Top 9 Quotes & Sayings by Simon Tam

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American musician Simon Tam.

Last updated on December 18, 2024.

Simon Tam is an American author, musician, activist, and entrepreneur. He is best known as the bassist and founder of the Asian American dance-rock band, The Slants, who won their case against the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office at the United States Supreme Court. The case, Matal v. Tam, was a landmark legal battle that clarified First Amendment rights in trademark law. The court ruled unanimously in Tam's favor, holding that trademark registrations may not be rejected under the Disparagement Clause of the Lanham Act (1946) since that would be considered viewpoint discrimination; this includes, as in Tam's case, trademarks using such language filed by members of minority groups who wish to reclaim slurs that would have been previously denied.

American - Musician | Born: March 30, 1981

Source: Wikipedia

Laws shouldn't just be about the quality. They should also be about equity and if they're placing a social burden on marginalized groups, then those laws need to be reconsidered.

Simon Tam

Your uniqueness is your greatest strength, not how well you emulate others.

Simon Tam

Complex things oftentimes disrupt social norms.

Simon Tam

We sometimes become so obsessed with punishing villainous characters, that we forget the collateral damage is actually experienced by marginalized groups, and we shouldn't punish them for that.

Simon Tam

If we write our laws and design them around the most privileged members of society, i.e., billionaire football team owner, then we forget about the people who don't have the same resources to make an appeal, to fight a wrongful accusation. Those tend to be members of the LGBT community and people of color because those are the people who tend to engage in the work of reappropriation to subvert discrimination. And yet those are the same ones being denied, based on their own identities.

Simon Tam

I don't support hate speech. I don't want to support a racist football team or bands that are offensive.

Simon Tam

I started asking friends, my white friends around, I said, "What's something that you think all Asians have in common?" They almost always immediately said, "Slanted eyes." I thought that's really interesting. No. 1, it simply isn't true. Not all Asian Americans have slanted eyes, and of course, Asians aren't the only ethnic identities to have them. No. 2, we could talk about our slant on life and what it's like to be people of color, while at the same time, using this outdated and obscure racial slur, and turning it on its head.

Simon Tam

The words we choose can build communities, reunite loved ones, and inspire others. They can be a catalyst for change. However, our words also have the power to destroy and divide: they can start a war, reduce a lifelong relationship to a collection of memories, or end a life.

Simon Tam

The term Christian used to be a pejorative. Back in the day, Christians were persecuted; however, over time, it became one of the word's biggest religions. Same thing with the term Mormons in the religious area. Mormons didn't want to be called that. They wanted to be called Latter-day Saints. It's only been in recent decades that they kind of shifted that position and took ownership of it.

Simon Tam

Top 9 Quotes & Sayings by Simon Tam

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