Reaction to Lin's success hows underlying racism

Video: The Linsanity continues

When Yao Ming made his first visit to the Warriors nearly 10 years ago, I was assigned to write a column about him and his transition from Shanghai superstar to No. 1 draft pick in the NBA. I thought it was far too early to predict that he would rule the game in the U.S.

But in the pregame news conference, Yao's off-court potential became abundantly clear. He had star quality and a gentle wit that transcended language barriers. Although female sportswriters are never supposed to say as much, I wrote what seemed plain to me: Yao had the makings of a teen heartthrob and a Madison Avenue icon.

Some of the reaction was predictable. I knew I'd be chided for commenting on an athlete's sex appeal, or for appearing to lust after a man many years my junior. What I did not expect was how many men of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese descent would thank me for breaking the media's habit of treating Asian men as asexual.

I vividly remembered those comments earlier this week when a certain national columnist, who shall not be named or promoted here, tweeted a racist remark about Jeremy Lin's masculinity. It was the kind of remark that only serves to demean the commentator, making one wonder what part of his own manhood makes him feel deficient and threatened by Lin's success.

Most of the country has been thrilled to watch Lin soar from draft day reject to D-Leaguer to show-stealing understudy for the Knicks. Very few people seem unhappy to watch the molds for an all-American boy and an NBA star shift to accommodate the child of Taiwanese immigrants. Intuitively, many fans know that diversity increases a sport's strength and legitimacy.

The movie "Moneyball" succeeded, in part, because it underscored some of the blind spots in big-time sports. As much as we believe that sports represent the closest thing we have to a true meritocracy - and they really do - we still know that scouting dogma and internal politics influence who gets and keeps jobs on the field. Stereotypes act as another gatekeeper, deterring kids from even trying to compete in sports that have skewed toward an ethnic group different from their own.

But it remains harder to hold a great athlete down than to bury a gifted actor because he doesn't look like a leading man (read: made in the image of a studio executive) or suppress a brilliant engineer because she happens to be a woman. No business pushes harder or faster against stereotypes and cultural expectations.

Some people can't help pushing back. They're scared.

Lin has it all, the Harvard degree, the 38 points against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, the winning three-pointer against Toronto, the fans at Madison Square Garden cheering every time he touches the ball, the President of the United States enjoying some Linsanity.

He was dramatically stepping away from the invisibility that has been imposed on Asian Americans for generations. Or, more accurately, he was playing basketball the way he has always done it, and it sent him over a social tripwire.

For a period starting in the mid-1980s, many Americans thought that the Japanese had it all. They sold us the TVs and cars we liked best, becoming an economic powerhouse, and a backlash ensued. Some of it was violent, but much of it was simply dismissive or belittling. It's shocking now to see certain movies made in that era. "Fatal Attraction" contains a scene mocking Japanese accents that is so disgusting, it almost overwhelms the sexist foundation of the entire film.

I didn't notice it the first time I saw the movie. The second time, it slapped me in the face. The same thing happened after I heard from so many Asian American men after I wrote about Yao. I started seeing compelling actors in films relegated to passive roles, practically treated as furniture.

The culture is not much better about Asian American women, but at least sex appeal, a staple for all performers, isn't ruled out for them. The men are, as one friend described it several years ago, neutered.

Maybe Lin's breakout will help change that. Yao became an international icon, but he was playing away from his homeland, and he was a big man, which does not allow for the kind of dynamic performances that a guard like Lin can deliver. I'm sure his picture is already hanging on a lot of young people's walls now, some of whom want to play like him, some of whom have crushes on him.

The girls who want to play like him would have been told they weren't feminine years ago. Some people would still say that. Their days of dominating the conversation are ending fast, and if they don't know it, they should.