What did Saunders mean by ‘American’ names?

In a recent column, Debra J. Saunders referred to a list of apparently amusing names and stated that some “were American or European; others were Asian or African” (“Tech geeks should leave diversity issues to HR,” The Herald, May 12). When I was growing up I would have accepted that assertion without blinking because the culture into which I was born emphasized that Americans were supposed to have names like Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln.

It has taken a long time, but I have now come to believe that any name that an American citizen has is an American name. We are fortunate to have in our country a truly global range of names: Nguyen, Smith, Mensah, Mohammed, Jones, Obama, Gonzalez, Patel, and even Howling Wolf. Some of us may proudly hyphenate our names to indicate historical origins, but that does not make them any more — or any less — American.

The piece by Ms. Saunders was basically a criticism of efforts to promote “diversity, equity and inclusion” now underway throughout our society. What a supreme irony that her own word choice demonstrates the need for just such programs!

John Collier

Mukilteo