Why Jeremy Lin is Such a Big Deal

Seeing Jeremy Lin’s storybook rise to fame is almost as exciting as seeing Obama become the president of the United States.

For those of you who don’t understand the importance of Jeremy Lin’s rise to fame is such a big deal to some of us, let me explain here.

For the first time in my life, I see someone who is just like me in mainstream America. His parents are from Taiwan just like mine. He was born and raised in the United States just like me. And his face is plastered all over televisions across America, my home country. Believe me, Asian Americans like me rarely see people like ourselves doing anything in the media beyond the usual stereotypes.

What struck me about Jeremy Lin is not only that he’s like me but his story hits home. My cousin, a former college baseball player who was born and raised in Dallas, Texas also encountered racism when a coach refused to play him because of his race. My uncle who is Taiwanese like Lin’s dad coached him through out my cousin’s youth traveling all over Texas playing Little League and skipping out on Chinese school.

Not only are people seeing Lin in mainstream America, but he is a star in the NBA. Is he overrated, does he lack experience, has he not done enough, well, guess what? The fact there’s any attention on an Asian American in the limelight is so amazing to me that I’m almost breathless. For once, an Asian American is being recognized for doing something that most of America is actually impressed by. Frankly speaking, like it or not, success in the eyes of the American public means making it in politics and pop culture because those are the only ways to influence the masses in this country.

Oh, if he was black then no one would care. No, people would not care as much. But let’s face it, the concept of an Asian American boy who can jump is so incredibly strange to America that everyone is awe. Of course, Asian American athletes are not a brand new idea. The first person of color in the NBA was Japanese American. But most of America is clueless, they only see what they are presented.

What I love about Lin is that he’s an articulate Asian American who obviously took a huge risk and he’s living his dream. And he actually said out loud that he embraces the fact that he is Asian American is music to my ears. Who else has done that?

Growing up in Arizona, I did not have any Asian American role models. I did not have any Asian American teachers who grew up like me. I was always caught somewhere between the white world, other minorities and mainstream America. I was fortunate to have some Chinese teachers at my weekend Chinese school who could at least teach me the basics of my heritage language. However, they were not like me. Believe me, it doesn’t matter how Chinese I become at this point, I will never be the real deal. I lived in China for a year and my Chinese is significantly better than it once was but I know I will never be the real deal.

Thus, it’s important for me to see people like to me to succeed in America. This is where I will be for the rest of my life. Folks like me will never truly be accepted in Asia but we should be accepted in the United States because we are FROM here. Unfortunately, until we have numerous Asian American NBA stars, rock stars, politicians, etc., then we will not be seen as regular Americans. It’s just the ugly truth.

And for those of you who have mocked our Facebook posts or hate the fact there’s another comment about Linsanity, people have no idea what it’s like to be Asian American. The forgotten minority. The industrious but mute minority. We are a mix of Asian blood and Americanness who are proud of our heritage yet are part of the American fabric just like anyone else. And for those Asian Americans who do not care, could you for once be proud in solidarity?

Regardless, seeing Jeremy Lin driving the ball across the court, watching him being interviewed on television and just seeing all of the discussions that have occurred publicly about his race is something I will never forget in this life time.