The NBA – or at least its players – has always advocated for minority rights and social justice issues. That’s why it wasn’t a surprise to see so many players take a stand in the wake of the Atlanta shooting.
Needless to say, Jeremy Lin was clearly affected by this incident, given his Asian American nature and his history with racism in the G-League.
Lin recently shared his thoughts on a heartfelt piece for Time Magazine, claiming that he should’ve done a better job of tearing down the barriers and stereotypes of Asian Americans for the next generation when he was in the spotlight with the New York Knicks:
“I didn’t do enough when I was “Linsanity” to break down barriers for the next generation. I just wanted to play basketball during that time in 2012 when I was suddenly thrust into the global spotlight with the New York Knicks. I didn’t recognize the built-up trauma and the multigenerational, systemic injustices. I failed to appreciate and better support the work of advocates fighting for Asian Americans to be seen and heard. It’s one of my biggest failures and one of my biggest regrets,” Lin said.
I beg to differ here. Contrary to what he says, I do believe that Lin helped tear down those barriers during his time with the Knicks. He proved that Asian players could be valuable around the league despite many people claiming that they’re not athletic enough, just like Yao Ming did before him.
Lin closed his argument with the hope of a better and more inclusive world, a hope that we at Fadeaway World also share with him:
“Hope that we can all set aside our egos for a moment to see where we might have casually dehumanized someone else. Hope that we would listen when a group of people share their pain and seek to empathize before we dismiss. Hope that we would each, whatever our race, one day be able to be known in the fullness of who we are,” Lin concluded.
It doesn’t matter if you’re white, black, Hispanic, or Asian. We should all be able to coexist in peace.
