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What’s Your Mistranslated Sign?

Recently, amidst the heat of city council campaigning in Houston, debate about placing Korean-language street signs in the heavily Korean-populated neighborhood of Long Point has come back into the spotlight.

For three years, there had been little support for the proposal of Korean language signs because of the diversity of Spring Branch, the northwest Houston suburb that Long Point is located in. The signs had become a “non-issue” according to Korean community leaders.

But now, a political spat over the possible mistranslation of a remark made by Toni Lawrence, candidate for Houston City Council, has community leaders worried that the debate could be revived — creating unnecessary tensions in a diverse community.

During a meeting held at the Long Point Seoul Gardens community center on April 20, four Korean language newspapers allegedly mistranslated Lawrence’s stance on the Korean language street signs.

Bruce Tatro, incumbent City Council member, said that English-translated versions of articles in Weekly Sports News, Korean Journal, Korean Times in Houston, and Korea Central Daily, cite Lawrence’s support for the street signs.

Lawrence’s alleged remark awakened a debate that began three years ago when Houston’s Mayor Lee Brown moved to put Korean language street signs in place, at the request of Jason Yoo, former president of the Korean-American Association of Houston. However, the issue fizzled because the majority of Long Point/Spring Branch residents opposed the measure, thinking it would slight other ethnic groups who reside in the area.

Even Foo, the measure’s original author, agreed with the community.

“We don’t want to be causing any racial tension here,” Yoo said.

Mayor Brown still stands by his support of the signs, saying: “Houston’s diversity is one of its great strengths and we have worked hard to foster inclusion of every ethnic group in the city.”

He added: “Second-language street signs are another way to do that. They also signal to visitors that Houston is, indeed, an international city.”

When the issue first came up, Tatro pointed out that the mayor’s unilateral decision to place signs would be unfair to those who speak languages other than Korean. Most of the city council sided with Tatro in the decision against implementing the signs. The issue ended there without even going to voter referendum.

At an April 20 community meeting, a reporter asked Lawrence what she thought of the Korean language street sign issue. While the Korean papers reported that Lawrence supported the signs, she denies it.

Lawrence’s short rebuttal was: “All I can say is I didn’t say that.”

Tatro denies that the translation in the newspapers was a political mudslinging tactic against Lawrence, but he still believes Lawrence was quoted correctly and requests that she clarify her remark.

Ki Do, journalist for the Korea Times in Houston, was present at the community meeting. He points out that the signs were only a part of other pressing issues, issues such as communication barriers between the police officers and business owners, and funding for the Korean community center, which took the back burner when Lawrence was questioned about the signs. According to Do, the Korea Times felt her alleged statement was newsworthy to non-English-speaking Koreans and featured her stance on April 23 issue. Do refutes that he misquoted her.

“The newspaper reported that Lawrence supported signs only under the condition that other [community] residents agree with it,” Do said. “The translation became muddled from Korean to English, not the other way around. Because the issue of Korean street signs was the main feature of the story, it became a major misinterpretation issue.”

Ray Shasteen, Lawrence’s campaign manager argued that the misinterpretation and nuances of the two languages could cause confusion.

“I could see how things could be out of whack especially if your interpreter is not strongly fluent in both languages,” Shasteen said.

Still, Korean American community leaders feel street signs are not the central issue.

“English signs do not hamper our ability to find our way around the city,” Young Man Kim, President of the Korean American Association of Houston, said. “We would like a community center, a building. We would like to gain funding and that’s the main issue for our community.”

Although Lawrence did not comment further about the allegations, Korean community leaders are undaunted by the possibility of the debate’s rebirth. The diversity of Long Point includes some 5,000 Korean Americans, but there is also a sizeable Latino population in the area. Opponents of the idea don’t want other ethnic groups to be disrespected.

In the meantime, Kim says the community’s stance on street signs is neutral.

Said Kim: “Our community would be happy if the signs were changed or if they were left alone. We feel other issues are more important.”