Monday, February 13, 2012

Jeremy Lin - Breaking Stereotypes

Jeremy Lin - Breaking stereotypes through humbleness, perseverance, dedication and faith, then, giving all credit and glory to Almighty GOD.

Sean Gregory of Time wrote of Lin's zero Division I scholarship offers: "[Lin] was scrawny, but don't doubt that a little racial profiling, intentional or otherwise, contributed to his under recruitment." Lin said: "I'm not saying top-5 state automatically gets you offers, but I do think (my ethnicity) did affect the way coaches recruited me. I think if I were a different race, I would've been treated differently."

Lin has regularly heard bigoted jeers at games such as "Wonton soup", "Sweet and sour pork", "Open your eyes!", "Go back to China", "Orchestra is on the other side of campus", or pseudo-Chinese gibberish. Lin says this occurred at most if not all Ivy League gyms. He does not react to it. "I expect it, I'm used to it, it is what it is," says Lin. The heckling came mostly from opposing fans and not as much from players. According to Harvard teammate Oliver McNally, a fellow Ivy League player did once call Lin a "chink".

"I feel like Asians in general don't get the respect that we may deserve whether it comes to sports, basketball, or whatever it might be." Lin grew up in a devout Christian family and would one day like to be a pastor who can head up non-profit organizations, either home or abroad.

In a video interview conducted by Elie Seckbach, he asked Lin how it felt to be representing so many people. Lin responded by stating, "It's humbling, a privilege, and a honor. I'm really proud of being Chinese, I'm really proud of my parents being from Taiwan. I just thank GOD for the opportunity."

(Wikipedia)