Jeremy Lin Saddened by Racist Comments
The basketball star addressed recent racism due to the coronavirus on social media.
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) has been put on an indefinite hiatus, with many foreign players heading back to United States to wait for updates. One of them is Beijing Ducks’ top player Jeremy Lin (林书豪) who is having a tough first CBA season. The 31 year old, who had signed with Beijing Ducks after his contract with Toronto Raptors had expired in 2019, recently updated his Instagram with his personal sentiments and observations over racism after returning to the United States.
Writing in English, Jeremy described 2019 as a “crazy year” and lamented the sudden deaths of friends and famous personalities, including his good friend and Taiwanese actor Godfrey Gao (高以翔), former Beijing Ducks team leader Ji Zhe (吉喆), and most recently basketball icon Kobe Bryant. These untimely demises made Jeremy realize even more that one should live to the fullest, and “focus on what really matters” in this lifetime, as life is “too short and too precious for time to be wasted.”
Racism Due to Fear and Ignorance Over Virus Outbreak
Having returned to the United States after spending the last season in China, Jeremy brought up his frustration and sadness from his observations of racist comments emerging due to the coronavirus. Due to the rapid infection rate, fear has driven increased racism and anti-Chinese sentiment outside of China.
“I’ve lived in China this past season and now being back on US soil, I’m saddened by the racist comments regarding the virus in China. There are real people suffering and real heroes working around the clock in service to others – please don’t let your fear or ignorance rob you of seeing that. This world needs more compassion and empathy. We are all imperfect humans – we all need grace,” Jeremy wrote, and urged individuals not to be blinded by their own fear or ignorance amid the pressing reality of suffering and the selfless service of medical professionals. He ended his post by praying for a better tomorrow.
Source: Netease
This article is written by JoyceK for JayneStars.com.
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It is to be expected that racism against Chinese and Asian will go up again. I didn’t live through aids or Ebola but I wonder if there were such high criticism of a certain group of people ever. Asians didn’t have a clean image to begin with.
The image has been made up of a history of being poor, uncivilized and escaping to the West seeking refuge for a better life. It’s just upsetting the image Asian has crumbled again and I don’t know how many years perhaps decades to rebuild. Not only the name but the economic impact too. I am honest to say that I afraid of traveling to places where there is small Asian presence. I will probably be avoiding those places for the next few years too because the amount of hate going around right now. It is so scary the virus, racism and the ignorance of people.
@m0m0 I agree with you about how awful this racism is and will continue to be until this virus is contained.
BTW, in regards to the AIDS epidemic, yes, there was significant homophobia and hate against the gay community. The US government ignored their deaths because they deemed them not worthy of saving. When finally that it was realized that this illness wasn’t only affect gay people, research finally began to help fight HIV.
Ebola and illness affecting predominantly black people like sickle cell disease also receive little resources. Advancements have finally come, but if these illnesses affected other populations, I can’t help but think they would have been earlier.
@m0m0 I also agree with you…unfortunately though, that’s how people are and we won’t be able to avoid it. Like many other big issues like this, one of the things that adds to the ignorance is misinformation, as not everyone gets their news from a multitude of sources and majority don’t vet it to see if the info makes sense. It only takes one person to spread misinformation amongst people they know. At work the past few weeks, I’ve overheard so many conversations about this whole issue where it’s obvious the info is wrong…each time I would try to correct the misinformation, but at the end of the day, people will believe what they want to believe, regardless of what others say.
To add to @potatochip comments about the AIDS epidemic — the hatred borne out of ignorance was so bad that even uttering the word AIDS made people avoid you. I’m telling you this from personal experience — around the time that AIDS first emerged in the 80s, I chose the subject as my research project for our school science fair because I was curious what all the commotion was about…unfortunately it turned out to be one of the most negative experiences I’ve ever had…fellow classmates shunned me and avoided me and a few even ignorantly claimed that if I’m researching AIDS, then I must either have the disease or know someone who does…even the judges at the science fair had a similar attitude, as they deliberately stood several feet away when I was presenting my project and quickly hurried on to the next project before I had even finished speaking. It was actually my first experience with bigotry and hatred that had nothing to do with my race (I was used to racial discrimination by then, but this was way different from that)….but it was also because of that experience that I became so strong-minded in terms of vetting news and not taking what I hear at face value.
The sad part for me is seeing how little things have changed over the past 3 decades….if anything, it’s probably worse now because of the internet and social media and the wide net that misinformation is able to cast because of it.
@llwy12 Wow, I can and can’t believe how you were treated just from trying to do a project on AIDS.
Recently, I saw a commercial for an HIV medicine. I was amazed at how progressive that seemed. But then my sister pointed out they only showed images of black people or gay people being affected. Sigh, we have come so far yet have so much more to go.
@m0m0 I know there was alot of discrimination against Aids, but I cant remember there being this kind of racism against african people for Ebola. The west has had their share of epidemics like mad cow disease, swine flu etc, not sure why they are sitting on their high horse.
And if any non-Chinese Asian thinks the racism won’t affect them, they are naive. I had clients joking that BTS was probably spreading the Coronavirus when they were at the Grammys. They can’t tell us apart. We are just “others” – dirty, diseased, weird animal eating “others”.
@potatochip
Yes I heard about that but the virus has spread to South Korea too. Even BTS was not sparred and this virus thing is affecting everyone Asian whether you are Chinese or not. I was shopping the other day and just let out a cough as I still had a cold and everyone gave me a dirty stare and tried to get as faraway from me as possible. I was thinking that they thought I had the virus. I was so offended.
@hetieshou
Yeh that’s more discrimination with intent. I don’t like that! I don’t mind if it is just light hearted racist office jokes because to be fair, these people haven’t seen the suffering directly of the people with the virus so can’t expect them to go through the emotions. Also us Chinese are also real bad racists so it’s not like it’s a one way traffic regarding this society problem…
@jimmyszeto
Yeh and sadly racism will always exist in this world. They now have more of an excuse to discriminate against Chinese and other Asians. I just hope they can get this virus under control. It is causing so much fear and panic to everyone all over the world.
A very sad situation. While most Asians (that resembles Chinese in any way) are targets of racist remarks, the real people suffering in China had it worst. Imagine an epidemic and the whole city you live in being locked down. If you have family who seems healthy, you will be desperate to get them out before they get infected though it is a selfish move to make.
Praying that the vaccine they are testing is confirmed as a cure soon.
@bizzybody
Yes but even a vaccine will not help those that are already infected. It will only help those who have not been infected yet. I just hope it does not spread anymore and everyone who is infected will recover. Basically hope it will be under control soon so no more lives are lost and no more people will get infected.
My son gets those at school daily….He just cough in their face and say sorry…..
@hohliu
I hope your son is in a school very a large Asian presence. Man, i can only imagine the nasty things kids say to each other esp for middle and high schoolers. Kids r the nastiest people.
@m0m0 Kids can be very nasty. My son is a huge built rugby guy, so they can only bully him once a while on silly virus jabs. But the cough in their face is really the best move!!
@hohliu While it’s very upsetting and unfortunate that your son is subject to this kind of blatant racism in school, I would not advocate stooping to their level (i.e. coughing in their face), as this would only further reinforce the “barbaric and unhygienic” stereotypes that are often associated with Asians already.
This form of retaliation just propagates more racism towards us in the long run. Best course of action is simply to ignore them and report these incidents to the school officials.
@oystergirl LOL, complain to school??? I will allow him to decide what he wants to do as long as he does not get cross or hit anyone.
I tend to avoid everyone that acts sick, regardless of their ethnicity. I wish everyone had that awareness about those around them instead of targeting only one race. Unlike in Asia, most people in the states don’t wear masks. So when they’re on public transit or out on the street, they just let loose whatever virus or germ they carry without a care. It makes me really upset. I don’t want to get sick!
@coralie
Did u hear that an Asian woman got forced out of a train in Paris when she wore a mask by her fellow passengers?! I wish the west share the same conception if mask wear as Asia. In the West, u would only wear a mask if u have a serious infectious disease. So stupid in multitude of ways.
@m0m0 No, but omg. I can’t believe they would push someone who is taking extra precautions out the door. But I’m not surprised. Paris is surprisingly r-cist. I heard from one of my coworkers that she was once spit on in broad daylight at a train station in Paris (she’s African.) And they target Asians in general when it comes to pickpocketing and robbery (although that may stem from the wave of wealthy mainland tourists and not necessarily because they are r-cists.) In any case, I did not get a good impression of Paris when I went and although I love the food there, it’s not where I felt welcomed.
@coralie Sadly, I don’t think it’s exclusive to Paris… I’ve heard that the better part of Europe is incredibly racist towards Asians.
Pretty much eliminated any desire I’ve had to visit, however little to being with.
@oystergirl Yes, I have heard that too a majority of EU cities can be. My sis felt it in Rome & Paris. One of my friends felt it in Rome strongly. Lol I have heard that Finland can be equally bad thou. I have only been to Barcelona & Budapest. I luckily did not feel it at all. It was awesome. As for pick-pocketing and targeting Asians… I think it’s safe to say the US also targets Asians they probably have this on their heads that Asians come w/the money as they are more frugal and such? Not sure if it’s a misconception but yes a majority will not target colored ppl esp in the US I think. Not putting them down but that seems to be the way it is. haha lol…
@oystergirl @wm2017 Yes, when I went to Paris, I was with my bestie and we were actually both targeted. A nice passerby spotted the thief and notified us before that dude could do anything. We were extra vigilant after that, but my bestie still got hit. She was pickpocketed and lost an expensive purse along with all the money in it. That was a really bad first time experience for me, but my bestie anticipated this since she’s been targeted many times in the past while traveling in Europe. Just that this time she was so busy caring for me she didn’t monitor her own belongings.
After that I felt really thankful that I never felt this unsafe while in the U.S. although I discovered it’s because the U.S. has long lost the art of petty theft. In exchange for lower crime rate here, though, we have more violent and costlier criminal activities.
Is Finland bad? One of my friends moved to Finland and he gave me the impression that people over there love other ethnicities (it’s exotic to them.)
*In the US, POC are not usually targeted, because their impression of us is that we’re poorer than White. But if the thieves were also POC, they don’t discriminate. They just go after whoever seems like they could be rich, even if it’s Asian.
@coralie
I had a similar experience in Paris last year. Although I was on the lookout for pickpockets, I ended up falling for a fake train ticket scam to Disneyland. Running into train problems one night, I had to ask the booth staff for directions. The staff spoke in French and was incredibly hostile when I asked for clarification a few times in English. Perhaps it could be impatience with tourists who didn’t speak any French. While dining at restaurants, I thought the service in Paris was often aloof and not as welcoming as American restaurants.
I loved the sights and food in Paris, but I had mixed experiences with the locals there. I much prefer London where the people are very polite and helpful. I thought Italy (Rome/Venice/Florence) was okay a few years ago when I visited, but not sure how it is now.
@jayne Yeah it disturbs me how bad some parts of Europe have gotten in recent years. They told me it’s because of the refugees, but I don’t know if you can blame it all on that reason. As to your awful experience, the way my bestie consoled herself was that someone out there needed the money more than she did. So I guess she consider it charity.
I haven’t been to London yet, but I feel it’s so boring in comparison? Parisian food is amazing; croissants especially. And you can’t find better white glove service than Paris. But for the everyday activities…well, let’s just say I had way more fun in Taiwan than Paris. 10/10 will return to Taiwan.
@coralie Girl…You can’t compare Taiwan w/European countries or I least I wouldn’t. haha lol…OMG Taiwan & Japan was food heaven for me but even more so w/Taiwan since it’s cheap going back in USD. haha …. I go to Europe for the amazing architectures. For Asia, it’s all about the food. 😀 for me anyway haha …Your bestie is very nice into thinking that way out of a negative situation I mean it happened already being sad really won’t help esp when you are on vacation. Thumbs up! That’s why I always tend to go w/messenger style bags when vacationing. I forget about all the fashion and go for comfort and convenience. Me too Taiwan is worth another trip anytime any day. I usually don’t waste $$$ on the same country twice since there are tons of other countries to visit but Taiwan is just great to hang, eat or do whatever.
@wm2017 =D okay true, it’s not fair to compare two completely different cultures and countries together. but i still think that when it comes to daily activities, taiwan trumps paris, if just on economical level. i can afford so much more in taiwan for less.
yes, my bestie didn’t even cry! i would’ve drowned in tears if i lost what she did. i told myself i won’t go back to paris in the future unless i went with a bunch of macho guys. my coworkers told me the way to prevent being mugged/pickpocketed is if you dress like a native. but we didn’t really look like tourists and yet we still got targeted. so the only way to be safe is if you don’t look asian lol.
where have you gone that you would visit again? i was in love with taiwan after i visited, for every reason you listed above.
@coralie Japan/Tokyo is also just another big city like NY but I do like Japan but I probably would skip next time and just head to Hokkaido or Kyoto instead. I have been to Fukuoka as well while visiting Korea as it was very close by ferry but Fukuoka didn’t really impress me. Europe – I have only been to Barcelona/Budapest & Vienna only. I would love Barcelona & Budapest again as I was in awe of all the amazing architectures. I wouldn’t mind a second trip for both. Vienna is also nice but once is enough for me. I tend to like places that are not super popular. Vienna seems to be very popular as I hear alot of cantonese speakers there. Asia – I would love more of China one day as I know it’s huge and tons of potential for fun. I have only been to Wusha (not sure how to spell),Suzhou&Shanghai. They were all interestingly fun. But Asia the flights are deadly long so it’s not that fun sitting that long on the plane. 🙁
@coralie Compared to other major cities in Europe, London’s architecture lacks the historical ambience of Paris, Venice, and Rome. After World War II, London suffered massive damage and had to rebuild its city. Thus, architecture wise, it’s not as interesting.
When I first got off the train and headed towards my hotel in London, it felt very similar to Manhattan, but the locals are more well-mannered than New Yorkers. The local food scene is electic, and Indian food is really good there.
@jayne yes, that’s another reason why i didn’t really care to visit london…it reminds me too much of the U.S. i really don’t like NY, which is why when i visited HK, i was really disappointed. it was just like being back in NY. although that’s hilarious that the food you associate with london is Indian food XD. i love indian food, though, so maybe i’ll give it a chance for that reason.
@coralie #i really don’t like NY, which is why when i visited HK, i was really disappointed.# – OMG..hahah I thought I was the only one who felt about that of HK. Yes, it was disappointing to me too even thou I have cousins there and they were fun and all but HK is just not my cup of tea. haha which is the reason it was a blessing I booked tour to China on those 3 cities during that trip. I have no interest for London/Paris/Rome or Italy. Yes, too popular. hahha lol….
@jayne I also find the French very rude but never visited France, flew with Air France 4 or 5 times and terrible experience every time.
@jayne
I didn’t have experience like that in Paris. We visited bakery shops and spoke zero French, the workers were OK with us. Also dined at a very local French restaurant, hole in the wall type. Waiter spoke broken English, he was friendly with us. We asked a French soldier at a metro stop, he was nice too. But more than a decade ago la.
@coralie
i wasn’t aware that paris had a bad rep with being a racist city. i had a pretty decent experience there more than a decade ago. i thought france was a liberal and accepting country compare to germany and england.
@m0m0
I also did not know that the people in a Paris are racist too. I never heard of that but I did hear that England is racist. My uncle lives in England and is used it to by now but it was hard at first. I used to think that a France was more liberal too. I guess maybe things have changed over the years.
@hetieshou
i think if you are in london, you might be okay b/c there are a good number of asians. but i think once you venture out, there are very few of us in the rest of england. i recall looking at the demographics in the UK, the asian numbers are extremely low like low to mid single digits.
A lot of westerners are saying very unkind, backward and ignorant things about the Chinese and the Coronavirus. Racism is borne out of the inability to educate, accept and respect other cultures. Unfortunately, the disease that is racism, is rearing its ugly head more prominently as we speak. I firmly believe those who choose to discriminate against others are not happy people. Having said that, there is a front headline case in British Columbia Canada about the Corona virus, where a Chinese female dropped something and a white male told the female that she dropped her Coronavirus. That was a very ignorant, backward and racist thing to say. The female in question alerted news media and other outlets about this comment , and rightfully so. She also spoke up to the misguided male, and I applaud her for that. However, I have noticed that a lot of Chinese are very brutal, ignorant and racist in the way they treat black people and the things they say about blacks ringt in their presence either in Mandarin and Cantonese. Chinese and other Asian cultures need to realize that they do not want to be treated like lepers, and they should learn to treat blacks and other cultures with respect as well. This should be a lesson to all cultures to stamp out racism, especially if they don’t want to be on the receiving end of said racism
@renren
Racism doesn’t have to do with education. Educated people could be very racist and discriminating too which makes it even more scary because you would think they r supposed to be the open minded ones.
@m0m0 I never said that racism has anything to do with education. Some people are highly educated academically and are still ignorant and backward to a lot of things in life. As a matter of fact, I personally know a lot of individuals who have money, degrees, have travelled, eat well, have high paying careers and fancy homes, jewelry and cars, and are ignorant, backward hicks who make others cringe with their perception of certain things in life. Please do not put words in my mouth, lol.