From the Alvin Lin blog, by Alvin Lin on 2008-07-17 01:47 PM (original link)

There is some recent news about some Asian American athletes… Michael Chang was Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and the LA Times recently had a feature on golf phenom Anthony Kim. 

Michael Chang was pretty much the only Asian American athlete in American media while I was growing up, and based on the other images of Asians across all realms of Western society, was a really positive and rare image for AA youth.  For those young’ins, Chang is still the youngest ever champion of the French Open.  Who knows maybe he was a reason why I ended up getting into tennis for my HS team.  Michael Chang was an all around great and classy person, a fierce competitor, and I loved how his coach was his older brother, forming a cool family tandem.

Anthony Kim is a rising superstar in the golf world, who was 11 years old when Tiger Woods first started making an impact in golf.  What is striking is Kim’s quote about how Woods inspired him, and how as a kid he pictured himself in Woods’ shoes. 

I think a lot can be said for having Asian or Asian American images and role models in mass media.  What is damaging is when Asians or AA’s have a dearth of positive AA images to look up to, and end up idolizing White or Black icons to the point where these AA youth start internalizing certain things or behaviors that can be damaging or self hating. We already have too many Whitewashed Asians or those who try to “act Black” (whatever that means).  Having a few more Michael Chang’s, Anthony Kim’s, John Cho’s, Justin Lin’s, even more Yao Ming’s, Ichiro’s, and Yi Jian Lian’s, etc is a nice change from what it was like when I was growing up where it was basically Michael Chang and Yo-Yo Ma, amidst a bunch of Long Duck Dongs and evil or negative stereotypes.

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Ichiro is awesome. He’s had so much coverage lately. Like this year he was on EPSN’s 10 anniversary magazine.

I’m glad that more Asian Americans are breaking out in sports. It seems more positive than singers or actors.

Depends on the type of athlete. Most football players end up in jail once.

Well you don’t see very many Asians in football. A lot of them seem to be in baseball.

Surprisingly not tennis or soccer.

Haha Not in America. Soccer isn’t that popular in the US.

I hope more Asians break out into America in general. Not just sports or entertainment, but politics and the community too.

Good looking out, Alvin. Asians can rock the sports world too. Michael Chang is an all-around class act--he really lives out his faith as well.

Interestingly, Tiger Woods is often held up as a black role model, even though he also has Asian and white heritage. I think it’s important to recognize all of our heritage. My friend Frank Agostinelli has a lot to say about this. For those interested, check out his site at http://asiansofmixedrace.com

Elena great point!  Tiger Woods is 1/4 Black and 1/2 Asian, yet most consider him a Black athlete when the guy is more Asian than anything else.