<p>*Some people still can't look past his ethnicity. Everywhere he plays, Lin is the target of cruel taunts. "It's everything you can imagine," he says. "Racial slurs, racial jokes, all having to do with being Asian." Even at the Ivy League gyms? "I've heard it at most of the Ivies, if not all of them," he says. Lin is reluctant to mention the specific nature of such insults, but according to Harvard teammate Oliver McNally, another Ivy League player called him a c-word that rhymes with "ink" during a game last season. Just last week, during Harvard's 86-70 loss to Georgetown in Washington, D.C., McNally says one spectator yelled "sweet and sour pork" from the stands. *</p>
<p>This comes to me as somewhat of a surprise, since Ivy League schools certainly are not lacking in Asian/Chinese students. I might expect this to happen in an isolated, homogeneous town, but not at a Ivy that prides itself on its diversity.</p>
<p>^ The article did not state that the insults were made by Harvard students. They were made by “another Ivy league student” and a “spectator”. After the report on the insults Dartmouth students yelled at Harvard squash players ([TheDartmouth.com</a> | Kim apologizes to Faust following squash heckling incident](<a href=“http://thedartmouth.com/2009/12/02/news/squash]TheDartmouth.com”>http://thedartmouth.com/2009/12/02/news/squash)) , nothing surprises me anymore. It is all appalling and unsportsmanlike.</p>
<p>No indication that Harvard students are hurling the insults.</p>
<p>“Some people still can’t look past his ethnicity. Everywhere he plays, Lin is the target of cruel taunts. “It’s everything you can imagine,” he says. “Racial slurs, racial jokes, all having to do with being Asian.” Even at the Ivy League gyms? “I’ve heard it at most of the Ivies if not all of them,” he says. Lin is reluctant to mention the specific nature of such insults, but according to Harvard teammate Oliver McNally, another Ivy League player called him a C word that rhymes with ink during a game last season. On Dec. 23, during Harvard’s 86-70 loss to Georgetown in Washington, McNally says, one spectator yelled “Sweet-and-sour pork!” from the stands”</p>
<p>Sorry to contribute nothing substantive to this discussion but I’d like to personally thank TIME for so cleverly letting us know what the racial slur was. By not including the word itself and instead posting its first letter and a rhyming word, it was both unoffensive and informative! I can’t imagine how different it would have been had the author used the actual word. Woah!</p>
<p>To be more on topic, there are plenty of racist jokes at Harvard, including those about Asians. Sometimes these are practiced by the ethnic group/race itself, sometimes not. This happens in many places and I don’t see why people would expect Harvard to have a higher standard of maturity alongside its higher standard of academics.</p>
<p>as an asian, i am offended. i dont want to be called “sweet and sour pork.” SO WRONG. id rather be called “orange chicken” or “kung pao chicken”</p>
<p>What I think is surprising is that it is apparently more acceptable to be racist towards Asian athletes. For example, I rather doubt that black Harvard basketball players would be publicly taunted with the N-word or have spectators yell ‘fried chicken and watermelon’, and if they did, it would likely engender a giant backlash. But when we’re talking about an Asian player, the rules are evidently different.</p>
<p>Yao Ming had his share of taunts in the NBA as well, and although jokes are still being made about him, people know he can play and I’m proud and happy to see more and more comments in his defense against ignorant racists. Of course, there will always be such people, but Jeremy Lin is an amazing player so they can all admire and put trash in their mouths rather than on the court.</p>
<p>I suppose, but don’t you think the bigger issue is that these people are surprised it happened at Harvard? As if higher education guarantees freedom from ignorance.</p>
<p>Welcome to the world of being White in America. I have inferred that one should take it as a compliment that s/he can be publicly insulted/maligned because of his/her race, and expect it to be seen as “funny,” or no big deal. Supposedly, it is all about who holds the power in this country, so apparently Asians have now joined Whites as the races who hold all the power.</p>
<p>Bay, I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic or not, but Asians definitely do not have this power you speak of. Perhaps I am more aware of racial slurs towards Asians because I am Asian myself, but it sure feels like we are more often stereotyped in a negative way than others.</p>