Taiwanese-American professional basketball player Jeremy Lin (林書豪) spoke out against a joke by comedian Chris Rock at the Academy Awards on Sunday, saying on Twitter that he is “Tired of it being ‘cool’ and ‘ok’ to bash Asians.”
Rock wasted no time in addressing the lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations this year by first characterizing the event as the “White People’s Choice Awards.” He then spent the rest of his opening monologue at the ceremony elaborating that specific point with jokes, jabs and insights.
The comedian yesterday received criticism for making fun of Asians in one of his skits put together for the ceremony, in which he introduced Asian children onstage as “three dedicated, accurate and hard-working representatives from PricewaterhouseCoopers.”
He said: “If anybody’s upset about that joke, just tweet about it on your phone that was also made by these kids.”
Lin on Twitter shared a link to a story in the Washington Post in which writer Jessica Contrera said Rock’s joke was a stereotype about Asians being smart and a light-hearted reference to child labor.
“Seriously though, when is this going to change?!? Tired of it being ‘cool’ and ‘ok’ to bash Asians smh [shaking my head],” Lin said on Twitter.
The National Basketball Association’s first US-born player of Taiwanese descent is no stranger to racist remarks. In 2012, former ESPN editor Anthony Federico used “Chinks in the armor” as the headline of his story about Lin when he was with the New York Knicks.
Another criticism playing on Lin’s ethnicity came from ESPN anchor Jorge Andres, saying that Lin’s performance at Madison Square Garden was “cooking with peanut oil,” a common component of Asian cuisine.
Federico was fired by ESPN over his headline, while Andres apologized for his comment.
Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr said on Twitter at the time that all the hype around the then-Knicks point guard is because he is Asian, adding that black players do what he does every night and do not get the same praise.
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