I truly believe America is still one of the most difficult countries for a Chinese person to succeed. Never mind the so called American dream; or the fact America is one of the wealthiest countries in the world; or the fact the Chinese are one of the largest ethnic groups in this wealthy country.
If you are a Chinese person in America and you want to reach great heights, well, you’d better have the best metaphorical climbing equipment you can get your hands on.
And though I may be grabbing onto the bandwagon and hauling myself on, I have to say, this is why Jeremy Lin has done extraordinarily well.
More importantly, he’s done well in sport. An arena where the Chinese barely get a shot in America such is their obsession with size, strength and speed. Understandable though, as nearly all their favourite sports require the physical attributes of a gladiator.
Jeremy Lin is the first American Born Asian to truly make an impact in American sport. Forget Yao Ming. He was mainland Chinese and, so I have been told, not that great at basketball anyway. Jeremy Lin is actually someone who lived and grew up in America and is a role model that overseas Chinese can finally relate to.
A Chinese man with a western accent who is, at the risk of sounding like a boorish American, kicking ass.
He has succeeded in a society where discrimination occurs heavily along racial lines, where racial stereotypes are heavily reinforced by the media and American culture. Lin was overlooked by many team drafts not just because of his unflashy style of basketball, but also because of the belief held by many that an Asian could never make it in sport.
And with China now fast becoming the only super power to rival the U.S, a new set of stereotypes are fast evolving and being embedded in the American consciousness.
This is why we need Jeremy Lin. An Asian American sports star who breaks down these stereotypes and shows the Americans the Chinese aren’t just a bunch of pushovers.
Now we just need a British version in the English Premier League.
