It is amazing the reception that Jeremy Lin has gotten. So much so that I think I need another blog about him. That is two in a row on Lin, which is something that I did not do for Tim Tebow. In fact the comparison of Lin to Tebow is quite interesting.
Both Lin and Tebow were almost overnight media sensations. It is probably fair to say that both got more coverage than they deserved. But both are helping a team to win that was not winning before they took over their starting positions. And both are evangelical Christians. These are the similarities between the two athletes.
But there is a critical observable difference. Tebow came with a great deal of controversy. It is fair to say that at times it seems that as many people hated Tebow as loved him. His detractors were legion and it was not just because of his football skills, or lack thereof. Some commentators and football players took shots at his faith as well. There has been some controversy generated by Lin but it has not been widely supported. For example, everybody condemned the controversy over the “Armor” comment featured on ESPN. Nobody defended it and an editor was fired over it. When Saturday Night Live decided to mock Tebow with a skit in which a fake Jesus criticizes him, there was not an equivalent outburst and no one was fired. Furthermore, Tebow has inspired t-shirts and a facebook page dedicated to hating him. There is no doubt that Tebow has produced more antipathy than Lin and it is not even close.
Why this difference? I have a theory. In a divided country we look for clues that indicate whether it is allowable to support a certain person. Tebow, as Lin, is an open evangelical Christian. That signals to religious, and even political, conservatives that Tebow is someone that can be supported. But there is nothing about Tebow for progressives to support unless they are a fan of the Florida Gators or Denver Broncos. So such progressives feel free to hate him.
Lin is also an evangelical. But he is also an Asian-American breaking into a field where Asians and Asian-Americans are relatively rare. This has the imagery of a racial minority conquering new territory and this image is welcoming to political progressives. So in addition to his obvious appeal to Asian-American fans that image also provides a cue for progressives to accept him as well.
I like Lin. I am quite happy for his success. He is fun to watch and I tend to root for him, as long as he is not playing my Spurs. But I have to wonder if he would be getting so much love if he was just another white or black ballplayer. I would wonder if his faith would create the level of controversy that we saw with Tebow. I am not blaming progressives here. I do not think that conservatives would support Tebow and Lin to the extent that they do if they were not evangelical Christians. But we live in a culturally divided society and the different fate of Tebow and Lin illustrates this.
Sincerely,
Trouble-Maker
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Here comes Linsanity
I enjoy NBA basketball. But to be honest I do not really get into it until we get close to playoff time. But about a week ago my facebook account went crazy with talk of some guy name Jeremy Lin. It seemed that all of my Asian friends were posting and chatting about him. So naturally I had to check him out when the Knicks played the Lakers.
Okay in the interest of full disclosure here – I hate Kobe. So I was pulling for the Knicks all the way. But I do not think I had to hate Kobe to appreciate the 38 points Lin put up. The boy has got some game. He also seems to play with a joy that was fun to watch. I cannot pull for him when the Knicks play the Spurs (That is my team), but otherwise I think I am a Lin fan.
In many ways he is going to be as interesting of a story to the American sports world as Tim Tebow. There are so many fascinating dimensions to the Lin story that it is hard to know where to go with this. The Asian-American angle is what first produced interest in the story as Asian-Americans have a role model and hero in the NBA. A Harvard grad in professional sports is another interesting twist. His heartfelt Christian faith is certain to get played up in the coming weeks and months.
But what I find interesting is the fact that all of the teams basically passed on him. Even the Knicks used him as a last resort. No one saw the now obvious talent this young baller has. Why did the NBA teams pass on him? Well when we think of NBA basketball player we do not think of a Harvard-educated Asian-American do we? Lin simply did not fit into our expectations and a lot of teams really missed out on a treasure due to their stereotyping of Lin.
Let me clarify something. This is not a claim of racism. That may have happened, but I am not claiming that. Rather we tend to develop basic stereotypes and operate out of them without even thinking about it. It is in the interest of NBA coaches and general managers to accurately assess basketball talent. Yet Lin slipped through their fingers. I believe it is because Lin is not what they expected in a potential NBA star. The cost of their failure of imagination is that this bright young talent got away. We tend to hold onto stereotypes even when it costs us. That is how powerful our urge to stereotype is.
It is understandable why we stereotype. It is a shortcut. We do not have time to really get to know everyone in our lives. Sometimes we need to put people in a box and if we never have to get to know them well then that is fine. Stereotyping becomes a problem when we refuse to take them out of that box when there is evidence to the contrary. So many coaches and general managers had a box for well-educated Asians who want to play basketball and put Lin in that box. Even when he demonstrated talent they did not take him out of that box. And the Knicks lucked into discovering how inadequate that box was.
When we automatically restrict people because of stereotyping we hurt ourselves. We can rob ourselves of potentially “Lin” level of talent. We do not hire a women clergy because of her gender and can lose out in what she has to offer. We reject an evangelical academic candidate for a position (read my book Compromising Scholarship for evidence of this) and do not get a potentially great teacher/researcher. We refuse to befriend someone who dyed his/her hair pink and miss out on a friend who will be there for us. Stereotyping is not just bad for those stereotyped but it is horrible for those doing the stereotyping. They may never know what they are missing due to their stereotyping. The bottom line is that we must be careful not to keep people in boxes when doing so is not warranted. Or we may have to watch Lin hit a three pointer to beat our team in the last moments of the game.
Sincerely,
Trouble-Maker
Okay in the interest of full disclosure here – I hate Kobe. So I was pulling for the Knicks all the way. But I do not think I had to hate Kobe to appreciate the 38 points Lin put up. The boy has got some game. He also seems to play with a joy that was fun to watch. I cannot pull for him when the Knicks play the Spurs (That is my team), but otherwise I think I am a Lin fan.
In many ways he is going to be as interesting of a story to the American sports world as Tim Tebow. There are so many fascinating dimensions to the Lin story that it is hard to know where to go with this. The Asian-American angle is what first produced interest in the story as Asian-Americans have a role model and hero in the NBA. A Harvard grad in professional sports is another interesting twist. His heartfelt Christian faith is certain to get played up in the coming weeks and months.
But what I find interesting is the fact that all of the teams basically passed on him. Even the Knicks used him as a last resort. No one saw the now obvious talent this young baller has. Why did the NBA teams pass on him? Well when we think of NBA basketball player we do not think of a Harvard-educated Asian-American do we? Lin simply did not fit into our expectations and a lot of teams really missed out on a treasure due to their stereotyping of Lin.
Let me clarify something. This is not a claim of racism. That may have happened, but I am not claiming that. Rather we tend to develop basic stereotypes and operate out of them without even thinking about it. It is in the interest of NBA coaches and general managers to accurately assess basketball talent. Yet Lin slipped through their fingers. I believe it is because Lin is not what they expected in a potential NBA star. The cost of their failure of imagination is that this bright young talent got away. We tend to hold onto stereotypes even when it costs us. That is how powerful our urge to stereotype is.
It is understandable why we stereotype. It is a shortcut. We do not have time to really get to know everyone in our lives. Sometimes we need to put people in a box and if we never have to get to know them well then that is fine. Stereotyping becomes a problem when we refuse to take them out of that box when there is evidence to the contrary. So many coaches and general managers had a box for well-educated Asians who want to play basketball and put Lin in that box. Even when he demonstrated talent they did not take him out of that box. And the Knicks lucked into discovering how inadequate that box was.
When we automatically restrict people because of stereotyping we hurt ourselves. We can rob ourselves of potentially “Lin” level of talent. We do not hire a women clergy because of her gender and can lose out in what she has to offer. We reject an evangelical academic candidate for a position (read my book Compromising Scholarship for evidence of this) and do not get a potentially great teacher/researcher. We refuse to befriend someone who dyed his/her hair pink and miss out on a friend who will be there for us. Stereotyping is not just bad for those stereotyped but it is horrible for those doing the stereotyping. They may never know what they are missing due to their stereotyping. The bottom line is that we must be careful not to keep people in boxes when doing so is not warranted. Or we may have to watch Lin hit a three pointer to beat our team in the last moments of the game.
Sincerely,
Trouble-Maker
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Religious Freedom for Whom?
Remember the controversy about the ground zero mosque? Progressives were talking about keeping the government out of religion. Conservatives were talking about what they said is a larger principle taking a stand against Islamic-based insensitivity. At the time I took the position that I did not agree with the decision to build the Mosque but the Muslims had every right to do so. If we made it harder for them to express their religious perspective, even if it is insensitive to the relatives of 9/11 victims, then we infringe on religious freedom in ways that will be hard to reverse. I stand by that opinion.
Now we have the controversy with the Health and Human Services order to Catholic affiliated organizations to provide insurance coverage that includes contraceptives. Now it is the conservatives who are taking about keeping the government out of religion. Progressives are discussing about what they say is a larger principle of reproductive freedom and women’s rights. Funny how things can switch around like that. If I were cynical I would think that both sides are just using the whole freedom of religion argument to advance their particular political agenda and really do not care about freedom of religion.
Once again I do not agree with this position from the Catholic hierarchy. Both practically and theologically I think they are wrong to put such a focus on birth control issues. But I support their right to have this position. Once again I see the slippery slope of taking away religious freedom is too precious for us to risk it.
I trust that there are others who remain true to their desire for religious freedom in both circumstances. But is it not interesting how the principles of conservatives and progressives change according to who is having their freedom challenged? Whether they choose to support religious freedom seems to depend on whether we are talking about Muslims or Catholics. This means that freedom of religion has no real meaning for them. If you really believe in religious freedom then you defend it regardless of whether the group you are defending is your political ally or enemy. That is what it means to have a principle more important than our petty political concerns.
Sincerely,
Trouble-Maker
Now we have the controversy with the Health and Human Services order to Catholic affiliated organizations to provide insurance coverage that includes contraceptives. Now it is the conservatives who are taking about keeping the government out of religion. Progressives are discussing about what they say is a larger principle of reproductive freedom and women’s rights. Funny how things can switch around like that. If I were cynical I would think that both sides are just using the whole freedom of religion argument to advance their particular political agenda and really do not care about freedom of religion.
Once again I do not agree with this position from the Catholic hierarchy. Both practically and theologically I think they are wrong to put such a focus on birth control issues. But I support their right to have this position. Once again I see the slippery slope of taking away religious freedom is too precious for us to risk it.
I trust that there are others who remain true to their desire for religious freedom in both circumstances. But is it not interesting how the principles of conservatives and progressives change according to who is having their freedom challenged? Whether they choose to support religious freedom seems to depend on whether we are talking about Muslims or Catholics. This means that freedom of religion has no real meaning for them. If you really believe in religious freedom then you defend it regardless of whether the group you are defending is your political ally or enemy. That is what it means to have a principle more important than our petty political concerns.
Sincerely,
Trouble-Maker
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