I will never forget the time that a man in a big pick-up truck told my mom to “…go back to your own country.” The man had just taken the parking spot my mom had been waiting for at the naval hospital. I was sick with a high fever and she had rushed to get me into urgent care. This part is a little fuzzy (I was a little hopped up on St. Joseph’s aspirin) but next thing I know my mom yells “You go back to your country. This country belongs to the Indians!” and then she threatened to punch him in the face (Go mom!). Once we got into the hospital, the insult was the least of her worries. Unfortunately for me, I never forgot it.
This memory has scarcely occupied my mind in the last 10 years but this morning something I read something triggered it again. I was reading a story about a standout basketball player at Harvard named Jeremy Lin. Lin’s basketball skills could lead the Crimson to their first March Madness berth in 64 years. For Harvard, this is a huge deal and his notoriety is drawing huge crowds and ignorant people. Being part of the less than .05% of men’s division one basketball players that is Asian American, his ethnicity is at the center of the cruel taunts that he receives at schools around the country. After beating Georgetown, a spectator yelled, “Sweet-and-sour pork!” Really, is this 1965 or 2010? If this is what is happening at the best institutions of higher learning, what can this mean for my kids growing up in the real world?
Anytime I worry about things like this Paul dismisses me and says that our kids will be immune to this type of thing because they look half white. I’m not convinced. I can’t claim to have anything as humiliating as being in a segregated school or having to sit in the back of the bus but I can assure you that during my life I’ve been subjected to ignorant people saying ignorant things to me.
How has Jeremy Lin reacted? With grace and dignity that is a credit to not only Asian Americans but all Americans. He’s not bitter and did not mouth off about the racial slurs that he hears on the court. A devout Christian, he plans to spend his life after basketball as a minister “...helping others.” I hope that I can learn from his example if my kids are ever on the receiving end of this type of ignorance.
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Great blog post. But your husband doesn't seem to understand any of the issues asians have to deal with. He's a priviledged white man. But unfortunately, your half-asian kids will be mocked by the white kids. and maybe even by the asian kids.
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