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My Turn by Dmae Lo Roberts

The Portland Chinatown Museum (PCM) is one of my favorite museums. Their exhibits feature both classical and contemporary art and also highlight Portland’s Chinatown history. The current exhibit gives insight into the Portland-originated band The Slants. Self-proclaimed as one of the "world’s first all-Asian American dance rock bands," the group has toured nationally and internationally. The Slants retired from touring in 2019 and many of its members, including Simon Tam, have moved to other parts of the country. The band’s main focus now is to support The Slants Foundation through grants, mentorships, and advocacy, but it had a remarkable journey trying to defend the right to its own name.

According to co-founder Tam, the foundation serves about 500 artists across North America and provides trainings, funding, and research.

"But we are also in the midst of doing other things," Tam said, "like filming television shows and film and filming movies to try to highlight the next generation of troublemakers."

I met Simon two decades ago when we taught workshops at Portland Community College. Through the years, I learned about The Slants and how the name was an act of reappropriating a derogatory term that a majority of Asian Americans have experienced. I was impressed by the dance band music and also with Tam’s commitment to social justice work within the AAPI community.

Tam is one of the few, if any, rock musicians to have received a major award from the American Bar Association. Tam and his band fought for the name to be trademarked and ended up taking the case all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States after the trademark office initially refused the trademark, saying "The Slants" was "disparaging to people of Asian descent."

"They were being offended on our behalf," Tam said about the first rejection of the trademark. Tam also mentioned that the Oregon Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs had written to the trademark office asking what folks from the AAPI community were involved in the decision. According to Tam, the trademark office wrote back and replied, "Well, nobody, but we have a lot of Asians that work in this building."

In 2017, they won their case, Matal v. Tam, against the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In a unanimous decision, Kimberly Moore, Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Court, wrote, "Words — even a single word — can be powerful. Mr. Simon Tam named his band The Slants to make a statement about racial and cultural issues in this country. With his band name, Mr. Tam conveys more about our society than many volumes of undisputedly protected speech."

Tam later documented the experience in the memoir, Slanted: How An Asian American Troublemaker Took On The Supreme Court. Tam and bandmember Joe X. Jiang were later commissioned to write an opera about the court case. Slanted: An American Rock Opera premiered at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in Missouri on March 16, 2023.

The Portland Chinatown Museum is currently featuring the music history of The Slants as well as the historical court case in an exhibit called "What’s Worth the Fight: The History of the Slants." The display explores the band’s rich history and musical contributions, their Portland Chinatown roots, and the legacy of their continued activism and creative resilience. It also includes memorabilia, video, and musical instruments in a re-creation of a band stage.

Tam is now based in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is the director of communications for a nonprofit that, ironically, is challenging the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. "This time it’s over patent laws," he said, "to try to break up monopolies of pharmaceutical companies because I want to provide healthcare and access to the general public."

I recently learned something I did not previously know about Simon. He’s half-Taiwanese, like me. He and his partner are now considering a move to Taiwan. Tam said they realized they wanted to be in a place they "felt better represented our values ... it’s a culture that really takes care of its own people. And that was something I really liked. Plus, I want to be at the epicenter of the very best food on earth. So, Taiwan is definitely the place to be for that. … It does have the best food, I have to say."

"What’s Worth the Fight: The History of the Slants" is on view through May 11, 2025. The Portland Chinatown Museum is located at 127 N.W. Third Avenue in Portland. To learn more, or to purchase tickets, call (503) 224-0008 or visit <www.portlandchinatownmuseum.org>.