A Name Worth Fighting For: How Being Asian Got Me in Trouble

Speaker: 
Simon Tam of The Slants
 
09 Apr 2019
 
8:15 PM
 
Great Hall, Memorial Union

Simon Tam, founder and bassist of The Slants, talks frankly about racism, his experiences as a musician, and how this Asian American dance rock band unintentionally revived a longstanding battle over trademarks and racial slurs. Tam will discuss how the nearly eight-year-long legal battle over the band’s name came about, their ultimate victory for free speech, as well as the unintended consequences the Supreme Court decision had for other civil rights legal organizations. His book, Slanted: How Being Asian Got Me Into Trouble, will be published this spring. First Amendment Days