Asian American Journalists Association Releases Guidelines On Jeremy Lin Media Coverage
Following the firing of an ESPN editor and fines against the Knick’s radio commentary man, Spero Dedes, people have been walking on egg shells about what could be considered racist towards Asian Americans. Well, the AAJA have officially sent out guidelines to help sports writers feel more comfortable about what they are writing.
“As NBA player Jeremy Lin’s prowess on the court continues to attract international attention and grab headlines, AAJA would like to remind media outlets about relevance and context regarding coverage of race,” the group wrote in an advisory. “In the past weeks, as more news outlets report on Lin, his game and his story, AAJA has noticed factual inaccuracies about Lin’s background as well as an alarming number of references that rely on stereotypes about Asians or Asian Americans.”
I can’t help but laugh at some of these but please enjoy and learn what is considered right and what is considered wrong by the AAJA.
Here are the AAJA’s guidelines in full:
THE FACTS
1. Jeremy Lin is Asian American, not Asian (more specifically, Taiwanese American). It’s an important distinction and one that should be considered before any references to former NBA players such as Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi, who were Chinese. Lin’s experiences were fundamentally different than people who immigrated to play in the NBA. Lin progressed through the ranks of American basketball from high school to college to the NBA, and to characterize him as a foreigner is both inaccurate and insulting.
2. Lin’s path to Madison Square Garden: More than 300 division schools passed on him. Harvard University has had only three other graduates go on to the NBA, the most recent one being in the 1950s. No NBA team wanted Lin in the draft after he graduated from Harvard.
3. Journalists don’t assume that African American players identify with NBA players who emigrated from Africa. The same principle applies with Asian Americans. It’s fair to ask Lin whether he looked up to or took pride in the accomplishments of Asian players. He may have. It’s unfair and poor journalism to assume he did.
4. Lin is not the first Asian American to play in the National Basketball Association. Raymond Townsend, who’s of Filipino descent, was a first-round choice of the Golden State Warriors in the 1970s. Rex Walters, who is of Japanese descent, was a first-round draft pick by the New Jersey Nets out of the University of Kansas in 1993 and played seven seasons in the NBA; Walters is now the coach at University of San Francisco. Wat Misaka is believed to have been the first Asian American to play professional basketball in the United States. Misaka, who’s of Japanese descent, appeared in three games for the New York Knicks in the 1947-48 season when the Knicks were part of the Basketball Association of America, which merged with the NBA after the 1948-49 season.
DANGER ZONES
“CHINK”: Pejorative; do not use in a context involving an Asian person on someone who is Asian American. Extreme care is needed if using the well-trod phrase “chink in the armor”; be mindful that the context does not involve Asia, Asians or Asian Americans. (The appearance of this phrase with regard to Lin led AAJA MediaWatch to issue statement to ESPN, which subsequently disciplined its employees.)
DRIVING: This is part of the sport of basketball, but resist the temptation to refer to an “Asian who knows how to drive.”
EYE SHAPE: This is irrelevant. Do not make such references if discussing Lin’s vision.
FOOD: Is there a compelling reason to draw a connection between Lin and fortune cookies, takeout boxes or similar imagery? In the majority of news coverage, the answer will be no.
MARTIAL ARTS: You’re writing about a basketball player. Don’t conflate his skills with judo, karate, tae kwon do, etc. Do not refer to Lin as “Grasshopper” or similar names associated with martial-arts stereotypes.
“ME LOVE YOU LIN TIME”: Avoid. This is a lazy pun on the athlete’s name and alludes to the broken English of a Hollywood caricature from the 1980s.
“YELLOW MAMBA”: This nickname that some have used for Lin plays off the “Black Mamba” nickname used by NBA star Kobe Bryant. It should be avoided. Asian immigrants in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries were subjected to discriminatory treatment resulting from a fear of a “Yellow Peril” that was touted in the media, which led to legislation such as the Chinese Exclusion Act.
2 Rants to “Asian American Journalists Association Releases Gu...”
Leave a Rant
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
FEATURED PARTNERS
- If Social Media Could Predict The Oscars
- Sexism In 30 Vintage Ads
- Rihanna Calls Out Someone For Cyberbullying, Then Cyberbullies In Return
- WWE Star John Cena -- I'm Still Kicking Off the Daytona 500!
- Dwyane Wade -- Hip-Hop All-Star
- Warren Sapp -- I'm No Deadbeat Dad!
- The Dictator Dumped Kim Jong-Il’s Ashes on Ryan Seacrest
- Putting Fortune Cookies in that Jeremy Lin Ice Cream Was a Bad Idea
- It’s Time for Bikinis in This Week’s Hottie Index
Celebrating our racial differences is not racist. Belonging to a group who claims to represent all Asian Americans or all Asian American journalists IS racist and arrogant. Most of us are nice people, so just let us be nice people. If somebody tells a fart joke at the expense of someone of Asian ancestry, and you are offended, that’s your choice, and it’s on you, and nobody owes you an apology.
The fact is that most of us have good manners and just don’t feel like following all your exhaustive rules (who put you in charge?).
Jeremy Lin is awesome. The fact that he’s American is awesome. The fact that his ancestors are Asian is awesome. And the fact that he has put pee pee in the NBA’s coke is awesome.
pee pee in NBA’s coke…..lmao