In Jeremy Lin, a stereotype that should be celebrated

[bogibogi]

<p>In</a> Jeremy Lin, a stereotype that should be celebrated - The Washington Post</p>

<p>Thoughts?</p>

[mom0809]

<p>Totally like and agree with the article.</p>

[sopranomom92]

<p>Loved the article. </p>

<p>This quote: “Opposing players hissed slurs at him, asking if he was missing orchestra practice or telling him to “open up” his “slanty” eyes.”</p>

<p>Really!? College students behaving like moronic junior high school students? Sorry folks, this just confirms my perception of the stereotypical idiot student athlete. That sports brings out the worst in people. That parents waste their money and time schlepping their kids to pointless athletic practice, to produce disrespectful, entitled, under-educated individuals. Who use/abuse women. Ok, end of rant. Yes, I know that not all athletes are like this. </p>

<p>Thank you, Jeremy Lin. Regardless of your race, you show the world that a person can be smart, hardworking, a great athlete, humble and grateful. There are others like you, and I hope the likes of you continue to make headlines.</p>

[erlanger]

<p>I don’t agree. He works hard and can shoot a hoop. Pu-lease. . . Not exactly my idea of praiseworthy in a world full of important issues to tackle. Let’s stop worshipping (or covering ad nauseum in the news) athletes. Let’s instead cheer for environmentalists, scientists and philanthropists–those who are working hard to impact the world we live in. [BTW, I played Div. I sports in college and enjoy watching a game as well as the next guy/gal, I just don’t agree with showering attention and fame on any NBA players, regardless of their background or college]</p>

[mathmom]

<p>I liked the line on NPR:
“No more Asian profileLin”</p>

[radioactivemint]

<p>erlanger, totally agree with you.</p>

[GMTplus7]

<p>@erlanger,</p>

<p>JLin is praiseworthy because of his persistence in the face of racial discrimination. You must be an incredibly jaded person if you cannot appreciate a Cinderella story.</p>

<p>I don’t know what is so especially praiseworthy about philanthropists-- it’s easy to be generous with money if you are a billionaire.</p>

<p>As for rabid environmentalists-- don’t get me started…</p>

[mom0809]

<p>JLin is praiseworthy not just because of persistence in the face of racial discrimination, but just plain persistence. His work ethic is amazing. Basketball to him is not just a game, but it’s his job, and he works at it harder than most people we know.</p>

[kayf]

<p>MOm – its so many great stories. Like when he comes to play for the Knicks, he isnt certain if he’ll get a contract and so he sleeps on his brother’s couch. This endears him to so many NYers – the time honered tradition of people starting out. That he remains humble and talks about the team not him.</p>

[mommusic]

<p>I am not sure what the big deal is. Just because he’s the child of ASIAN immigrants, he gets more press than other children of immigrants. I think it’s more remarkable that he’s a Harvard graduate.</p>

<p>But the “unwritten” Asian quota that’s happening with college admissions is not a good thing. Reminds me of the time when there were very real Jewish quotas…because the colleges liked top students, but why did so many of them have to be Jewish?</p>

[TheGFG]

<p>I really am getting sick of the anti-athlete commentaries on this forum. Give it a rest. At our high school, the teachers who were the rudest and most hurtful and whose organizations, the marching and concert bands, promoted the nastiest behavior (obnoxious snobbery toward everyone else in the school, directors publicly with the megphone making fun of kids who messed up their routines, kids having sex in the back of the band bus, etc.) were the MUSICIANS—not the athletes. And what about the druggy reputation of drummers? True at my high school.</p>

<p>We need to stop demonizing entire group of students based solely on what activities they have chosen. There are bad apples in every bunch. At my D’s university, the athletes are very serious and temperate relative to their peers. They seldom party because they care about their bodies and have to get up early for training and competitions, even on weekends. You don’t make it to the NCAA championship or the Olympics by behaving badly.</p>

[benego]

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/opinion/asian-men-can-jump.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/opinion/asian-men-can-jump.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

In any case, I salute them both today. Who knows what will happen now that athletic Asian-American kids can say, “Look at Jeremy Lin!”? And other people, beholding Jeremy Lin, might come to better appreciate how complex Asian culture truly is — how malleable, too, and how poised to enrich America in yet more surprising ways.

</p>

[k_amp_s]

<p>

This quote: “Opposing players hissed slurs at him, asking if he was missing orchestra practice or telling him to “open up” his “slanty” eyes.”</p>

<p>Really!? College students behaving like moronic junior high school students? Sorry folks, this just confirms my perception of the stereotypical idiot student athlete.

</p>

<p>Actually, Lin got just as bad taunts (if not worse) from the student sections on road games; and Lin has stated that the worst was at other **Ivy League schools<a href=“just%20b/c%20some%20kid%20is%20smart%20enough%20to%20get%20into%20an%20IL%20schools,%20doesn’t%20mean%20he/she%20isn’t%20a%20prejudiced%20or%20a%20bigot;%20look%20at%20all%20the%20so-called%20%22satire%22%20pieces%20on%20race%20in%20IL%20publications”>/b</a>.</p>

<p>Furthermore, Lin’s own Harvard classmates would look upon him i disbelief when he told them he was on the BB team and they just assumed “he rode the bench” (btw, Lin’s roommate at Harvard was Cheng Ho who was a RB for the FB team).</p>

[k_amp_s]

<p>As for the article, the author, Jonathan Zimmerman, overlooks a no. of key points.</p>

<p>

But I’m also a university professor. So I’m troubled by the much-heard refrain that Lin — whose parents are Taiwanese immigrants — has “overcome the Asian stereotype.” In the popular mind, this story goes, Asian Americans are quiet, studious and really good at math. By scoring 20 or more points in each of his first six NBA starts, including 38 against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, Lin supposedly dealt a decisive blow against an insidious ethnic caricature.</p>

<p>But isn’t that stereotype — especially the part about studying hard — a very good model to follow? Why should anyone want or need to “overcome” it?

</p>

<p>The thing is there are many Asian Americans who are not studious or good at math, particularly among certain Asian ethnic groups such as the Hmong, Cambodians, etc. where higher education is seen as an unattainable luxury.</p>

<p>And even among the other Asian ethnics groups (Han Chinese, Korean, etc.), the same applies.</p>

<p>The danger to this stereotype are the expectations and the impact these tyoe of expectations have on kids.</p>

<p>Furthermore, the Ivy League and other top schools use these stereotypes to justify pitting Asian-American applicants against each other - whereby Asian-Am applicants are required to have the highest average grades/scores of any group.</p>

<p>Funny how these schools make outreaches to other minority groups (based on socio-economic factors), but totally ignore groups like the Hmong who are beset with the same socio-economic factors (if not more so).</p>

<p>They can’t have “too many” Asians in the student body for “diversity sake”, and yet, these same schools are actively recruiting Asian students overs from places like China, Korea and India - Asian ethnics groups which already have a strong presence.</p>

<p>

The Education Department also investigated Harvard’s admission of Asian American applicants in 1990. It found then that university officials routinely described these applicants as “quiet/shy, science/math oriented, and hard workers.” Admissions officials also had a hard time ranking one Asian American over another. One complained that an applicant’s credentials “seem so typical of other Asian applications I’ve read: extraordinarily gifted in math with the opposite extreme in English.” A second Harvard admissions officer sounded equally frustrated. “He’s quiet and, of course, wants to be a doctor,” the officer wrote of one Asian American applicant.

</p>

<p>I guess when it comes to expanding their applicant pool (gotta get those nos. up) and getting wealthy foreign Asian students, the excuse about diversity or about Asian students being gifted at math but struggling with English goes out the window and at the expense of Asian-Am students, particularly those from lower socio-economic background.</p>

[lateparty]

<p>Jeremy Lin attended an excellent high school that I know well with an outstanding basketball coach. I would be surprised if he suffered any racial discrimination there. I have no idea what happened at Harvard.</p>

[tawarren95]

<p>Did Lin ever decide to become a new inspiration and face in the NBA? Yes, he is a Cinderella story, but an unintentional one.
Why does that matter?
Because we are praising an intelligent athelete for changing the game. Maybe it’d be different if we, as a society, did not make him the celebrity he now is. Which is I think a point some advocates of the “lets stop glorifying the athelete” ideal tend to leave out.</p>

[wvacupuncture]

<p>J Lin’s story has many messages, but the one that I would emphasized with our children that play sports is that grades first then you can play ball.
I cringed when high school and middle school athletes do not make grades and cannot play sports the second semester. You have just affected yourself and your team.<br>
The minimum GPA to play sports in our area is 2.00; this is just too low. It is a privilege to play on a HS team, play in a band, or join a school club.<br>
Jeremy Lin is a role model for any race.</p>

[emeraldkity4]

<p>Have to add this tribute by Jimmy Fallon
[Pearl</a> Jam Sings “Jeremy (Lin)” - Show Clips - Late Night with Jimmy Fallon](<a href=“http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/blogs/2012/02/pearl-jam-sings-jeremy-lin/]Pearl”>http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/blogs/2012/02/pearl-jam-sings-jeremy-lin/)</p>

[mom0809]

<p>Thanks for sharing.</p>

[k_amp_s]

<p>

Jeremy Lin attended an excellent high school that I know well with an outstanding basketball coach. I would be surprised if he suffered any racial discrimination there. I have no idea what happened at Harvard.

</p>

<p>There are a lot of Asians on sports teams in the Bay area - so it’s pretty “normal” there.</p>