Remember Texas state representative Betty Brown?  She's the Republican who suggested that Asian Americans should consider changing our names so it would be easier for others to pronounce. Anyway, the Austin Chronicle has just come out with their annual Best of Austin issue and Betty has made the list along with APAP board member and bff, Ramey Ko. Here are the details:

Best Texas Lege Moment: TIE: Betty Brown; Chubbing

When Rep. Betty Brown, R-Athens, told Ramey Ko of the Organization of Chinese Americans that "you and your citizens" should adopt more English-sounding names to make life easier for election officials, it made them both instantly famous: Brown for inadvertently revealing some ugly assumptions about race, Ko for his cool and reasoned response. The chub was less than instant: day after day of laborious debate on the smallest of bills, just to keep big issues such as voter ID and children's health insurance off the House floor. Guess it's not what you pass, it's how you don't pass it.

 

"It definitely wasn't the kind of thing you normally want to be famous for, but it was a valuable opportunity to educate people and raise awareness.  The incident reminded us that the idea that people of Asian descent aren't really American is still all too common.  The fact that Rep. Brown never seemed to realize what was truly disturbing about her remarks reveals just how persistent and insidious such beliefs are.  Though we managed to defeat the voter suppression bill, we still have a lot of work to do.  On the other hand, the swift and resoundingly negative response to Rep. Brown is an encouraging sign of how far we have come." 

Here's a link to the original Austin Chronicle story and the original video.

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