My favorite part of this story so far is China's claim that Lin is one of their own (never mind he was born in the US and his parents are Taiwanese). NPR had the story last night, and basically the Chinese rationale for embracing Lin as Chinese is his facial features. In other words, Lin is Chinese (mainland Chinese) because he looks Chinese. I thought this reaction from China was extremely interesting and in many ways showed the stark contrast between the US and China's way of viewing race. I mean our countries as a whole, not individual ideas necessarily. Of course I'm not out to gush about America's views on race (we obviously have plenty of our own issues). But hearing this story, I immediately became defensive and thought, "Lin isn't Chinese, he's American. He was born here. End of story." In other words, I never once considered Lin anything but American. I'm not sure whether this is an American way of viewing or simply my own white male under 30 privileged view. But in any case, Lin's birthplace and current home determined his identity, not what his skin looks like.
Ha, ha. Yes! Myk considered him Harvard. China considers him Chinese. You consider him American. I guess that's what makes the story rich. Everyone (who hasn't done any of the things he has done) wants to grab a part of him for their own. My only regret is that he plays for the NBA.
3 comments:
My favorite part of this story so far is China's claim that Lin is one of their own (never mind he was born in the US and his parents are Taiwanese). NPR had the story last night, and basically the Chinese rationale for embracing Lin as Chinese is his facial features. In other words, Lin is Chinese (mainland Chinese) because he looks Chinese. I thought this reaction from China was extremely interesting and in many ways showed the stark contrast between the US and China's way of viewing race. I mean our countries as a whole, not individual ideas necessarily. Of course I'm not out to gush about America's views on race (we obviously have plenty of our own issues). But hearing this story, I immediately became defensive and thought, "Lin isn't Chinese, he's American. He was born here. End of story." In other words, I never once considered Lin anything but American. I'm not sure whether this is an American way of viewing or simply my own white male under 30 privileged view. But in any case, Lin's birthplace and current home determined his identity, not what his skin looks like.
Ha, ha. Yes! Myk considered him Harvard. China considers him Chinese. You consider him American. I guess that's what makes the story rich. Everyone (who hasn't done any of the things he has done) wants to grab a part of him for their own. My only regret is that he plays for the NBA.
Lin, Zuckerberg and Obama (yep, the comparisons are already beginning)
http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/16/opinion/rushkoff-lin-obama-zuckerberg/index.html?hpt=hp_bn9
Post a Comment