So, okay, apparently everyone who's anyone who follows sports knows all about Jeremy Lin, and even if you don't follow sports, you're bound to have heard his name pop up at some point in some context. Like me. I don't follow sports at all (read: hardly ever) but I've done enough internet-ing to know who he is and why he's just the bees' knees right now. I think it has something to do with basketball. And the fact that he did extremely well one game, and now he's on some kind of hot streak and everyone's just gone crazy over him, aka "Linsanity." Seriously, google that shit, people are using that term.
Of course the thing that makes him stand out is that he's Asian-American, but unlike, say, Yao Ming, Lin is a first-generation son of Taiwanese immigrants. Technically he's American through and through, but it just feels like everyone can't get past his appearance and he's just "Asian" to the nation/world.
However, Lin's success also reveals a certain unspoken racism against Asian-Americans, as pointed out in this article. I recall browsing Reddit a couple days ago and came across this gem, ESPN's crude headline, "Chink in the Armor," referencing a game the Knick's lost which I guess Lin is somehow responsible for (like I said, I don't follow sports, I just semi-keep up with what's on the internet.)
I do believe this racism against Asian-Americans exists. It's not so agressive and physically malicious as compared to the discrimination faced by Blacks, pre-Civil Rights movement, but it exists nonetheless. It's an unspoken notion, an ideal, that Asian-Americans are crazy intelligent and hard workers but still socially awkward on some scale. They're stereotypes, really, but the problem is there's relatively minor to no backlash from people when things like this get out, which makes it seem like this stereotyping is okay. And it's not. Any respectable media source wouldn't dare use the N-word in a headline, a slur against Blacks, but someone has the gall to use "Chink?" It's disgusting. Granted I'm really just paraphrasing the first article I've linked, but it rings true with a lot of things I feel. It also references a favorite article/essay of mine that I read in New York Magazine last year that addresses a similar issue.
And honestly sometimes I wonder if I do nothing to help the problem. What if I'm just facilitating this ignorance? I'll sometimes crack jokes about my race in jest with close friends, but what if that only adds to the desensitization, that people think it's okay to openly express these stereotypes about Asian-Americans?
It's just, Asian-Americans aren't represented enough in media and the public, so when someone like Jeremy Lin makes a splash, he causes a goddamn tidal wave, and suddenly everyone is all "OHMYGOD LOOK AT THIS ASIAN GUY BEING AWESOME AT SPORTS, OF ALL THINGS!" Hell, I'm sure you see plenty of athletes being incredible at their game, so why's it such a big deal that this one man is suddenly thrust underneath the spotlight? Yes, I'm glad that Lin's success aids the presence of Asian-Americans in the American public eye, but I suppose it's a process that'll take time.
On a somewhat related vein, WongFu productions just released their last episode in an online mini series titled "Home is Where the Hans Are." The premise is that Derek, twenty-something caucasian male, is coming home after being away for two+ years, only to find that his mother's remarried to a Chinese man, and now has a Chinese step brother and step sister. It's a tickling synopsis and rather fresh in a way to see Asian actors and actresses portrayed in non-stereotypical roles, even if it's just an online mini series. Also, they've got Ellen Wong (Knives Chau from Scott Pilgrim vs The World).
Check it out.
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