The New York Daily News reports that the fired writer responsible for that racist ESPN headline is apologetic and never intended a slur.
The writer,28 and clueless, readily admits to using the cliche “chink in the armor” so many times in the past that it never occurred to him it could be racist. Yeah, but he probably was never using the phrase in conjunction with an American born Chinese person.
I feel sorry for anyone fired or suspended by ESPN. But Jeremy Lin represents a sea change in how we look and refer to Asian Americans in sports.
ESPN’s zero tolerance has to be applauded. It noticed it was guilty of a double standard when it comes to Asian Americans and owned up to it in a strong and definitive way.
For example, yesterday in the NBA, Kevin Durant went for 51. Would the ESPN writer make a crack about celebrating that feat with a nice cold watermelon?
Of course not.
Now the ESPN style book will let people know how to relate to Asian Americans.
Let’s hope the shock jocks and comedians who continue to use tired Asian stereotypes as humor crutches get the message too. When they keep doing it, audiences think it’s OK to slur. Just like the clueless writer at ESPN. That’s how slurs keep their currency. But the times have changed.
And it took Jeremy Lin to make the point.