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As the son of a Niesei married to a Caucasian, I would hear jokes and comments about "Japs". I'd protest saying, "hey, I am half-Japanese!" They'd answer, "yeah, but you're *different*". I didn't look Asian. Another half-Japanese boy who looked very Asian got lots of jokes and harrassment. This was in the 80s.

Meanwhile, in Texas a State Rep *this week* suggested Asian-Americans should change their names because they’re too hard to pronounce:

“Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”
- State Rep. Betty Brown (R)

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/09/brown-asian-names/

-T.L.

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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