Racial Prejudices In Sport : Jeremy Lin

It is often considered that sports serve as an effective platform from self-expression. Even the most competitive kinds tend to unite people and allow them to associate themselves with a bigger social group. It usually happens so that athletes tend to express their full potential while playing, especially if they devote a considerable part of their life to become professionals. Nevertheless, the story of Jeremy Lin shows that sport is still heavily influenced by racial prejudices and athletes who represent minorities tend to face significant opposition from the public simply because of their race. While some may use this as a booster for their performance, others tend to be devastated by it. Lin fall under the first category. This paper will argue that while playing in the NBA he was exposed to a lot of stereotyping and exclusion which has had a mixed impact on him: on the one hand, this encouraged him to overcome all the obstacles, but, on the other hand, his professional career has not been successful due to constant pressure that he faced as an Asian-American athlete.

Stereotyping

Common stereotypes regarding Asian-Americans

To begin with, it is worth pointing out stereotypes represent a generalized image of a certain group that substitutes fair evaluation of it and forms prejudice that other people may use while interacting with the representatives of this group. Speaking of the Asian-Americans, one might suggest that there is a number of stereotypes, both positive and negatives ones that are closely associated with them. Speaking of the former, one might suggest that these people are thought to be more interested in academics more than athletics. On the other hand, Asian-Americans are often perceived as bad drivers, slaves to their tradition and foreigners. Carson (2012) argues that Jeremy Lin was a challenge to all those stereotypes: he played basketball, was very progressive, and represented the American culture.

Model minority perspective

It is also crucial to keep in mind that the Asian-Americans, particularly Chinese, were perceived as “model minority” in that sense that they worked hard, tried to participate in the community life, did not commit crimes, and were willing to be flexible in order to embrace the American way of life. Childs (2012) points out that the success of Jeremy Lin has often been presented from this perspective. Indeed, he was an exception and challenged some negative stereotypes, but in many ways, his life confirmed the positive stereotypes about Asian-Americans. Thus, the press would insist that Lin could achieve the position of a professional player because he worked hard and that is exactly the characteristic that is associated with this minority. That is why any information that was connected with him was presented from a racialized prism, so to speak.

Views on Asian-American masculinity

What is even more important is that Asian-Americans are often seen as physically inferior to other minorities. Their bodies are generally described as smaller and, therefore, they are not suitable for sports. Park (2015) believes that it was one of the reasons why the success of Lin was so celebrated: in the view of the public he showed performance and had a body that was not associated with his minority. That is why his success was a miracle. Floyd Mayweather even insisted that Lin shows similar results as many other African American athletes, but his praise is attributed to the fact that he is Asian. This may be particularly enraging since Lin’s performance was far better than of any other athlete regardless of race. So, once again the views of masculinity of Asian-Americans worked against Lin.

Exclusion

Lack of interest from colleges

Speaking of exclusion, one should first come up with a proper definition of it. According to Ott and Mack (2010), it is “the process by which various cultural groups are symbolically annihilated… through under-representation in the media) (p. 139). In spite of the fact that this can happen in virtually any area, basketball may be an example of a field where some groups have been traditionally excluded. Thus, historically African Americans have been particularly successful because of a number of factors; moreover, the legendary players, for example, Michael Jordan, are black. Many found agree that Asian-Americans have not been particularly seen in the NBA league. That is why when Lin was about to go to college, he experienced a lack of interest from many colleges. The documentary shows that as he approached his coaches, the latter would argue that if he had been black, he would not have had any problems.

Racial slur

Another serious problem that Lin literally faced during and after the matches is a racial slur. The documentary shows fans that attacked him personally simply because he was Asian. They would yell offensive words and try to hurt him without acknowledging how much effort he put into getting where he was. Many pointing out that it was shocking to see students insulting Lin because of him racing during and after the games since it is quite possible that there were numerous Asian students on their campuses; so, it is not that they have never seen a Chinese person before. The use of racial slur by the fans revealed deep problems that existed in college basketball and had to be addressed. However, it was highly unlikely that they would be addressed because one promising Asian-American was hurt. That is why the administration was mostly passive with regard to these incidents.

Media coverage

While examining Lin’s performance in the NBA one can hardly omit the manner in which it was covered. It is obvious that the games of this league generate a lot of attention and, therefore, major news networks will make their comments about the players. The documentary showed that many reporters would intentionally or unintentionally comment on his race. For example, one anchor used an idiom “chink in the armor” which was not particularly in place: quite possibly, he simply wanted to use the word “chink” as it is also a racial slur for Chinese. Another terrible example is when people on Fox discussed Lin, and one of them make a comment about his eyes: the people in the studio started laughing, but one of the anchors continues, calling his eyes “dreamy”. Furthermore, some newspapers deliberately used ambiguous words to praise Lin: for example, one of the first page Written Analysis of an American Sports Films was “Amasian!” which was a clear reference to his race.

The impact of stereotyping and exclusion

Motivation

Some might suggest that stereotyping and exclusion may have had a positive impact on Lin’s performance, to a certain extent. Thus, Stone, Chalabaev, and Harrison (2012) show that racial prejudices of the public may become a heavy burden for the minorities athletes since they will either force themselves to meet the unrealistic standards or diminish their potential. Many times in the documentary, Lin is shown saying that all the obstacles that he faced actually contributed to his desire to go further. Even the racial slur that he heard he perceived as recognition since the fans wanted to distract him. Therefore, it is quite unlikely that the public would have seen Lin rise to high if it had not been for the constant pressure that he endured.

Deterioration

In spite of the fact that Lin has proved himself to be a great as well as talented athlete, in the long run, he has not been successful. Obviously, he did sign several profitable contracts, but in the end, he became a free agent and only relatively recently he was able to sign a new contract. It is highly surprising that after all his wonderful performance he was not able to enjoy the recognition of his talents from the media or the colleagues. The documentary shows that he was not drafted and had to compete against the drafted athletes to be chosen. He has been sending to minor leagues several times. There even was a point when in the course of two weeks he was dismissed from two teams. It is extraordinary how with all this he could still show outstanding performance. It is quite possible that because of all this pressure, he will never be able to show his full potential.

Conclusion

Having examined all the points that were mentioned in the paragraphs above, one is able to come to the following conclusion: an experience that Lin had while playing in the NBA has been marked by stereotyping and exclusion. Indeed, he was seen as an extraordinary Asian-American, but his zeal to become successful was still explained from the “model minority” perspective. As for the exclusion, Lin had to fight hard to show that he was worthy to play in the NBA even though he was not African American. Some might suggest that all these hardships contributed to his motivation to succeed. However, it is also crucial to state that despite outstanding performance, the professional career of Lin has been deteriorating steadily and it is quite possible that he may not be able to show his full potential because of the oppressive environment.

References

Carson, C. (2012). Jeremy Lin: What Linsanity Teaches About American Media. Retrieved February 05, 2017, from http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1075708-jeremy-lin-what-linsanity-teaches-about-american-media

Childs, E. (2012). Examining the Jeremy Lin Phenomenon Through a Critical Lens Erica Chito Childs / Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center. Retrieved February 05, 2017, from http://www.flowjournal.org/2012/02/jeremy_lin_critical_lens/

Ott, B. L., & Mack, R. L. (2010). Critical media studies: an introduction. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Park, R. (2015). Race, Hegemonic Masculinity, and the “Linpossible!”. Communication & Sport, 3(4), 367-389.

Stone, J., Chalabaev, A., & Harrison, C. (2012). The impact of stereotype threat on performance in sports. Stereotype threat: Theory, process, and application, 217-230.

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

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"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

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freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
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[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]
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