Burning Questions About Jeremy Lin, Basketball and the NBA

Hi Meltingpot Readers,

I think you'd have to be living under a rock to not know something about Jeremy Lin. He's the Chinese-American, Harvard grad, who according to reports, has single-handedly turned the New York Knicks basketball team around from a losing streak to, #winning!

His story is a NBA fairy tale. Passed over for a permanent position in the NBA, Lin was sleeping on his brother's couch waiting for a miracle. One came when he got a short-term contract to play for the Knicks. During that time he played so well, he was offered an official contract and Lin-sanity ensues. He's on the cover of magazines, on ESPN, endorsement deals are rolling in, his name has inspired any number of clever puns, and the entire country of China now suddenly cares about basketball. Okay, that last part is a stretch, but still.

So, that's the glossed over, layman's description of the Jeremy Lin saga. So here are my burning questions.

1. Yes the 'from sleeping on my brother's couch to NBA star' is a compelling tale. And yes, there are less than five other Ivy league grads in the NBA, but can we all admit that the reason Jeremy Lin is such a fascinating figure is that he is Chinese?

2. If the answer to the above is yes, what does that say about our collective racist group think mentality? That is, why is it so amazing that a Chinese-American can play professional level basketball? Is it okay to just say, well, it's just that we just never see Chinese people playing in the NBA so it's so different. Or should we not be asking ourselves what is truly underlying these feelings of shock and awe?

3. Is there a difference between Lin-sanity and what we experienced when we saw Venus Williams take home her first Grand Slam trophy? Or when Tiger Woods donned his first green jacket? I think so. With Venus Williams and Tiger Woods the conversation was about access. If given access, wouldn't more Black kids play (and dominate) tennis and/or golf? But with Jeremy Lin, aren't we all just surprised that Asian men can jump? Why is that?

4. For those of you who have been following Lin's career, aren't you happy that he is so humble and a total cutie pie?

5. And finally, why do you think more Asian players aren't in the NBA? Answer that if you dare.

Okay, enlighten me with your wisdom, dear readers. I'm listening.

Peace!

Diversity Reigns at the National Book Awards

Hello Meltingpot Readers,

I'm a little late in posting this, but still I have to use this space to honor and celebrate the winners of the 2011 National Book Awards. The winners are:

FICTION: Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones (Bloomsbury USA)

NONFICTION: Stephen Greenblatt, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
(W. W. Norton & Company)

POETRY: Nikky Finney, Head Off & Split 
(TriQuarterly, an imprint of Northwestern University Press)

YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE: Thanhha Lai, Inside Out & Back Again
(Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers)

It was such a joy to see this list of winners as, they finally seem representative of America's diversity. Jesmyn Ward and Nikky Finney are Black women. Thannhha Lai is an Asian woman. Stephen Greenblatt is obviously a man. I don't believe that award winners should be selected based on their race or gender, but it seems to me that the best books in the United States would be written by a variety of people who reflect the true scope of  the 'American experience.' 

And for the first time in a long time, I'm truly excited to read every single one of the award-winning books. They will top my TBR list for 2012. 

What about you Meltingpot readers? Have any of you already read the works of the winning authors? What did you think? Any suggestions on what book I should read first? I'm listening.

And in the meantime, you can listen (and watch) Ms. Nikky Finney's acceptance speech for her book of poetry, Head Off & Split. The actor John Lithgow said it was the "best acceptance speech for anything" he's ever heard in his life.

Peace!

Fighting in Philly: Black and Asian Teens Go Head to Head

As a Black woman who has always had Asian friends I've always wondered why the media likes to glorify all of the incidents of Black/Asian conflict. In fact, I use a lot of my Blog space to celebrate the places where Black and Asian culture come together in beautiful ways. But there's a story unfolding in my own back yard that I cannot ignore.

Recently a friend of mine, George Miller III wrote a story for Philadelphia Weekly magazine about a disturbing trend of Asian students getting beat up by Black students at several Philadelphia high schools.

That story was written in September and it seemed that perhaps the problem was being addressed. Fast forward two months and sadly things have gotten so bad, that the Asian students walked out of school until they could get some response from school officials whom they claim repeatedly ignore their distress calls.

As you'll read in the story, some people don't really see this as Black on Asian crime, but rather a simple us against them turf war. You know, "we were here first," "You don't speak English" and "You don't look like me." This doesn't make the violence any more palatable, but it does make sense. And it doesn't feed into the age-old stereotype that Blacks and Asians are mortal enemies. It forces educators to really look at the problems and not just call these hate crimes and throw up their hands in despair.

What suggestions would you give Philly school officials who are adressing this problem? Where would you start?

I'm listening.