Texas Lawmaker suggests Asians adopt easier names.

Look, my real first name is Markus, with a "K". I can send out e-mails to people who work on campus at my job, they will reply WITH MY SIGNATURE ALREADY INCLUDED, and they still type Marcus, with a "C" in the greeting.

People just need to pay attention and make an honest effort to get things right. The origin of the name or the person is irrelevant.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Hey, look! The full context shows that it's still racist, but less of the smarmy asshole racism, and more of the "I'm a buffoon" benevolent racism.[/QUOTE]

I'd call it ethnocentric for sure, but I don't think I'd call it racist. It's just asking people to change their culture by changing to names that fit our culture. 100% ethnocentrism, but I don't see much along the lines of racial superiority/inferiority etc. Just ignorant ethnocentrism.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']I'd call it ethnocentric for sure, but I don't think I'd call it racist. It's just asking people to change their culture by changing to names that fit our culture. 100% ethnocentrism, but I don't see much along the lines of racial superiority/inferiority etc. Just ignorant ethnocentrism.[/QUOTE]I thought ethnocentrism is about racial superiority/inferiority?
 
[quote name='judyjudyjudy']I thought ethnocentrism is about racial superiority/inferiority?[/QUOTE]

It can be, but it's also applicable to culture rather than race:

1. the belief in the inherent superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture.
2. a tendency to view alien groups or cultures from the perspective of one's own.
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Where as racism is limited to feelings of superiority etc. along racial lines.

1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
Click to expand...

So I'd say ethnocentrism is the better term here since it's thinking people should change names to something more easily pronounceable in your own culture clearly is about assuming your culture (and it's names/language) are superior rather than anything clearly tied to race.
 
The way the congresswoman directed her statements made it feel more like a race issue than a cultural issue, not that being biased based on culture is much better. When she says "you and your citizens" to Ko, the most obvious interpretation of that is that it's towards Chinese/Asian-Americans. She doesn't seem to be referring to any other ethnic group, tho many others have hard to pronounce names.

If she's talking about cultural issues, then she's an even bigger moron. The problem is that these Asian immigrants are trying to adapt to an American culture by fitting in and taking American names.
 
Agreed, I hate it all and it's completely ignorant and particularly riles me up since I've been dating a Taiwanese girl for 4+ years.

Her comments are limited to one race in this case, but it could just be because she was talking to an Asian person. Maybe she has the same feelings for Eastern Europeans and other cultures with hard to pronounce names? No way to know from the clip given the context was confined to Asians. So I'd call it ethnocentrism rather than racism since names are tied to cultural groups/nationalities more so than races, though of course there is overlap.

An example, a racist person who hated Asians would hate them regardless of whether they had a hard to pronounce name or had adopted a western name. That's different from just thinking Asians with hard to pronounce names should change them which is cultural elitism more or less.

Both are ignorant as fuck, but in the interest of using the proper word I'd call the later ethnocentrism.
 
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