Taiwanese American politician Yuh-Line Niou recently shut down an online troll for telling her to change her name to English.
Yuh-Line shared a screenshot on Thursday showing an alleged troll account criticizing the New York State Assemblymember for not changing her name to English, even dragging fellow New York State Assemblymember Ron Kim into the mix.
Hi. I’m an American. We are a country that should pride itself on our greatest strength, which is our diversity. There is power in a name. And I am proud of the name my parents and my grandparents gave me, with all their love. 1/ pic.twitter.com/I6LzHvxmAh
— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) May 28, 2020
The Twitter user compared Yuh-Line to their Taiwanese friends who all have English names,” and people from China who adopted English names to “assimilate.”
“No one can even read her name. What is the deal?” they complained.
“Before becoming ‘lifelong voice for low-income people, people of color, and immigrants’ how about doing the most basic immigrant task, which is assimilate,” the user continued. “How can you represent a city of immigrants without that 1st. Even Ron Kim is Ron, not Kyung Soo. What planet is she on?”
In her response in a tweet, Yuh-Line said she’s an American and she’s proud of her name.
“There is power in a name.”
In a follow-up tweet, Yuh-Line said it took a moment but she loves her name and that throughout her life people have asked her to change it.
I am the first born child of my entire family on my Dad’s side. My name decided the names of all of my siblings and my cousins names. It took me a moment, but I love my name. Grew to. Throughout my life, people of all backgrounds and roles have asked me to change my name. 2/ pic.twitter.com/nPu2VD9VXD
— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) May 28, 2020
My name is me. It is who I am. It tells my story. It is my immigrant story, it is the story of my parents love, it is the story of being an Asian American, and it is the story of the diversity we should be proud of here in America. 3/ pic.twitter.com/ZbNM1qhqFy
— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) May 28, 2020
“Who gets to decide what is American enough? Who gets to decide what is ‘assimilated’ enough?” she added.
Who gets to decide what is American enough? Who gets to decide what is “assimilated” enough?
I DO represent a city of immigrants, a state of immigrants, in a country full of immigrants…as an immigrant. sounds pretty American yet why is it implied that I don’t belong. 4/ pic.twitter.com/woD6tHZExc
— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) May 28, 2020
Belonging is a funny thing…Certain ppl still think they get to decide who gets to belong to a land that was stolen and then part populated with people who were also stolen by people who fight each other making rules over stolen goods, stolen land and stolen people? Follow? 5/
— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) May 28, 2020
“There shouldn’t be a proof of burden or a condition on our belonging. I represent the district in which our Statue of Liberty Statue of liberty stands. And hey, I’m American, I have an American name,” Yuh-Line said in the last part of her thread.
We find pride in being American. Being a country where anyone and everyone can belong. There shouldn’t be a proof of burden or a condition on our belonging. I represent the district in which our Statue of Liberty 🗽 stands. And hey, I’m American, I have an American name. /end pic.twitter.com/s7E09ixpoI
— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) May 28, 2020
Yuh-Line, who was endorsed by Elizabeth Warren and recently by Bernie Sanders, is running for re-election as a member of the New York State Assembly.
Feature Image via @yuhline_niou
