During testimony on voter identification, a Texas lawmaker suggested that Asians adopt a name “easier for Americans to deal with.”

Betty Brown, a state House representative, denied that her comments were racially motivated, but that she was only trying to resolve a voter identification problem.

“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese – I understand it’s a rather difficult language – do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?”

Then later Brown said again:

“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?”

First of all, doesn’t Brown understand that Asian-Americans are Americans?

If names are hard to understand because they are non-English, then why doesn’t Brown suggest that some Russian or Polish names be changed as well?

Beyond all this, it is simply a ludicrous idea. How can giving people an alias enhance voter identification? That means another name for a person is floating around society. Beyond the bureaucratic nightmare, the potential for fraud is significantly enhanced.