Jeremy Lin, in a lengthy post on his Instagram account, spoke out against the racism experienced by those in the Asian-American community. As Lin noted in one of the images used in the post, hate crimes against Asian Americans have skyrocketed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, something Lin noted has impacted him personally, as he alleged that he has been called “coronavirus” during basketball games.
“Something is changing in this generation of Asian Americans,” Lin wrote. “We are tired of being told that we don’t experience racism, we are tired of being told to keep our heads down and not make trouble. We are tired of Asian American kids growing up and being asked where they’re REALLY from, of having our eyes mocked, of being objectified as exotic or being told we’re inherently unattractive. We are tired of the stereotypes in Hollywood affecting our psyche and limiting who we think we can be. We are tired of being invisible, of being mistaken for our colleague or told our struggles aren’t as real.”
Lin, who spent last season with the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association but recently returned to the States to join the Golden State Warriors’ G League affiliate in Santa Cruz, went on to discuss his commitment to making things better for everyone in the Asian American community, from “my elders,” to “my niece and nephew and future children,” to “the next generation of Asian American athletes.”
From there, Lin went on to talk about the various things that define him (and others in the Asian American community) do not necessarily mean he, and others, are not capable of experiencing things in certain ways.
Being an Asian American doesn’t mean we don’t experience poverty and racism.
Being a 9 year NBA veteran doesn’t protect me from being called “coronavirus” on the court.
Being a man of faith doesn’t mean I don’t fight for justice, for myself and for others.
“So here we are again, sharing how we feel,” Lin wrote before concluding with a question. “IS ANYONE LISTENING??”
This is hardly the first time that Lin has spoken out about the racism experienced by the Asian American community in relation to the pandemic. Back in March of last year, Lin used his Twitter account to excoriate then-president Donald Trump for the racist verbiage he used to refer to COVID-19, writing “I wish you would powerfully support the vulnerable people that will suffer due to our mismanagement of this virus, including those that will be affected by the racism you’re empowering.”
