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| Jeremy Lin |
Jeremy Lin, the star guard of the
New York Knicks, has quickly become a superstar of the highest order during the last couple of months.
He is on a meteoric rise in the eyes of millions of people on multiple continents.
People can's stop talking about the Asian-American star who made it to the National Basketball Association following a college basketball career at Harvard University. For those keeping notes, Harvard is not known as a factory producing professional basketball players.
Lin, however, has defied the odds. Twice discarded by teams before he ended up falling into an NBA comfort zone with the Knicks - in the nation's largest media market, Lin today is a true media darling in the eyes of so many. This, of course, brings out Jeremy Lin lovers and Jeremy Lin haters - in HUGE numbers.
Lin's Asian-American heritage has been a big part of his fast-maturing legend. It's difficult (if not impossible) to deny that this is true. In all honesty, the NBA doesn't exactly have a surplus of Asian American players and that has perhaps caused race to become a huge part of the Lin story.
Race aside, it's a good story. For many, however, race makes it a great story.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
I suppose the “Linsanity” puns were kind of funny at first, but it got stale long before the millionth reference. I understand that certain sports are dominated by different races, yet when an “outsider” steps onto the scene and creates a buzz, why does the color of their skin have to be just as big a part of the story?
Seriously, it’s 2012, not the mid-’70s when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record. Tolerance for racial inequality has obviously come a long way, and no sensible human being has hate for Lin because he’s Asian-American.
However, the stereotyping sheds light that there is an unfair double-standard.
What “SNL” did was funny because they made a mockery of what the nation was saying. Not that spouting racist stereotypes is ever right, but if it’s going to happen at least do so in the proper environment. “SNL,” humorous radio shows, etc., can get away with it — not reputable news companies.
It’s like seeing an uncustomary star rise to prominence took people back to their younger, immature mind-set and obliterated common sense. I mean, why else would the New York Post print “AMASIAN!” after Lin sank a game-winning shot a couple weeks ago?
Should we be colorblind and ignore race or should we celebrate a rare accomplishment - the great and relatively rare success of an Asian American in the NBA?
It's difficult many times for writers and copy editors to pass on what many of them see as great stories (opportunities to turn up the hype volume).
Are we making too big of a deal about the race of Jeremy Lin - at the expense of the skill and perseverance that have actually gotten him into this position?
Or, is it a great story that people should enjoy (albeit while being respectful)?
We have no shortage of opinions on this hot topic.
