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发帖数: 676 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 Basketball 讨论区 】
发信人: falalisd (falali), 信区: Basketball
标 题: Jeremy Lin's racial heritage can’t be ignored — just don’t be ignorant about it
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Tue Feb 21 16:04:25 2012, 美东)
http://www.windsorstar.com/sports/Jeremy+racial+heritage+ignore
LOS ANGELES — Of all the drives, dunks and dazzling shots Jeremy Lin is
forcing upon the stars of the NBA, none of it compares to the moves he's
putting on a larger collection of everyday people.
Jeremy Lin has dribbled America into the previously quiet corner of its
casual prejudice and lazy stereotypes of Asian Americans.
The true beauty of his story is in awareness of the ugliness that has been
found there.
It's been barely two weeks since the beginning of a tale that rocked the
sports world with great basketball and bad puns, but so much already has
changed. When America now looks at Lin, it should see more than an Asian
American kid from Harvard who overcame ignorance at every level to become a
star guard for the New York Knicks.
America should see itself in the murky reflection of a society that has long
considered it reasonable to publicly categorize Asian Americans in ways
that would never be acceptable for other, more vocal minorities.
America should see the writer from Foxsports.com who began the barrage of
ignorance last week by tweeting a tired joke about the assumed size of Lin's
manhood. The guy apologized, but his company did not, which should not be
surprising considering Fox Sports is also the outfit which this fall aired a
segment in which a reporter ridiculed Asian Americans at USC for not
understanding football.
Can you imagine a major American media company tolerating this sort of
blatant racism if it were directed toward any of Lin's African American
teammates?
America should see the game video from the Knicks' MSG network in which
cameras focused on a homemade sign that showed Lin's face above a fortune
cookie with the words, "The Knicks Good Fortune."
Can you imagine, five months from now, that same television director
willingly airing a shot of a sign that made fun of the heritage of a Latino
member of the New York Mets?
If America has the stomach, it should even watch the tape of the WNYW
morning show in New York where one of the anchors, upon hearing a reporter
list Lin's physical attributes, asked, "What about his eyes?"
The newsman made the slur, he sort of winked with glee, the entire news desk
laughed and I'm thinking, you're kidding me, right? In a media world that
is reluctant to even cite a subject's ethnicity unless it is relevant, it's
suddenly okay to openly laugh about Lin's cultural characteristics because,
well, because he's Asian American and everybody does it?
"In this country, Asian Americans are stereotyped as the meek and the mild,
the ones who will always take the racism," said Daryl Maeda, an associate
professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado who specializes in
Asian American studies. "There is a perception that it's okay to offend
Asian Americans because they simply won't fight back."
There was finally push-back last weekend at ESPN, which fired one employee
and suspended another for separately describing the Knicks' first loss with
Lin as a starter as a "Chink in the armor."
The guy who was fired amazingly felt confident enough to put it in a mobile
website headline. The guy who was suspended said it on the air during a
conversation, and it seemed impulsive enough that he was probably just
throwing out a cliche without thinking.
In marginalizing the Jeremy Lin story, that newsman actually illustrated its
real importance. This newfound basketball force has forced Americans to
take a deep breath and think. He has forced America to realize it has become
too comfortable compartmentalizing Asian Americans with a list of
stereotypes that are misguided, mean-spirited and just plain wrong.
Such as that one that says, you know, they can't play sports.
"The one thing I think is interesting about this whole Jeremy Linsanity is
that it has forced us to think about how we think and talk about race in
general," Maeda said. "Asian Americans have long been put into this safe
little slot, and Jeremy has taken us out of those places."
This is what sports does. This is one reason sports matters. Through the
shared understanding of the human condition that so publicly exists in
sports, society is often forced into self-realization and change, and where
else can that happen?
America really needs to watch the "Saturday Night Live" skit in which three
sports reporters laughingly discuss Lin while using Asian American slurs,
yet when a fourth newsman tries to discuss other Knicks by using African
American slurs, they become offended.
"This all shows how Asian Americans have long been the invisible minority,"
Maeda said.
Not right now, not in NBA's biggest city, as the most celebrated Asian
American in league history is in the backcourt for one of the NBA's marquee
teams, in the centre of what could end up being the sports story of the year.
Jeremy Lin's heritage is a wonderful part of this story and should not be
ignored. But can't we do that without being ignorant? |
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