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!

It's About the Children, Stupid!: Penn State and the Politics of Football

Hello Meltingpot Readers,

I am so angry. And disgusted. Of course I am talking about the so-called, "Penn State Scandal." First, let me begin by saying, I'm not a big football fan. In fact, I watch on average, one football game a season and that game is the Super Bowl. And really, I'm only watching it for the commercials and the excuse to eat pork rinds and nacho cheese dip without anybody looking at me funny. So, naturally, when I heard about a big scandal with the Penn State football program, I didn't pay a whole lot of attention.

I remember hearing something about young boys, and a failure for the university to act appropriately, blah, blah, blah, but mostly I heard about the importance of football to Penn State and to the entire state of Pennsylvania. And I certainly heard one man's name repeatedly, Joe Paterno. I don't care that much about football, remember, so this whole 'scandal' barely penetrated my world. The next thing I heard, this 84-year old Paterno guy, the beloved football coach at Penn State, was issuing an apology and promising to retire at the end of this season because he realized he'd done wrong. People, at that point, I figured we'd come to an end of whatever this scandal had wrought.

So, over the weekend, more information started leaking out. Something about multiple people catching the coach 'assaulting' a young boy in the showers at Penn State but doing nothing about it. Or they told someone but nothing was ever done about it. So, then I started getting intrigued. I mean all the talk and the media coverage was about the football program and Joe Paterno and the football program, but you put the football down and there's a man 'assaulting' a 10-year old boy in the showers at a state university. Was it Joe Paterno? No. The man doing the 'assaulting' was the assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky. Where was his name in all the headlines?

I think more than anything I am enraged at the media coverage of this atrocious situation. Why are we reading headline after headline about Joe Paterno --clearly he is guilty of many things -- but the evil elephant in the middle of the room is Jerry Sandusky. He is accused of molesting and RAPING little boys (at last count there were 40)  many of them poor and Black? Why is this not the main story? I expected full coverage in the Sunday New York Times, but The Times put the story in the Sports pages and talked about, you guessed it, football.

Perhaps because Sandusky is considered innocent until proven guilty, we have to tread lightly, but come on, more than three people reported seeing him raping little boys in the public showers. Rape people. Ten year-old boys were being raped at an institution of higher learning. And we're talking about football? If you want to throw up your breakfast, read the list of accusations against Sandusky here. He is a pedophile who apparently used his charity organization to get access to vulnerable boys. He gave them gifts, made them promises and then asked for thanks in sexual favors.

If I were one of Sandusky's victims, or one of their parents, I'd be really angry at the emphasis on football. It's about the children, stupid.

Sound off in the comments section, if you think the media is paying too much attention to Penn State's football program and not highlighting the real crimes that were committed.

I'm angry and I'm listening.

Peace!

Asian Men Can't Jump?

Oh yes they can! Did anybody else see this recent Time magazine article about Harvard basketball phenom, Jeremy Lin? Lin is Asian-American and currently Harvard's high scorer on the court. Not only is he being credited with putting Harvard's basketball team on the map, but his name is even being tossed around in NBA circles.

I love to see people playing against stereotype, especially when it makes national (and in this case international) news. I see it as one more fist crashing through the ceiling of stereotypes that keeps people trapped inside of their limiting identity boxes. But on the other hand, why is it newsworthy that an Asian kid is good at basketball? By virtue of the fact that Mr. Lin is making headlines for his athletic abilities, does that mean as a culture we've all gulped down the racist Kool-Aid? In other words, isn't Jeremy Lin only an interesting story because we all collectively believe that Asian people just aren't athletically inclined?

You could argue that historically there haven't been very many Asian players in the NBA, but that doesn't mean Asian people can't play basketball or don't play at professional levels in their own countries. It just means we, the American people, are unaware of what goes on in the world outside of our own backyards.

I'm not pointing fingers here because this is a societal issue. We're all guilty of buying into gross stereotypes about different ethnic groups. And I'm not even suggesting that Jeremy Lin shouldn't get written about for being a great ball player. I'm just trying to make people think a little bit. It's what I do people. It's what I do.

What do you think? Should we report on people when they act against stereotypes or does that just reinforce those stereotypes? Could Time have told this story and only focused on Lin's achievements without highlighting his ethnic background? I'm curious to hear your opinions.

I'm listening.