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[Scottoant93Participant]

ESPN fires employee responsible for offensive Jeremy Lin headline, suspends another

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ESPN announced Sunday disciplinary action imposed on three employees for three separate incidents of racial-insensitivity related to the company’s coverage of New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin.

The employee responsible for the “Chink in the Armor” headline that ran on ESPN.com’s mobile site after the Knicks lost the Hornets on Friday night has been fired.

New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin has been the subject of an incredible amount of coverage. (AP Photo)

ESPN on Saturday apologized for that headline, plus a similar reference made last week by ESPNews anchor Max Bretos. Bretos, who uttered the phrase “chink in the armor,” perhaps with no ill-intent, while interviewing Knicks television analyst Walt Frazier, has been suspended for 30 days, ESPN announced.

ESPN said it has been made aware of a third incident, which occurred on ESPN Radio, but the radio commentator is not an ESPN employee.

“We again apologize, especially to Mr. Lin,” ESPN’s statement says. “His accomplishments are a source of great pride to the Asian-American community, including the Asian-American employees at ESPN. Through self-examination, improved editorial practices and controls, and response to constructive criticism, we will be better in the future.”

aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2012-02-19/jeremy-lin-max-bretos-espn-fires-disciplines-employees-for-offensive-chink-in-th

 

[NickWayne87Participant]

 but chink in the armor is a fairly common term, so now it’s just plain off limits to say that line about jeremy or another asain even if you don’t MEAN it that way?

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

NickWayne87

Yes.

[GoodbyeChandlerParticipant]

I feel sorry for Max Bretos. Im not saying that family ties is an excuse for bigotry but considering the fact that his wife is Asain, I don’t think he tried to insult anyone by using the phrase.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

I watched the end of the Knicks game against the Mavs and Lin, Novak,
and JR Smith were very clutch. Tyson Chandler is a great enforcer and
even Amare hit a big shot to beat the shot clock.

I enjoyed watching Lin and the Art of Basketball.

Memphis Madness

The LiNBA: It’s fantastic!

[wuteverParticipant]

 I am Asian and I thought it was amusing.  I dont know I asked my friends and the community, and the majority of us don’t really find it offensive.  I could be wrong here but the Asians that were born here or grew up in America get a chuckle out of this while those who are not really assimilated with American culture may find this more offensive, like my parents.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

I mean, do I think he did it intentionally? No. But, of all the sports and losing cliches he could have used, he really couldn’t have thought of something better? Like "Can’t Lin’em All" (Came to me even before he lost). Is it the end of the world? No. But, people tend to get held accountable for things they say that get viewed and heard by millions of people.

I honestly feel sorry for the guy and have no idea if it was intentional or not (though I do not think anyone was comparing him to a knight, or, this could be viewed as racist even though he is not japanese, samurai), just not surprised that he got into trouble. It seems unfair, just not out of line with that organization known as the world wide leader. 

[MuggsyParticipant]

mikeyvthedon:

The armor, or knight/samurai as you reference has nothing to do with the "offensive" part of the headline, "chink" is the issue, as it is commonly used as a racial slur against Chinese. Though in my personal experience amongst my friends absolutely none of them find it offensive.

[PrometheusParticipant]

 Cant you see this guy sitting at his computer agonizing over wether to send in the article with that title.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

You Know this might be the same guys that were working the Control Booth on Mike & Mike In the Morning and possibly kept saying Coon instead of King in Mike Greenberg’s ear piece…..During the Martin Luther King Holiday a few years ago,when Mike Greenberg said Martin Luther Coon……

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

You Know..i might be wrong or looking a this in the wrong way,but it seems that white people are Banned for Eternity in this country for saying anything that might be considered racially offensive..Even if its in a joking manner…

And i see black people openly mocking white people on comedy shows,in commercials,videos and in movies all the time…And nobody says anything……

[aamir543Participant]

I go to a school that is 70% asian, and I’m sure that most of my friends would take this more as a joke than a racial slur.

And Rudeboy, as far as entertainment goes, I think all races are mocked. Now there may be times when it gets controversial, but I think that all races are mocked in entertainment circles. 

[sheltwon3Participant]

What black person on a sports show or a show that is backed by a company more focused on it image has said anything remotely racist and gotten away with it.  You can’t compare comedy with media.  I am sure if a black person said this on sportcenter, they would have gotten suspended or fired too.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

What i’m saying is that black people on a tv show can get away with calling a white guy a Hon/key ..And folks will laugh,but if a white guy uses the N/Word.. All Hell Breaks Lose!!! lol

And nobody intentionally will say anything racist on a public forum..

Even those racist at Fox News use code words everyday…  A few months ago,GOP Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich called President Obama a Food Stamp President…And another GOP Candidate said all black people want is to take other people money..Its not all about using the N/Word anymore,They find our racial types to use..And a black Congress woman refered to her GOP opponents as White Devils..

 

[AccountCanBeDeletedParticipant]

Meh, I’ll probably get hated on for saying my two cents but I’ll live.

The way I see it is that the general consensus of the people posting on the web found it racist as ESPN used the word ‘chink’ when describing an aspect of Jeremy Lin’s game. I can appreciate this and accept that people may have found this racist as they feel that had Jeremy Lin not been Asian they wouldn’t have used it and would have used one of the many other possible clichés.

What I fail to grasp is the people who have just have seen ‘chink’, ‘Lin’ and jumped in and started crying ‘racist’ haven’t even looked at the context of how it was said and are using arguments which make no sense taken everything into account. Because technically it was used correctly ‘Chink in the armor’ followed underneath by the fact he had 9 turnovers and they lost the game, turnovers being his ‘flaw in his skill set’ so to say.

I personally think this whole article has been blown out of proportion. The phrase ‘chink in the armor’ was used correctly and if from I’ve read been used over 3000 times by ESPN (If this figures wrong I’m sorry, but it has been used lots of times). I feel that it was in poor-taste and probably shouldn’t have been used; however I wouldn’t deem it racist but that’s just me.

At the end of the day reading about it and watching some videos, there was one guy who I agreed with pretty much all he was saying and for the record if you think I’m racist because I agree with what he says, so be it. But to me I do find it ironic that people are basically saying you can’t use the phrase ‘Chink in the armor’ due to the fact he’s Asian, however that in itself is racist. As you’re basically excluding Asians from being described with that phrase and basically saying it can be used with any race bar Asians. Last time I checked excluding a whole race from something is pretty racist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWdr81w9pOY

But to me in general I just find those complaining are being over-sensitive and if ESPN had any balls they wouldn’t have been politically correct and removed the article like they did. But what are you going to do, I honestly couldn’t care less about ESPN. Do I feel bad for the writer? No. Do I agree he should have been fired? No, I don’t but that’s not for me to decide.

I personally would love to hear from Lin in regards to this, I’m intrigued at what he might say and what angle he would approach this whole scandal. I’m just saying wouldn’t it be ironic if Lin came out and said he didn’t find it racist I’m just saying?

[ChewyParticipant]

Espn’s image means more to them than this guys job. It really has nothing to do w/ the majority opinion in this case; as long as the offended minority is loud enough and they were.

Rudeboy your right, it has been a long standing joke that all black comedians talk about is race. "A black a guy would be like this…/ and a white guy would be like that."

White people really are on a short leash with race related jokes because of that whole slavery thing our grandpappies did way back when.

Weird fact on slavery: Who should share some blame for slavery? Believe it or not if you said africans you would be correct. African tribes would capture each other and turn each other into the white europeans. This would allow them to gain land for their tribe and provide them with more resources and food. There is no way white europeans would be very successful traversing unknown african landscaspe to capture local natives who know the land like the back of their hand.

[GrandmamaParticipant]

It probably wasn’t said maliciously, but the fact is that his choice for words was poor.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Uncle Buckshot is right,It was a poor choice of words,a bad joke..And he’s old enuff to know whats racially offensive and whats not…..That Fool might not have meant any harm..He made a joke and thought he could get away with it…

And Chewy is right African kings and tribe leaders sold and traded less fortunate africans to slave captures..But most of the history books dont mention that..

[ItsVictorOladipoParticipant]

White people really are on a short leash with race related jokes because of that whole slavery thing our grandpappies did way back when.

————————————————————————————————————–

 

Not to mention the prevalent racism in our society until just a generation ago…

[PurpleMonkeyDishwasherParticipant]

Really it had less to do with slavery because only a minute fraction of people could/would afford to take part in such a heinous thing and more to do with how people/regular folks in general treated the people that were or had had been previously enslaved. 

It wasn’t right then. It’s now right now… the idiot should lose his job and good jobs are still hard to come by.  I hope it’s another lesson but it will take many more generations before this type of thing is extinguished.

[McDunkin]

 I guess in the end Jeremy got his Lin-gence….

[Dale WorthingtonParticipant]

Absolutely ridiculous. The guy had no business getting fired and our society has completely gone overboard with regard to oversensitivity.

The guy in JohnDoe’s video is accurate. The ‘N’ word or "wetback" ONLY have negative connotations.

"Chink in the armor" has multiple connotations and there was no evidence to support that the phrase was used in a discriminatory manner in this particular case.

[Scottoant93Participant]

^^^Im sorry thats pure BS, Blacks and hispanics went through a lot of struggle, but dont try to forget Japenese americans who were held in imprisonment camps, and jewish people during the holcaust. So guess we should forget about them too because the "N" word or "wetback" are the only negative slurs…yet every race has their own racial slur and some people get offended some dont,  Me i don’t get offended if someone calls me a "Dago" or "Guniea" racial slurs of italians, but another italian might…point is your supposed to be a professonal writer, so this comes up the package, its your job to expand your vocab. and figure out what might be offensive and what won’t. Im actually more suprised no one edited it and said "yo you should change that, it might not go well with some people".

[OldSkoolBasketballParticipant]

 Wouldn’t white, yellow, and black mamba be racist as well? Black mamba is a real snake though.

[AccountCanBeDeletedParticipant]

Just to warn you, the post underneath is a pretty long post, in regards to the whole thing. I do go on a rant and a bit off-topic. So I’m sorry if it appears I’m rambling, but meh like I always say I’ll live.

—

The headline:

“Chink in the armor” Begley: Jeremy Lin’s 9 Turnovers Cost Knicks in Streak-Snapping Loss to Hornets.

—

As a person who found that the use of the phrase not racist, I’m asking anyone who found it racist to actually post why they found it racist, as I’m interested in seeing the different views about this. I do realise this is pretty much off-topic in regards to basketball by now, but regardless.

Did you find it racist due to the fact the word ‘chink’ was used?

Was it down to the fact ‘Chink’ was used in an article about an Asian-American?

This one I guess can be perceived as racism if you feel it was only on Lin, but it has been several hundred times on other people. So I’m guessing if someone found offensive for the above, it has to be due to the fact the phrase was used as a headline “for the first time” about a Asian. The way I see it is at some stage someone has to be the first to use it, it just so happens as a headline was based on a Asian. Some will say it was done on purpose, some say it wasn’t.. Who really knows? All I know is you can’t base something on assumptions and personally normally give the benefit of the doubt, I say that knowing the writers wife is Asian and I’m pretty sure if he was racist that wouldn’t work to well.

Alternatively, is it because you actually believe that the derogatory version of the word ‘chink’ used in ‘Chink in the armor’ makes it racist?

This is one I’m failing to see as I can’t grasp how with the derogatory meaning it would make any sense. Especially as linked with the next line the headline, to me anyway it’s almost like an incomplete sentence. Might just be me?

Or was it something else?

I’m personally intrigued to learn more about the underlying cause of why those who found it racist, found it racist

—

Honestly, my view at the moment is that personally this is the result of people not even knowing that ‘Chink’ has another definition and a result of lack of English in Asian communities (I say Asian as they would likely be the most offended by the headline), but I what I say bellow applies to everyone.

As at the end of the day the word ‘chink’ has multiple connotations. The fact of the matter is that it shouldn’t, simple as that. The word has one meaning which is a derogatory slang term (200 hundred years or so old) and the other meaning ‘gap/crack (several hundred years old). Correct me if I’m wrong on the dates.

What should be happening and should have happened is that those offended by the word now when they were kids should have been told the true definition of the word. Hypothetically now, if I was Asian and maybe it’s just me, but if I go to school and my teacher tells me ‘chink’ means gap/crack and then some random bloke calls me a ‘chink’ I would think the bloke is plain stupid calling me a gap. Even if after I learn that some people use it as a derogatory term, I would see past that and say so what if they think the word means that, I know the actual word means gap, end off. As at the end of the day personally speaking realise that any word can be taken and if said enough times in the wrong way to the same person for a specific reason can be taken and then seen as a derogatory term.

But to me anyways the fact the word ‘chink’ still has the negative meaning is the problem. At the end of the day there will always be racist people out there, but those being offended should realise as long as they hold onto those words to heart the problem will never go. They should accept there will always be a stupid, racist person out there with nothing better to do trying to insult you. But they should realise what they’re saying means absolutely shit all, and the satisfaction of knowing that the person speaking to you is stupid should be enough.

Reading back I know this dragged on and went off-topic, but basically I feel that the whole thing was blown out of proportion. There is definitely some over-sensitivity, but in general feel there is an underlying problem with such derogatory terms, and they shouldn’t even be acknowledged in that perspective now a day, given the example towards the end about me being ‘hypothetically Asian’ had that occur on a wider scale with everyone would this whole thing be occurring right now?

Like always, my two cent or this case…

[HaleParticipant]

 It obviously wasn’t the best choice of words, but wow, we are way too damn sensitive to things like this.

[Dale WorthingtonParticipant]

What you’re not getting, Scott, is that the phrase "chink in the armor" isn’t discriminatory…

…whether it’s being used for an Asian or someone of a different race. "Chink in the armor" has nothing to do with the racial slur "chink" or one’s race at all.

The notion that "chink in the armor" has anything to do with insulting the Asian race is preposterous and quite the stretch.

Its meaning is quite clear and harmless: one’s weakness. Maybe people could look up the phrase on Google and see how innocuous an expression it is before they get all butthurt about it.

[Scottoant93Participant]

^^^Nah i got the part about chink in the armor my comment was directed toward only the n word and wetback have true negative meaning. I know what the saying means, i’ve heard it before lin got offended dude got fired. like i said im suprised the editor didnt say "dude people might take that the wrong way"

[Dale WorthingtonParticipant]

Okay, I got ya.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

But it was in reference to armor, that is what I was getting at. If Lin had a nickname that was in reference to anything that wore armor, than at the very least you could see the connection and possible use of said expression. Since he obviously was not, it was just makes the guy seem like he made a racist headline. It is a commonly used sports cliche and expression, but with Lin it of course had the negative racial slur involved.

Knew that "armor" was not the offensive word, but was just stating that if it had any connection to Lin, it would not seem as racist as it definitely did. I just think that the guy was probably not racist as much as he either had a really sick, twisted sense of humor that was racially based or chose an expression that he put little thought into. Either way, it was a horrible choice of words that he definitely should have thought about a tad longer.

One thing I will say is, when I think about the phrase "Chink in the Armor", I usually do not find it derogatory to Chinese people (I guess some would say Asians, but the racial term is used based around China). Like, I do not want to push boundaries here, but when you think of the phrase "getting the monkey off your back", do you find it racist?

Some people might. I remember there was an attractive African American cheerleader, and we ended up talking about her. I stated that she happened to be in my "Introduction to Monkeys & Apes" class, which immediately got some guy laughing and saying that was racist. Well, she was in that class with me. I never put that connection together and found that someone who thought it was me making a racially derogatory observation (which I was not), was kind of just perpetuating a rather negative racial stereotype.

This was obviously on a more national level and may have been a poor use of the phrase, but I kind of feel like it is being blown out of proportion. If the guy did indeed mean it as a racial slur, he is an @ss, but I could see it being just a poor choice of words.

[Scottoant93Participant]

Yes MikeyV we all make stupid comments from time to time that may be racist and poor choice of words…

for example there was a thread on here called smart players or something like that, that had jermey lin and landry fields doing their handshake that they created. Someone comment saying(thats what a Harvard and Stanford eductaion gets you) for which i responded as a joke " Yeah i guess 100 thousand dollers a year and all that slave labor was well worth it".  Now my intentions were that obviously those universities cost alot of money and am sure the quality of education is high and difficult so your working your a$$ off paying off and getting your degree. On this site though people didnt see it that, all they saw was "Slave Labor".. Extremely poor of words, but at the time i didnt think about it…i thought people would put 2 and 2 togather but if that was on a national scale i probably be fired as well probably quicker then this dude was.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

I mean, this is just a message board and I think we all get confused with peoples intent. Luckily enough, we are not seen and broken down by millions of people. We definitely put thought into our posts (well, some of us more than others), but the guy clearly should have put more thought into the connotation of the headline.

Not to mention, I still like "Can’t Lin’em All". I am sure most people are rather Lindifferent to most headlines about Jeremy at this point, just put some form of a "Lin" pun in and give it your best shot. I guess this where people finally drew the Lin though, when it was a word with two meanings, one of which was a racial slur. I still think that headlines with "Lin" take Linimal effort and was surprised he could not think of a better one, which is probably why people feel he was more than likely being racist.

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