Chris Rock’s crude joke about Asians at the Oscars last Sunday did not go down well with Charlotte Hornets guard Jeremy Lin, who explained why he felt he had to speak out against Asian stereotyping at the Oscars and called for more racial awareness.
Lin, who is of Chinese descent, commented on Twitter about this, linking to a Washington Post commentary on the same subject. Tuesday after Hornets shootaround, Lin offered some context on why he felt it important to address the issue.
Seriously though, when is this going to change?!? Tired of it being “cool” and “ok” to bash Asians smh #Oscars https://t.co/1nBvAd3V0q
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) February 29, 2016
Lin said he has no beef with comedian Chris Rock, who hosted the Oscars, but thinks it’s overdue to apply the same standards of respect to all ethnicities.
Rock brought three Asian children to the stage, posing as “bankers” from PricewaterhouseCoopers. “They (the finance firm) sent us their most dedicated, accurate and hardworking representatives. Please welcome Ming Zhu, Bao Ling and David Moskowitz,” Rock said during a segment, which was viewed as a way to stereotype Asians as smart but supporting of child labour.
Foreseeing a backlash from Asians, Rock even said: “If anybody’s upset about that joke, just tweet about it on your phone that was also made by these (Asian) kids.”
Constance Wu, Jeremy Lin, others slam Chris Rock’s Asian Joke at Oscars