When Knick’s player Jeremy Lin went on an unprecedented tear, he up-ended all manner of thinking about Asian Americans in sports–and society.  This strapping son of Taiwanese immigrants defied conventional notions of Asian Americans as docile, unassuming, or (as I was inaptly described recently by a teammate on Celebrity Apprentice) “meek.”

Perhaps even more startling than Lin’s meteoric rise was the buffoonery which quickly followed.  ESPN commentators not once but TWICE described a loss involving Lin as a “chink” in his armor.  Can you imagine those same commentators using “nigger” or “spic” so cavalierly?  It’s hard even to type those words, in honesty.  “Chinks” were prevented from owning property, testifying in court, or inter-marrying with whites across much of the United States until after World War II.  “Chink” is a word used to insult, demean and degrade.  It has no place in sports commentary. 

The idea that an Asian American man could achieve hero status in the world of basketball is disconcerting to many precisely because it defies long-held notions, formed from media images of Asian men as sexless, math-loving, automatons.  Other than in the rarefied yet limiting world of martial arts, Americans are hard-pressed to name one Asian man widely regarded as a model of male sexuality and prowess.  The stereotypes are so rampant that a Fox newscaster felt it appropriate to tweet after a Lin victory that “Some lucky lady in NYC is going to feel a couple of inches of pain tonight.”  How droll.  But Fox isn’t alone in its idiocy:  Madison Square Garden itself flashed a fortune cookie along with Lin’s image.  Yes, a fortune cookie.  The level of discourse truly is sophomoric.

We are at a tipping point in our society, when an African American can become President and an Asian American man can become a basketball superstar.  It is an exciting time, but it brings out the stupid in many.  When you see or hear it happen, don’t stand idly by.  Say something, challenge them, make a difference. 

Trust me, it feels Linsational.

–GHT