Linsanity and American dream

Updated: 2012-02-22 08:18

(China Daily)

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Jeremy Lin's success on the NBA court is drawing much applause from Chinese fans, but it's absurd for Chinese fans to celebrate only because he has Chinese ancestry. What Lin represents is actually the American dream, says an article on the Oriental Morning Post. Excerpt:

The Chinese-American NBA player Jeremy Lin has drawn great attention from the US media due to his excellent performance on the court. Lin proves that Chinese or even Asians can achieve success on the NBA court. His Chinese face wins him high-recognition among Chinese basketball fans. Many of them immediately find a new NBA idol with Chinese elements after Yao Ming's retirement.

But strictly speaking, Jeremy Lin is a Chinese-American. Just like the US President Barack Obama is a Kenyan-American, legally their nationalities are both the US. If Lin participates in the Olympic Games, it would be the US rather than China that he would represent.

Moreover, in a Chinese traditional national identity conception, cultural identity always overweighs consanguinity. Lin is a Harvard-educated Chinese-American who can hardly read Chinese, which indicates his cultural identity is more American than Chinese. It's unreasonable to rely on Lin to achieve China's basketball dream, just like you can't imagine the US Ambassador to China Gary F. Locke giving China special treatment on Sino-US issues because he has Chinese origins.

Except for catering to the big market of Chinese basketball fans, the reason that the US media are obsessed with Lin's miracle may have something to do with the US' "political correctness" in "treating all ethnics equally" in contemporary society. Although Lin is a new icon of the American dream, his hard work and success deserve greater appreciation among the young, whether they are American or Chinese.

(China Daily 02/22/2012 page9)