Originally Posted by
acidicality
You speak for yourself. You are the not the ambassador of the AsianAmerican community in the Silicon Valley. I have family and friendsaround there and they are rooting for JLin just like you, but they arenot going overboard suggesting JLin will make that big of an impact onsociety right now. You can hope for that change (I hope too), but it isan opinion, not a fact yet.
You're talking out your #@*. Just stop.
I'll just put this out there, and I'm through responding to you. I don't know why I am, since you've shown you have zero reading comprehension ability.
People who don't identify with the demographic (and reading your posts, this would include you) obviously wonder why he's getting hyped up like crazy and why people are so excited for him-and it's understandable. It's not just me-this post is proof of that, and the crowd reaction Lin will have when he first steps onto a court will be proof of that. I've listed out the reasons why we can identify with him, he's part of our generation and all that stuff. If you don't think it's true, believe what you wanna believe, but a lot of people here definitely feel that way. I've talked to a lot of my friends about Lin even before he made it this far (since we all know him and a lot of us played with or against him at a certain point growing up), and the stuff I've put out in this thread is exactly how they feel about it too. I'm not speaking for myself, you may not know anyone else who thinks about it the way I do, but believe me...there are. Ask anyone I know who's an ABC like me (and most of my friends are an ABC to begin with), and they'll tell you the same thing, in a similar way. Just accept that and move on.
Ultimately, his game will dictate how far he gets, but for people living today, he's the first person people can make a bigger connection to because he's our age. If I mentioned any "impact", I believe the biggest "impact" he'll make is inspiring other people to realize if you work hard, you can make it in life in whatever you decide to do, and especially with ABCs and Asian-Americans, he's proof that we don't have to be doctors, lawyers, engineers to be successful. Before him, there wasn't a figure we could identify with that could show that, maybe besides Wong Fu Productions, David Cho, those type of people. But we all know they don't reach everybody, but Jeremy, since he plays in the NBA, does. He's complete proof that we're capable of succeeding, and we don't have to follow the stereotypes of what society expects Asians to have careers in.
The truth is, it really doesn't matter if he doesn't become a star, or even if he gets cut in his first year. He'll still be big to a lot of people, and won't be "unknown" to people like the previous Asian-American players, because of what I wrote in the last paragraph.
Why do you always use your own personal experience as the final say? Do you even know if I am Asian American or not?
Lets be clear that people like you that know JLin or know of dude before he got BIG might have more of a vested interested on him and would consider his signing with the Warriors a big success. But lets also be clear that there are a lot of Asian Americans that don't care about basketball or this guy JLin because they are doing their own thing in life, successfully at that. When you say people that identify with this demographic, you actually mean people like you and your friends, not all Asian Americans in the US, Cali, or the Silicon Valley. I know dayum well why you care about JLin so much, but please stop talking like every Asian American feels the same way as you.
FYI, Asian Americans are generally regarded as pretty successful on average in the US. I don't think JLin is inspiring the Asian nerd in Bio 1A that he can really do anything in life from hard work. The kid knew that the first day he stepped in class and when was lectured by his parents about the importance of hard work and education.
Whoever said you had to be a doctor, engineer, lawyer, etc to be successful? I get what you mean end of the day, but now you acting like JLin is the only Asian American playing professional sports. Just because you had no one to identify with that was successful doesn't mean every Asian American feels the same. JLin reaches everyone cause he's in the NBA?
How can someone read that and not laugh at that suggestion. The sad part is that you think that is a fact. You need to grow up and realize that you can do anything you want in the first place. Why can't you be like JLin and play in the league? I swear I hear more from you about JLin on this topic than JLin himself.
And that last paragraph. You won't forget about JLin because you care too much. Don't make the assumption that every Asian American kid around your age cares that much about JLin, the NBA, basketball in general, and etc. Some people actually want to be doctors, lawyers, and engineers because they are interested in that field. Just like you love the game of basketball.
Originally Posted by bijald0331
This guy nicedude is just arguing to argue. You don't get it. Never will. I still stand by saying it's okay to compare this guy to Jackie Robinson because only an idiot and someone looking to get mad would take that comparison at face value and not realize what is actually being said.
Acidicality definitely speaks for most, if not all, Asian-Americans who have an interest in basketball. You're a fool or don't know Asian people if you don't get what angle he is coming from. Maybe both.
I agree with the highlighted part. He does speak for most Asian Americans that have an interest in basketball. But why must he write paragraphs about reppin the whole Silicon Valley's Asian American community? And then continue to just consider other Asian Americans that have been successful in non traditional Asian American careers as not making that big of an impact? He didn't even know about Misaka and we are just going to let that slide because it's in the past and he can't relate to old people.
