Jeremy Lin adds another tag to his growing mystic. Cold blooded assassin. Last night in Toronto against the Raptors, Jeremy Lin had another ugly game, but calmed down enough in the second half to help lead his team from as many as 17 points down to a game winning shot with .5 seconds left. Yes, Jeremy Lin just added a game winning shot into his arsenal of weapons.
Just today, I went through mixed emotions about whether I should buy the NBA league pass. I can't watch the non-national televised games. With only 30 minutes left, I decided to purchase it. I was able to watch the second half and watched the first half on repeat. But it was the second half that mattered. Jeremy Lin rebounded from a semi-poor first half. Again, the critics will note his 8 turnovers as a black eye against what has been a great feel good story.
Because there was 2 days between the last game and now, there's been a lot of non game talk. Specifically about Jeremy Lin's ethnic background and why has he been overlooked for so long. Bad stereotyped jokes and the Larry Bird analysis were both thrown in his direction. Jeremy hasn't had to directly respond nor should he. The talk doesn't merit and good journalist asking him. And the third thing is the comparison to Tebow.
The history of racism against Asians in the US has a long history. The two major groups were the Chinese and Japanese. You have the Chinese Excursion Act and the Japanese internment camps. Both sore spots in US history. Subjects I studied and sought out while in college. In general, even today, when racism is evident against Asians in the US, there is little to no consequences. Many because the majority of those affect will not speak up against it or the numbers to make a difference are too little. However, with this generation, social media is now one of the major ways to get this stuff out there.
Back to the question of Jeremy Lin's ethnic background. As I mentioned in my other Jeremy Lin posts, it does matter that he's Asian. One born in the US, raised in the US, and educated in the US. Jeremy Lin is AMERICAN. Depending whom you're talking to, his ethnic background is either Taiwanese or Chinese. Because I also fall into that grey area of being both Taiwanese and Chinese, I see the arguments from both sides. But lets not forget that Jeremy Lin is first and formost an AMERICAN. And because he's the first ASIAN-AMERICAN in this generation to be doing this, it has and will continue to attract interest. Not only in the US, but throughout Asia. Taiwan and China are not the only countries in ASIA that have picked up Knicks games.
In general, I normally stay away from calling things, people, and anything American or even Western. Unfortunately, both terms are so ingrained into our nomenclature and culture lexicon that using either terms gets the message across.
Jeremy Lin has not only been a Godsend for the NBA, its been rude "look at us" to the rest of the US. "Look at us" is all of the Asians that had to endure generations of ridicule and stereotyping on the athletic fronts. In the next few generations, you'll see more and more Asians emerge on the sports front. By the numbers, it won't be a lot nor will it ever get close to a majority. You're more likely to see mixed ethnic individuals than for a lack of a better term, "full" Asian make it.
Sad that my jerseys are still weeks away. I don't wan the cheap cafepress junk with a various "LIN" stuff on it. I already regret never pulling the tigger on the Golden State Lin jersey.
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