the slants

“Nobody can take the strength and courage of claiming ... our own name away from us.”
Frontman Simon Tam chose to call the band "The Slants" to reclaim a derogatory reference to Asian people’s eyes, and wear it as a “badge of pride.”
The Supreme Court boosted the team's controversial name by striking down a law banning "disparaging" trademarks.
How an Asian-American band's trademark battle aims to reclaim derogatory names -- and the First Amendment.
The hypothetical reference occurred during a hearing in a First Amendment case.
The Slants insist their name is protected by the Constitution. But the government thinks otherwise.
An appeals court ruled that a trademark provision that prohibits disparaging names violates the First Amendment.