On the face of it, Jeremy Lin seems to be getting more respect and exposure. Time Magazine has an article on him called “Harvard’s Hoop Star is Asian. Why is that a problem?” The article talks about the double novelty of a pro-level player not just from Harvard but Asian-American. It also mentions how “racial profiling” stopped him from being recruited by any Division I colleges despite leading a team to a California State Championship and how Lin commonly encounters racial insults at games.
I find it interesting how the title changed. When John first forwarded the article, it was called “Harvard’s Hoop Star is Asian. Got a problem with that?” Now the title is changed. Was the original title too confrontational to be associated with the stereotypical view of an Asian-American?
More than “why is that a problem,” the question I want to know is why there is seems to be so little outrage against the constant racism against Lin. The article dances around that question, particularly how weakly it hints at the issues with the lack of Division I recruitment: “don’t doubt that a little racial profiling, intentionally or otherwise, contributed to his under-recruitment.” There seems to be a growing trend to deny or dismiss that any racism against Asian-Americans occurs, from the students in Philadelphia to Toby Keith’s escapade at the Nobel Prize ceremony.
So is Jeremy Lin really getting more respect? Despite garnering much praise (“He’s as good an all-around guard as I’ve seen,” says Tony Shaver, the head coach of William & Mary ), accumulating great stats, and playing well against teams like UConn and Boston College, a blog from ESPN points out that he was NOT nominated for the Bob Cousy award, an award given to the best point guards in college. The reason cited is that Lin wasn’t nominated by Harvard. The blogger adds that he thinks that Lin will be added. So is Jeremy Lin really getting more respect? If he actually does get added to the Cousy nominees, then I think we’ll know for sure.
