Why is Jeremy Lin so nice?
First, he has lunch with the ex-ESPN editor, Anthony Federico, who wrote the headline, “Chink in the Armor: Jeremy Lin’s 9 Turnovers Cost Knicks in Streak-Snapping Loss to Hornets.” And now, our Jeremy is promising a video response to the students at Stuyvesant High School who invited him to be the guest speaker for their graduation.
A bunch of Stuyvesant High School students made a video invitation (see above) that became a Youtube hit, and in response, Jeremy Lin tweeted: “Stuyvesant High! Awesome video…so honored to have been invited. I cant make it BUT im making a response video and will visit if possible!”
And my main observations are:
1. Why is he so nice/awesome?
2. I knew that Stuyvesant High had a lot of Asian and Asian American students… but that many? (Wikipedia is telling me that in 2010, 72% of the student body were Asian. Woahh.)
It’s great that these kids are super smart, and pursuing other extracurricular activities on top of that too, whether it be the Christian Fellowship or varsity sports… But it worries me a little that the video’s emphasis on the students’ academic success (and that of Jeremy Lin, their hero) is going to end up sending a semi-Tiger Mom message: you can kick ass at sports and break through Asian stereotypes, but only if you graduate Harvard first.
Jeremy Lin seems to have become some kind of symbol of immigrant families attaining the American Dream (especially now that he’s moved into his new luxury apartment in the W Hotel), complete with the encouragement to study hard and go to a good college. I guess all that I’m trying to say is that yeah, school and education are important of course, but lets try not to associate Asian Americans with academics all the time?? It’s just that I’ve long since stopped believing in the idea of the American Dream, and Jeremy Lin has brought it back. I want a different kind of Asian American family narrative, too.
[h/t: John]
