Court takes a different slant on the Asian/American rock band's name

The band in the middle of the controversy.

RACIST names have been deemed OK by a ruling rendered by federal appeals court last week. A case involving an Asian/American rock band that called itself The Slants, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said the band can call itself whatever it wants based on the First Amendment's Freedom of Speech provision.

"We’ve long held that this case is not the Pandora’s Box for hate speech, that free speech is absolutely essential for having nuanced discussions of race and identity," said the band members on their website. "We’re thrilled that the court recognizes not only our legitimate business practices, but our expressive and political speech as well, which lies at the heart of the First Amendment."

The Dec. 22 ruling In Re Simon Shiao Tam could have far-ranging impact on other trademark names such as that NFL team based in Washington that calls itself a racist term for Native Americans.

RELATED: Slants oppose NFL Redskins name

Despite opposition from other Asian/American organizations, the Portland-based dance/rock band will be allowed to continue using the racist monicker.

Like the rap group NWA using the dreaded N-word in its name "With Attitude," the artists seek to reclaim, or "take ownership" of the racist term and in so doing, they say, lessen the offensiveness of the word.

The court ruled:

The band draws inspiration for its lyrics from childhood slurs and mocking nursery rhymes, J.A. 130, and its albums include “The Yellow Album” and “Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts.” The band “feel[s] strongly that Asians should be proud of their cultural heritage, and not be offended by stereotypical descriptions.”

That's what they intend to do. I've never heard them perform, so I can't judge them musically. They certainly got a lot of publicity in this court battle.

“This case calls for an end to a law that is being used to suppress minority voices.” said David Rogers, executive director for the ACLU of Oregon,

When the Asian/American band sought to register its name with the trademark office four years ago, a Patent and Trademark Office examiner denied it for being offensive to Asians.

The office also took the same position against the Washington-based football team. But NWA has a trademark. How'n hell did that happen?

The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the South Asian Bar Association of Washington DC (SABA-DC) and the Fred T Korematsu Center for Law and Equality jointly filed an amicus brief defending the U.S. government’s decision on The band's trademark application. From their press release:

“Asian Pacific Americans are all too familiar with the harm, including violence, that often accompanies racial slurs and epithets,” said NAPABA President George C. Chen. “Although I recognize the band’s intent to reclaim a historically disparaging term, as an intellectual property attorney, I also am cognizant that changing the U.S. trademark regulations to allow the registration of ‘The Slants’ could result in the trademarking of offensive terms by individuals and groups without similarly positive intentions.”

“SABA-DC deplores the use of racial slurs and epithets, and while the particular epithet involved in this case is not one that is usually directed to our South Asian constituency, we believe slurs against any racial or ethnic group are damaging to us all,” added SABA-DC President Habib F. Ilahi. “The First Amendment protects free speech, but it does not entitle those who wish to use such derogatory terms for branding purposes to receive the stamp of government approval.

If you want a bit of enlightened reading, check out pages 8 and 9 of the ruling. It's a list of trademarks rejected as disparaging by the Patent and Trademark Office.

These include: Stop the Islamization of America, The Christian Prostitute, Amishhomo, Have You Heard That Satan Is a Republican?, Democrats Shouldn't Breed, Republicans Shouldn't Breed, Fagdog and more, 

Good company, in my view and good reason to deny the name the band chose. But hey, I'm not a lawyer or a judge, just an apparently overly sensitive Asian/American who through my life has had to bear-and-grin-it after being called every derogatory Asian stereotype in the book.

The question arises then, is there no limit to offensive trademarks?

It is expected that the ruling will be appealed to U.S. Supreme Court. If the High Court agrees with the lower court, expect an explosion of expletive-deleted trademarked products to start appearing in our streets. Any semblance of civility or politeness, even if it is sarcastically called "political correctness," will disappear.

For more news about Asian/Americans & Pacific Islanders, go to AsAm News.

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