Another Almost Moment

Max Bretos and his Asian wife, and Asian-looking half white son

I've written before that this seems to be the era of the Asians. I blogged about the brouhaha around Chinese basketball player Jeremy Lin when Max Bretos, an anchor for ESPN, was suspended for using "Chink in the armor" in a discussion, and a sportswriter for ESPN was fired for using "Chink in the armor" in an article. Both were referring to Lin, the Knicks player whose team lost to the New Jersey Nets, putting a glitch in the Knicks' winning streak. I wrote on Lin:

I don't understand the eulogies that go alongside Lin's name, as though he could do no wrong. He is only one, tall Chinese guy, after all.

Jared, a commentator at Larry Auster's View From the Right says something similar to what I've written, albeit in a gentler way:

Lin was asked by the media about the situation. He said,

"They've apologized, and so from my end, I don't care anymore.... You have to learn to forgive, and I don't even think that was intentional."

What he should have said was:

"To be honest, I'm very disappointed with ESPN. In fact, it's despicable and insulting to think that the Asian community would take offense to such a ridiculous thing. Even if it were meant as a racial insult, which it wasn't, I think I speak for all Asian Americans by saying that we would laugh something like that off without a moment's notice. We are better than that and I am far more insulted that ESPN made more of it than it really is."

And Larry Auster replies, humorously:

Thank you for providing all this useful perspective on the Lin story.

No one asks: Is the familiar expression, "a chink in the armor," or "a chink in the wall," now outlawed if there is a Chinese person anywhere within earshot? Or, I should say, if there is a Chinese person anywhere on the continent?

Lin had his "almost" moment. I've written about other prominent Asians in the West and their "almost" moments (here, here, and here). My take is on these "almost" moments in the world of fashion design, where something is amiss in the creations of big-name Asian designers, and their clothes don't quite come up to par with those of the classic Valentino and even the flamboyant Jean Paul Gualtier.