Stereotypes of AAPI in Sports
Asian Americans are often stereotyped as physically weak and passive and that they mainly focus on academic excellence. These stereotypes are that strength and aggressiveness are crucial to achieve athletic success—and under the false notion that people of Asian descent are neither physically strong nor aggressive. Because of the stereotypes, Asian athletes encounter more trouble in recruitment and must spend more time proving the stereotypes wrong to their coaches and fellow players just because they are born Asian. The stereotypes have also caused many Asians to turn away from athletics, preventing more Asians from playing sports.
Examples of Asian Athletes Experiencing Racism
Many Asian athletes have experienced racism, including Jeremy Lin, Chloe Kim, and Yul Moldauer.
Jeremy Lin is a Chinese-American basketball player and a nine year NBA veteran. When Lin was playing for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the NBA G League, an NBA G league player called Lin "coronavirus" during a game. The racist act correlates to when the former President Donald J. Trump called the coronavirus “China Virus” in 2020.
Chloe Kim is a Korean American reigning Olympics halfpipe gold medalist. She has been receiving racist messages with anti-Asian hate ever since she won her first medal at the 2014 X Games in Aspen, Colorado when she was 13-years-old. Kim have received messages like “You dumb Asian b——,” which greatly harmed her mental health. Kim has felt helpless and afraid, feared for the safety of her and her family, and started to hate being Asian because of the racist messages. Kim says that she also got messages telling her “to go back to China and to stop taking medals away from the white American girls on the team.”
Yul Moldauer is a world class gymnast who was born in and adopted from South Korea. Moldauer recalled a day when a female driver was racist and yelled at him, “Go back to China.”
Numerous Asian athletes experienced racism and, through social media platforms, are now speaking up by sharing their incidents to spread awareness of anti-Asian racism.
Laws and Legislations about Racism in Sports
Laws and legislations about racism in sports include fines and penalties. Teams or people involved with racist acts might get fined money or receive penalties like bans and point deductions. Still, it takes everyone’s support to curb the raging racism.
Sources:
- https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2021/06/11/jackson-he-mike-magpayo-helping-to-combat-asian-american-stereotypes-in-college-athletics/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/sports/basketball/jeremy-lin-asian-attacks-racism.html
- https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/31182888/olympic-gold-medalist-chloe-kim-shares-experience-anti-asian-hate
- https://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/story/2021-04-07/asian-american-olympians-share-experiences