So on Thursday, Texas State Rep. Betty Brown released an apology for her remarks to APAP Board member Ramey Ko asking Asian American voters to adopt names that would be "easier for Americans to deal with" [emphasis mine]. For those just tuning in, on Tuesday, April 7, board member Ramey Ko testified against the so-called Voter ID bill (SB 362) at the Texas State Capitol. (To learn more about this bill, please see here.) During his testimony, State Rep. Betty Brown (R-Terrell) suggested that Asian Americans adopt names that are "easier for Americans to deal with" when they vote since Chinese is a "rather difficult language" to learn. (To hear the full clip of Ramey's testimony and Brown's statements, please go to this link and listen to the second clip. Notice that nowhere does Ramey suggest that anyone "learn Chinese" - which by the way, misses the fact that Asians and Asian Americans are made up of more than just Chinese people. Also note how Brown refers to Ramey and "his citizens" as if he's not an American citizen himself. Which he is for the record, being born in Denton, TX and raised in Carollton, TX not far from Plano. You don't get much more American than that.)

Here's the apology that she released. What do you all think - sincere attempt at reconciliation or a CYA move, once she saw how big it'd gotten?

Also don't miss Ramey's appearance on a local Austin channel this morning talking about his experience - here's the link and a video clip. The incident even made Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update, which is included in the KXAN clip!

Statement from State Representative Betty Brown
Thursday, April 9th, 2009
Contact: Jordan Berry - 903.288.7581

Representative Brown expresses gratitude to her Asian-American friends for their demonstration of support by her during this misunderstanding.

State Representative Betty Brown apologizes for her remark in the Elections Committee on Tuesday, April 7th. Representative Brown appreciates Ramey Ko's testimony which made the Elections Committee aware of experiences Asian-American's have when acquiring identification. Representative Brown appreciates the diversity of Texas and the enrichment that the Asian-American community has brought to our great state.

She would like for you to be aware that the quote that is being circulated is one sentence out of a conversation she was having with Mr. Ko, who represents the Organization of Chinese Americans, while he was testifying. The conversation was regarding possible difficulties in translating names. Later in the conversation Representative Brown explained what she had meant by her comment. "I'm not talking about changing your name. I'm talking about the transliteration, or whatever you refer to it, that you could use for us."

(Let it be noted that this apology is not posted anywhere on Brown's web site, nor was it released in an official capacity. Instead, it was distributed through former Texas State Rep. Martha Wong, Republican who used to represent the 134th House District in Houston.)