Eli Kaplan wonders why it’s okay for some minorities to be picked on more than others.
First, FoxSports writer Jason Whitlock insinuated Jeremy Lin has a small penis.
Then, Albert Einstein’s long lost cousin, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. chimed in with his gem about Jeremy Lin receiving unfair amounts of adulation, because apparently black basketball players do what Lin does on a nightly basis, and don’t receive the same credit.
Never mind that few NBA players (black, white, yellow, brown, green, red, or purple) had ever performed as well as Lin did in his first 6 career starts.
And never mind that Mayweather has already proven himself, in the past, to be an ignorant bigot.
But never mind ALL OF THAT!
These insensitive, ignorant, (and some would say discriminatory) comments and actions, are just the latest in a long line of disrespectful behaviors toward the Asian-American athlete. As far as the (sports) world is concerned, there is only really one true Asian-American athlete; his name was Bruce Lee. He was the first and (to the narrow and ignorant minds of many still today) hopefully last Asian-American athlete.
Then along came Jeremy Lin throwing a wrench into the script.
But Jeremy Lin’s success isn’t just about being Asian-American. It’s part of the story for sure. It’s also about being an underdog, about overcoming odds, about success through perseverance. These are story lines that anyone can appreciate, regardless of color, creed, or background. If we could stop ourselves from being addicts to sensationalism, perhaps we could focus on the grand and rewarding parts of Jeremy Lin’s feel-good story.
Unfortunately, we live in cynical and tabloid obsessed times, and the sports world is not immune to such twisted values.
When I was younger, ESPN (again, the so called “leader” of sports coverage) was a quality sports program (with a little bit of funny and entertainment mixed in). Now, they’re some national enquirer version of their old self. All glitz, little substance, entertainment based to the max, self-righteous and often insincere. They have fewer and fewer good reporters with knowledge and inegrity (like Michael Wilbon for example) and more and more ill-informed, fame-whores, posing as sports reporters and experts.
And while there has been some outcry and backlash to the recent bigoted behavior toward’s Lin’s accomplishments, I can’t help but feel reactions would be a whole lot different (and more severe), if someone used the n-word in a headline about a black athlete’s struggles.
Why? Why is it okay for some minorities to be picked on more than others? In my mind, it isn’t okay. Bigotry is bigotry, and it all needs to go. If there’s a chink in anyone’s armor, it’s in the warped values of Americans – black, brown or yellow… red, white, and blue.
It isn’t only sports. Asian Americans have a rough go getting into top-tier west coast universities. Their SAT/ACT/GPA has to be higher than those of other ethnic groups to have an equal chance of admission.
Richard, isn’t that because of positive discrimination or something ? Which is an insult to meritocracy…
There is a lot of manhood / masculinity rhetoric, along with sex, associated with sports, especially with fanatical sports like football, basketball and hockey. Once you reach a super athlete status, it seems your “package” also gets scrutinized, and that is what is being done here with Jeremy Lin — but very callously and prejudiced. There’s pressure from sports culture to prove the “size” of your manhood in correlation to your superstar status. So here again, ignorance and racism are at play with Whitlock’s comment. That type of comment aims to minimize his talent / rise to fame, by focusing… Read more »
There is no excuse or justification for racism. However, if you believe a headline (where the writer got fired) and an ignorant statement from one known racist bigot is ”a new low” you should study 20th century sports history for 10 minutes. If Asians were banned from all major sports, openly called racist names, spit on, forced to drink only from separate fountains and eat around back, legally restricted from voting, and openly and legally discriminated against in many other ways, then it would be close to the “old low.” Some of the best athletes in history were never given… Read more »
Eric, if I remember correctly, in the early 1940’s werent Japenese-Americans rounded up and sent to live in “Relocation Camps” out in the middle of nowhere? Most ethnic groups at some point in our history, have gotten the s**t end of the stick. The one thing that I feel seperates the US from most countries? When we recognize a wrong, we at least try (most of us) to make it right.
That was World War II hysteria, but still doesn’t compare to what African Americans suffered. However, I agree that over time the US has tried to right wrongs, such as those.
As an Asian-American, I go through daily slights and other micro insults, ….sometimes it’s a disparaging look on the elevator or a rude comment….growing up the insults were more blatant and harassing (imagine being the only Asian on a summer camp bus), but you make friends and you keep close to them because there is strength and safety in numbers….Today I work in the Asian-American community and we have been more vocal and politically active and powerful over the past 3 decades… That said, I think every ethnic group has their own prejudices and biases….I try to do everything possible… Read more »