I don’t know if that’s really true though; the assumption is that the opposing pitchers were trying their absolute, absolute best to strike out ALL the players, not just the black one. It’s in their interest to do so as players.
I don’t think there was a double-standard with respect to Lin; for one thing, he wasn’t the first famous Asian player in the NBA- Yao Ming already had that taken care of. Lin was just a player whose starts lined up with an extended winning run by the Knicks. So he was seen as something special by the NY media and got a lot of popularity and some catchy phrases like “Linsanity”.
There may be some merit to the idea that he wasn’t drafted because people assumed Asians can’t play basketball though.
Nobody talked any shit that I’m aware of about the Asian-ness Dat Nguyen at Texas A&M or on the Cowboys a decade ago, or of half-Asian Roman Gabriel, Hines Ward or Tedy Bruschi.
The simple answer is that it is your best shot at succeeding. Stop thinking of mainstream as white. Mainstream is where the money is. It is all colors. You are also making a contribution to future generations by very slightly lessening the impact of stereo types.
One of the tiny contributions that I try to make is to not treat people differently for speaking in different dialects (such as African American vernacular) or dressing in hip hop clothes, and the like, and encouraging others to do the same. If enough people do this, then the “mainstream” changes such that it is less discriminatory.
I don’t think that is true. Jackie Robinson was rookie of the year his first year, received and MVP title and was an all-star 8 out of 10 seasons. It seems like he was celebrated in line with his accomplishments.
Roman Gabriel had a really good NFL career and that was fifty years ago.
I don’t think you know much about Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball. His outstanding performance was even more remarkable because of the constant harassment from other players and the public.
Asians in major sports haven’t generally had bad reactions from fans and colleagues, just difficulty getting the opportunity to play in the first place as was the case with Lin.
I agree with you 100% and as a white person thats the contribution I try to make as well. I think a simple contribution that the country as a whole could make would be to simply give more publicity to how being discriminated against affects us. Maybe call it walk a mile in his shoes. I am not so sure how I would respond if I felt I would never be able to support my family at the standard I knew I was capable of doing. Awareness can sometimes create empathy.
Jackie Robinson went into an 0 for 20 slump early in the season. Despite this he was still given the opportunity to play. This directly contradicts the hypothetical. His manager knew how good a player he was and gave him the chance to prove it just like he would have any white player who goes into a slump.
Scrutiny from whom? Some number of players opposed Jackie, true, but he had full support of Dodger management, ownership, the league commissioner’s office and, perhaps most importantly, the media.
*The Dems would have been a laughingstock for trying to elevate a “nigger” stereotype to the highest officer–and rightfully so! But the rich white guy can get away with such trifling behavior because HEY! HE’S ONE OF US!!
Trevor Noah did a bit about this recently on The Daily Show. He points out the US seems to have elected an African dictator as its president.
I didn’t see that this is a very old thread before I composed a response. I’ll post it anyway.
Carl Jung said racism against Black people stems from the innate association of blackness with amorphous darkness of which humans naturally fear, both ambiently and within the unconscious psyche. There are also rational associations at play, for example when Black men engage in more crime in a given area, than, say, pretty White girls. Even Black people in test environments react more negatively toward Black faces than White. (Please don’t ask for a citation. I’ve read this more than once in psychology books, but I don’t have references. Discard this point if you want to.)
Racism is natural, unfortunately. Having a higher IQ helps because smart people apply more cerebral oversight and executive control of natural impulses. For less intelligent people, many of whom have racist tendencies, the only remedy is cultural immersion, which our society is trying to accomplish by inclusion, - on TV shows, in sports, and in electing Presidents (but he’s half White), which takes a long time; or, more rapidly, concentrated immersion by dating and / or marrying a Black person, if one is White. That usually dispenses with knee-jerk racism by Whites against Black people.