(I’m listening to “Immigrant Punk” by Gogol Bordello)

In Baltimore, Maryland during the 1850’s, despite not speaking a word of English, my newly arrived ancestors from Germany discovered that not everyone was thrilled that they were there. 

Many American-born citizens were feeling overwhelmed and dispossessed by the waves of German and Irish immigrants, who were willing to work for lower wages and were viewed with suspicion because large numbers of the newcomers were Catholic. 

A secret nativist society, called the “Know Nothings” because members were instructed to answer “I know nothing,” when asked about their affiliation or views, grew strong enough to become a powerful political organization called the American Party, and its supporters routinely used violence to intimidate the immigrants, especially during election season to discourage them from voting.

The American Party’s 1856 platform stated that “Americans must rule America, and to this end native-born citizens should be selected for all State, Federal, and municipal offices of government employment, in preference to all others.”  It also demanded that immigrants should live 21 years in the United States (the period was then five years) before becoming eligible for citizenship.

Fillmore/Donelson campaign poster

The fact that a political party that was mainly formed to oppose to minority groups became one of the two main political parties of the time makes me wonder: was this a case of free speech gone too far?  Or did their ultimate defeat prove Thomas Jefferson’s statement that “Error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.”

As Michelle and Michael have written, sometimes Americans wonder whether or not to vote. But for some Americans, the issue is being able to vote in the first place.

In a video of an April 7 state legislative hearing, Texas lawmaker Betty Brown and Organization of Chinese Americans representative Ramey Ko discuss proposed voter identification requirements in Texas. Ko notes that some people of Asian descent have had trouble voting in a number of states because some of their identification papers use legal names transliterated from Asian languages while others include nicknames adopted for everyday use. Others have had problems because of variations in how their names are spelled on documents. Both Brown and Ko agree voters should present proof of identity to participate in elections.

During the discussion, Brown asks Ko if “it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here.” She immediately adds that she is “not talking about changing your name,” but then later asks “if there were some means by which you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that was easier for Americans to deal with?”

Brown’s comments have generated a lot of attention in the Asian-American community, including the blog Asian-Nation, the Asian American Action Fund, the Asian American Journalists Association and the Organization of Chinese Americans. I personally find Brown’s comments troubling. The United States is a land of immigrants, and the diversity of our names is a part of our cultural heritage. People of any background – Asian, Middle Eastern, African, Latin American or European – should not be asked to adopt different names for identification purposes because others find their true names hard to spell or pronounce.

At the same time, we must acknowledge that many immigrants and naturalized citizens do adopt nicknames for daily use that often are included on common forms of identification such as student IDs, work IDs and driver’s licenses. Should people be allowed to use these documents to register to vote and, when necessary, prove their identity at the polls? Or should they be required to show additional documents that list their legal names, such as naturalization certificates or passports? When there are variations in spelling, how much discretion should voter registration and poll workers have in verifying identification? How can these workers certify people as eligible to vote without unduly burdening anyone?

I am an American, thanks to the Watergate scandal.

My parents first came to the United States in 1964 as graduate students from Taiwan. My mother was pursuing a doctorate in cell-and-molecular biology, and my father was working on a master’s degree in civil engineering. After a few years, they got married and had two kids. My parents duly registered the births with their hometown in Taiwan under the assumption that the family would return there once they had completed their studies.

The Watergate Complex in Washington in 1973

My parents followed the news of what became known as the Watergate scandal with great interest. The charges that the five men were connected with President Nixon’s re-election committee; that members of that committee were involved in wiretapping, the illegal transfer of funds and other crimes; and that the White House had tried to prevent the release of evidence under the grounds of national security and have Justice Department employees fired did not really surprise them. What did surprise them was the fact that these charges were being openly reported and acted upon. Rather than being arrested and put in jail, reporters from major news organizations continued to publish stories that cast a bad light on politically powerful men, and lawyers continued to accuse high-ranking officials of crimes.

When President Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, as a result of the scandal, my parents marveled that a country could overturn its leader without resorting to a coup. (Taiwan at the time was under martial law.) The downfall of a U.S. president was a source of wonder to my parents rather than one of shame. The ability to bring down someone so powerful without bloodshed demonstrated to them the strength of America’s freedom of the press and the integrity of its justice system. Because of Watergate, my parents decided to raise their American-born children in the United States rather than Taiwan, and eventually become American citizens themselves.

And so, I give thanks to Watergate.