4 Things The Jeremy Lin Story Reveals About Modern Racism
The whole Jeremy Lin story seems to be bringing out a new kind of racism that we're not used to -- a kinder, gentler racism made up of bad puns and well-meaning patronizing compliments.
ThePostGame
Stay classy, Madison Square Garden Network.
Racism and hate often get paired together in people's minds like Siam- like conjoined twins. We always picture racists as angry and hostile, sneering racial slurs at minorities and making fear-based appeals about how some race is out to rape their women or take their jobs or dominate Hollywood.
One of the most common defenses against accusations of racism is "I don't have anything against X race," implying that it isn't racism if you don't have an actual grudge of some kind against a certain race.
Some people are insistent that racism should be defined that way, which is fine. If that's you, every time you see the word "racism" in this article, substitute the phrase "racial perception problems" and we should be on the same page.
Anyway, here's some types of ... racial perception problems that don't necessarily involve hate or bad intentions, but are still annoying as fuck. (Note: I'm going to be mostly giving examples of anti-Asian racism because I don't want to speak for people of other races and put words in their mouths about how they feel, but these concepts are probably annoying to anybody they're used on.)
#4. Even "A Little Bit" of Fear Isn't Harmless
Public domain via Wikipedia
A lot of racism is fueled by fear, and this is by far the worst for the people being targeted by it. People who are afraid of the "natural violent tendencies" they imagine black people to have, or the insidious plan Hispanics supposedly have to secretly take over our country by outbreeding whites, can be driven to do terrible, drastic things to people of the feared race, far worse than just some tired MSG jokes.
Fear of Asians has had its day, some examples being the Yellow Peril era, where America's beloved author Jack London suggested the only way to be safe from the Chinese was to exterminate every last one, or World War II, when they locked Japanese-Americans away in case their genetic loyalty to Japan kicked in, creating a bizarre world where American icons George Takei and Pat Morita spent their childhoods behind barbed wire.
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Seriously, we put Sulu and Mr. Miyagi in an internment camp.
Even back in the '80s, along with Michael Jackson and leg warmers, one big trend was the "blame Japan" thing, where Japan's antlike hive-mind efficiency was allegedly stealing away jobs from red-blooded American autoworkers. Harmless political pandering, blaming abstract foreigners that were conveniently across an ocean and safe from any backlash.
In 1982, two laid-off autoworkers took the message to heart and decided to make Japan pay for its crimes by beating to death a Chinese-American guy named Vincent Chin (because we all look alike). Sure, maybe it was an isolated incident, and you can't blame society as a whole for what two violent, stupid individuals do, but then you have the sympathetic state judge that gave them no jail time, and everyone who helped them get cleared of all federal charges, so maybe that attitude was a little more widespread than just two guys.
Thankfully we're all more enlightened these days, and nobody is stirring up any dangerous kind of fear regarding Asians. OK, maybe a few politicians here and there are taking advantage of people's fear of China stealing away their jobs and money, and maybe some of them are using Asian-American actors to personify the China threat.
Youtube
She says, "Your economy get very weak" in the same tone of voice Jennifer Aniston would say it or something. It's really really weird.
Any place that has hosted this video has gotten a ton of protests that there's nothing wrong with it and that anyone upset about it is an oversensitive nitpicker hung up on political correctness and trying to distract from the main issue. There's no hate, they're just stating some facts about China in a colorful way, and they put in an Asian-American actress to give the ad a little story line and grab viewers. So what if she's Asian-American and they're making her act like she's a greedy representative of communist China and putting broken English sentences in her mouth? It's theater! Elijah Wood wasn't really a hobbit! Duh!
SFGate.com
Youtube
Youtube
Some typical comments.
Sure, taken by itself, maybe an ad like that is just laughably insensitive and harmless. But for anyone who remembers Vincent Chin (which is apparently just Asians), it's the first step on a road we've been down before. Getting votes by stirring up some minor anti-Asian sentiment isn't a big deal for someone who can't remember things that happened 30 years ago, but for anyone else, it's not really cool.
#3. No Fear, But No Respect
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Fortunately for now, most of America just sees Asian-Americans as cute little socially awkward entertainers or one possible exotic choice in sex partners. (The wise, inscrutable stereotype usually only goes to foreign-born Asians. It's hard to sound wise with a California accent.)
I say "fortunately" because I guess I'd rather be patronized than worry about getting beaten, in the same sense that I'd rather have my wallet stolen than get my kidneys stolen. But the existence of kidney thieves doesn't make pickpocketing OK, and it doesn't mean people being pickpocketed should shut up and stop whining and be grateful they still have all their organs.
As Jay Kang of Grantland points out, a lot of Asian teens, including Jeremy Lin at 15, try to adopt aspects of black culture, because even with as many negative stereotypes as black people are saddled with, at least one stereotype is that black culture is cool, hip-hop in particular -- and cool is one label Asian-Americans can never get to stick.
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Looking 10 years younger than your given age doesn't really help with that.
White people can be cool in the form of partying frat boys, suave businessmen, badass soldiers or wisecracking slackers, among other things. Black people can be pigeonholed into a lot of roles that are often stereotypical and negative, but still come across as cool -- rapper, basketball player, gangster. The only time Asians can look cool is if they're doing martial arts or are very wise in some kind of Eastern philosophy, which pretty much requires them to be from Asia or very immersed in Asian culture.
If you start talking like you're from California or Wisconsin, then forget it. There is no cool about you. You're not the life of the party. You're not the class clown. You'll never be a rock star. If you rap, it's expected to be ironic. Whenever you try to be cool, it's cute, and you get a pat on the head for making people smile.
HipHopDX
"Jin thinks he's a rapper! How adorable!"
Nobody ever flung hateful slurs at me in high school, but a (white) classmate tried to convince me to say "original gangster" after he said "O.G.," because it's funny when a studious Asian girl tries to say something cool and urban like that! She doesn't even know what rap is! Ha ha! She thinks she's Ice-T, motherfuckers! More like Ice-Oolong-T!
That's why we are crazy about having a flashy basketball star in Jeremy Lin. When your guy dunks on people, nobody can say he's not cool. Nobody can pat him on the head. That's a move that gets chest bumps and manly shouts and nods of respect.
Like Kang says, we feel like we're not allowed to make a big deal of how annoying it is to be patronized because other races are suffering discrimination in even more damaging ways. For sure, more resources and attention should go to the more serious race problems, but if making life a little less aggravating for Asian-Americans is as simple as not saying a couple of stupid things, why not do that, too?
I'm sorry, but I can't stop picturing a Chinese girl saying that last sentence. Again and again and again...
ReplyI agree with #3, but I'm sure we can agree this stereotype can also be dangerous for us.
ReplyI feel that last one. Whenever my dad watches The Wire, he always seems intrigued on an intellectual level by black people and their mannerisms. But hey, at least my dad watches The Wire.
ReplyWhat is this article even trying to say? What is it that's wrong? How would "right" be? Is she complaining that stereotypes exist? Does she want cooler stereotypes? Am I even asking the right questions?
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesI feel like I disagree but I don't even know what I was supposed to agree with...
(full disclosure: I had quite innocently written "what is the takeout here?" up there, then reread the comment and went "waaaaait a minute... seriously, brain? in this article?")
Interesting. I agree with you, in that I feel as though I disagree with the article, but it was somewhat meandering and I do not know what precisely I disagree with.
The "Takeout" comment is the exact problem with the Lin article mess. You wrote that innocently, because it's a real expression. And you didn't notice it at first because you're not a racist so stereotypes are not the first thing in your mind. Just like the author of the "Chink in Armor" article was using a common expression and didn't realize the possible racial aspect until he saw it trending on Twitter. As one half of an interracial marriage living in the Deep South, I understand this author's point of view, believe me. But I feel this level of sensitivity makes the problem worse, not better.
Dammit Christina - you're one of my favorite writers on here, (you educate in a funny manner, rather than resort to dick jokes 24/7) but you have a tendency of being hung up about being asian (3rd or 4th article on the topic that I can remember).
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesLet it go: all this stuff probably happened in high school and people mature as they get older. Sure there are little slurs here and there, but everybody gets that even if you're a WASP (I'm not, I'm Turkish.)
Next time you get butthurt about it, just say something equally stereotypically white back to them - and grin. That way people know what they said was wrong, but know how it feels reflected back, and also know that it's a funny situation/misunderstanding/not-very-well-though-out-statement.
Smile!
I didn't even know she was Asian until I read this article. I was always just happy to assume she was Christina Hendricks
I love how you assume the people making the Asian slurs are 'white'. Do you think it's just 'white people' and 'not white people'? Jesus...
I was gonna make a rainbow comment, but thought I wouldn't chance it....
Elijah Wood isn't really a Hobbit? Fuck.
ReplyThis was just 2 pages of butthurt and unfunny whining trying to pass itself off as independent and edgy. As an Asian American I am not at all offended by how other races perceive us, nor do I care. We've all had jokes made at our expense, if we're to laugh at others, we had better be ready to laugh at ourselves as well.
ReplyI also personally find those two memegenerator images you posted as the only funny parts of this entire article. Which is a bit sad considering this is a comedy site and not your personal blog.
Really, in my opinion, the people who make racial slurs (even cutesy "Oops, you were cute!" ones) are morons, and merit not a single response.
The people she is talking about are NOT the people reading this article. She is referring to people who are so retarded that the rational suggestions and arguments she presents would mean nothing to them.
Racists are idiots. Ignore them.
All people have done wrong, all people have done right. K?
ReplyI can't believe I missed this article, Christina H. Really, I can't because I love it whenever you right articles about Asian-Americans, specifically, articles about your Chinese heritage. Lately I've been really interested in Asian-Americans, probably because I'm part Filipino myself.
ReplyWelp, I'm off to read your prior articles again.
I love all the anti-American/anti-White sentiment in your anti-racism article.
ReplyI also love how you are upset about all the rampant racism there used to be against Asians and how your also upset about how little racism there is now that we don't have enough fresh jokes ready to go.
As for Americans not being able to tell the difference between Asians from different countries, most of us haven't traveled extensively through Asia and when we meet Asian-Americans we don't usually ask what country they're ancestors were from. So yes, we've met people from many Asian countries and we can see that they look different from one another but, because we have no context in which to know which look corresponds to which country, we really don't know about that. And the truth is, we really don't care. Not because we're ignorant but, because you're American. We view you as another American person not somewhere from somewhere else who wants to be just like us so it just doesn't seem any more relevant to us than it seems for us to bore you with details of where our ancestors where from.
Sure, there are racist assholes but, don't lump us all in with them because then you're the racist you claim to hate.
One last thing, can you look at a European person and accurately tell what country they come from? Someone from Europe might be able to but, I can't. Can you look at an African person and accurately tell what country they come from? Someone from Africa might be able to but, I can't. Can you look at a South American person and accurately tell what country they come from? Someone from South America might be able to but, I can't. And even if you can to some degree, I bet you would be wrong fairly often so why should it be any different with Asians? And the fact that so many people in America are of mixed heritage only confuses the issue even more.
^Obviously did not read the article past the header
I think it should be considered false advertising to post this article about "Jeremy Lin" on a "humor" website.
ReplyIt is horrible to say but it's a fucked up fact that most people get all there information from pop culture s**t and as you put it because Asians can never be "cool" they are overlooked. It's a fucked up sorry state our(mine as an Australian and yours as an American) multi-cultural civilization has found itself in.
ReplyKeep writing Christina! It's nice to occasionally read a more well-thought article. Ignore the people who don't like actually having to think :P
ReplyRacism is still a big issue? Man I must be living a really sheltered life...
ReplyYes. Yes you are.
Careful, your privilege is showing...
I really don't get the Jeremy Lin craze. Yeah the man was sleeping on his brother's couch but it's not like he was stocking grocery shelves before putting on a stellar performance in a little watched sports league and becoming a shoe in first ballot Hall of Famer. Unlike Kurt Warner who went from rags to riches Jeremy Lin graduated from Harvard. Warner went from filling shelves with Captain Crunch to throwing a Super Bowl winning touchdown pass. Jeremy Lin went from Harvard to the NBA. Lin made a lateral move, Warner shot straight up the ladder.
Reply...except that Kurt Warner's story was pretty much completely debunked in another Cracked article. The whole thing about him going from Harvard to the NBA seems pretty right though.
the "exotic person to have sex with" is spot on. As a stripper, I've noticed alot of men will come in and specifically ask for an asian, then be disappointed that she's a normal person and not some anime porn character.
ReplyYou had me at "as a stripper"
There are .......................... ASIAN STRIPPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm a Filipino here in the Philippines. I've never been to America or any other country yet so I guess my only source of understanding about this racism and discrimination in America thing is the internet, TV shows, movies and sometimes stories from family and friends abroad. But we have it here too with our various ethnicities, dialects, and even HAIR characteristics (straightness and color). I know some people will say "you don't know our situation, you don't know what we've been through, our bitter history and what we've suffered because of our skin color/language/accent/religion/beliefs... " etc. But my point is, and I'm going to quote Jason Manford here, "The only way the human race is going to get along is if aliens started invading our planet..." and I agree. So long as we "alienate" other races, we "alienate" ourselves from them too. You want to stop racism? Why don't we start with ourselves? Just a thought... I think there's nothing wrong in taking pride of "where you came from" so long as you respect other people's "roots". But in the end are we not all in the same planet?
ReplyAnyways, I saw how some races discriminate other races for "stealing" their "music, style, lingo, art, wardrobe, comedy" and some other s**t, or how some will purposely flood the comments section of a YouTube video with discussions of what the person's nationality, religion etc. in the video is, which are totally irrelevant from the video. Then more and more will pile on turning the section into a racial war of words. Come on, all I want to read from those comments are memorable quotes from the video itself ! And of course the occasional commenters who try to be funnier than the video which rarely succeeds.
Sorry for ranting.
P.S. I really don't like those comments which start with "I'm a/from (insert nationality/place here)"
P.P.S. I'm a hypocrite.
P.P.P.S. I'm one of those people who try to be funny but fail miserably.
Christina, I agree with your point. Your statement:
Reply Hide All See All 3 Replies"I say "fortunately" because I guess I'd rather be patronized than worry about getting beaten, in the same sense that I'd rather have my wallet stolen than get my kidneys stolen. But the existence of kidney thieves doesn't make pickpocketing OK, and it doesn't mean people being pickpocketed should shut up and stop whining and be grateful they still have all their organs."
Basically translates to, "just be glad you only got punched in the throat and not run over by an 18-wheeler." Neither scenario is good and no one should be subjected to either. I get it. Anyone who doesn't must have misread your statement OR they are just trying to self-righteously pick an argument.
I wasn't offended by anything you wrote. To be honest, you face extreme racism everytime you post an article and it's sad. You are always over-critiqued AND often called many racial slurs regarding your Asian heritage. However, keep writing Christina! Your articles are very fun and informative!
Just because someone doesn't like her articles doesn't mean its because of her race or sex. Maybe they just don't think shes very good.
Thorshammer12345, I take it you don't look at the comment sections for her articles...
Wait I have to find her funny because shes Asian and a Women? or is it my right to just no like her humor?
Christina, you're one of my favourite columnists on this site. Keep writing. ALSO. Always with the inaccurate racist jokes. NOT THE SAME COUNTRY, OKAY?!
Reply Hide All See All 3 RepliesThere's a restaurant in my city that has a whole bunch of items in the chinese version of the menu that they didn't even bother to put on the english menu. Guess it happens both ways. :P
The chinese version with more items is known to me as a "Secret Chinese Menu". Google it, it is a nationwide phenomenon in America, for a good reason.
A lot of Americans are very insular and have no idea how to taste a new cuisine. Italian and French cuisine both have their dishes and ingredients that are rather exotic, but as a whole the stuff that shows up in Olive Garden or your typical French restaurant are all ingredients that could be swapped around and used to cook your Aunt Sally's meatloaf recipe.
Chinese cuisine is different. WAY different. The vegetables and cooking methods developed in China (and Japan for that matter, but I'm keeping it on topic with your comment) vary so wildly from what Europeans and Americans came up with that there is a reason that the Chinese sometimes use chopsticks while nearly everyone else uses a fork. American palates are not always ready for the extreme difference in seasonings and ingredients that are found in traditional Chinese cuisine. Chinese restaurants that offer traditional Chinese dishes often keep these dishes listed only on the Chinese language version of their menus to protect the reputation of their establishment. It looks very bad on a restaurant to get bad reviews on yelp or via word of mouth for serving a dish that someone didn't like, didn't know that they wouldn't like and proceeded to judge the restaurants ability to serve food on the fact that they didn't know they would find the texture of congee to be disgusting.
I found a Chinese restaurant locally that had the Chinese menu printed in english and went there specifically to eat things I had never tried before. I knew there was a chance that I might waste money on a dish that I would never have liked no matter how it was cooked, but I sincerely wanted to try the REAL food that sustains Chinese culture. The server was so worried, she kept asking me if I was sure, warning me that it was different. I smiled and told her that it was okay, different was what I wanted. It was the best meal I have ever had. Many Americans would have freaked out over ducks feet and jelly fish; I savored, enjoyed and took home my leftovers for lunch the next day.
They aren't being racist by listing certain dishes in Chinese only, they're protecting themselves from closed minded people who don't know how to accept the fact that other cultures have different ways of doing things. I wish it didn't have to be like that, but that's simply the way many people are. It won't change until people decide to change themselves for the better and accept other cultures for the wonderfully different things that they can show and teach us.
@Kristique except that it is racist because, they are assuming that because I am an American that I will A. not like Ducks Feet and Jellyfish and B. that I will be too stupid to know that this isn't something I would like and order it anyway.
So, Stumpy, you're saying that if a restaurant continually gets bad reviews and, consequently, bad business, because of it's menu, that it is not allowed to change that menu because it would be racist?
There is a fine line between, "Deciding to do something because I want to," and, "Racism."
For instance, I might be playing, "Hide-and-Go-Seek-in-the-Dark," and not allow a black person to play because of his advantage.
Would that be RACIST or just RUDE?
Granted, I personally would not do that, but I can imagine a small child doing it simply because he sees an unfair advantage.
That would not necessarily be racism, not any more than not allowing a man who knows everything to play a game of trivial pursuit because of his advantage.
My point is simply that sometimes, things are the way they are because of real-world reasons, not simply because one perceives a person's race as inferior in any way.
No kind of racism is OK against black, Asian, Hispanic, White, Native American....ANYONE.
ReplyBut I think some of the frustrations that black commenters out here might have come down to the comment Christina made...
"I say "fortunately" because I guess I'd rather be patronized than worry about getting beaten, in the same sense that I'd rather have my wallet stolen than get my kidneys stolen. But the existence of kidney thieves doesn't make pickpocketing OK, and it doesn't mean people being pickpocketed should shut up and stop whining and be grateful they still have all their organs."
True, but the people "getting their kidneys stolen" (black people) probably aren't going to be all that sympathetic in the end to you getting your wallet stolen (Asians), or perhaps with Hispanics who might be metaphorically getting their car stolen in comparison. And I think some of them are probably thinking "Hey you guys getting your wallets stolen... How come you aren't helping get our kidneys back dammit! The Hispanics can't help cause their cars got stolen!" ;)
Not capitalising "black" in your opening statement, but capitalising all the other races you named? Racist.