As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' Texas State Representative Brown's discriminatory statement against Asian Americans was offensive, disrespectful, and unacceptable.
"She undermined our fundamental principles of equality and non-discrimination. We demand her to issue a full apology to the American people and we ask that the Texas State House censure State Representative Brown for her reckless remarks," Eric C. Bauman, chairman of the Los Angeles Democratic Party, said.
