Former NBA champion Jeremy Lin has called for more compassion towards Asian Americans during the Coronavirus pandemic.
In an interview with NBC, Lin said that Asian Americans were moving towards overcoming discrimination, but movement has been reversed in recent times.
“I felt like there was progress being made and many things that I experienced in my career and things I wanted to stand for — it felt like everything was moving in that direction,” Lin said. “Now it feels like everything’s back to square one.”
Recalling lessons he learned during his time with the NBA, Lin said Asian Americans are losing right now.
“There’s a famous saying in the NBA that I love. It’s, ‘Not everything is right when you win and not everything is wrong when you lose,’” the 31-year-old said.
“To be Asian American in today’s political climate, it seems like it’s a big ‘L’ all across the board. But to be able to disassociate ourselves [and understand] not everything is wrong when you lose.”
Lin praised those who avoid discriminating against Asian Americans and hopes inclusion can continue to extend.
“To me, if you are not proactively harming or stereotyping and being racist toward the Asian American community, to me you are an ally. It’s a desperate time,” the Taiwanese American said.
“Just accept us as humans.”
Rep Judy Chu recently revealed there are 100 incidents of targeted racial hate a day towards Asian Americans as a consequence of Coronavirus racism.
Now that Lin is playing for the Beijing Ducks, he is now considered a foreigner in China.
“As an Asian American, I grew up in America, playing basketball and all anyone wanted to tell me is that I wasn’t American,” he said. |Now I’m playing basketball in China and I’m considered a foreigner. I’m just as confused as everybody else.”
“It seems like everything is being undone and we’re going back to the drawing board to redefine what it means to be Asian or what it means to be American or what it means to be Asian American, and that’s the part that I can’t say I understand yet today,” Lin continued.
In related news, Lin recently pledged up to $1 million to fund Coronavirus relief.
