By Jennifer Ju
Facing Ourselves
Jennifer Ju
Citius, atius, fortius; Faster, higher, stronger.
The motto of the Olympics since 1894 embodies the spirit of this international sports event, which has taken place for centuries. But does racial bias impede the extent to which athletes can pursue these goals?
The Tokyo Olympics took place this summer. As with most Olympics, there were controversies. One controversy involved the recent comments of a reporter for Greek state-owned TV channel ERT who, when asked about South Korean table tennis players, said “Their eyes are so narrow, so I cannot understand how they can see how the ball goes back and forth.”
Comments like these are not that uncommon beyond the Olympics, with slurs like “Hey, can you even see the scoreboard with those eyes?” hurled at athletes like basketball player Jeremy Lin.
Beyond being emotionally wounding, these racial stereotypes are also harmful to athletes’ success. Many athletes share their personal struggle with overcoming racial stereotypes. When Lin was asked why he was not offered a scholarship from any Pac-10 (now Pac-12) school despite having captained his Palo Alto high school team to a California state title, or why no team picked Lin in the 2010 NBA draft despite his success as a college athlete, he answered, “I think the obvious thing in my mind is that I was an Asian American. I think that was a barrier.”
He and other athletes allude to the barriers minorities face in sports if they are seen through the lens of preconceived notions rather than their demonstrated record and ability.
Numerous studies support the existence of extensive explicit and implicit racial bias in the field of sports and beyond. Law professor and author Jonathan Kahn describes implicit bias as the “mental recognition or construction of a social group, the association of a stereotype with that group, and the layering of a positive or negative association or attitude on top of that stereotype.”
Implicit bias is usually subconscious or unintentional, yet can still have a widespread ripple effect, not only to athletes, but to coaches, recruiters, referees, broadcasters and the leagues themselves, affecting not only the players but the outcome of the games and competitions. The NBA and the NFL are among the sports leagues whose bias has been studied, with steps being taken to attempt to rectify it.
Even if the intention is innocent or meant to be complimentary, bias can still be harmful. Look at the ways in which Asian athletes’ bodies are often discussed in the media. Adjectives such as small, fragile, tiny and willowy are used to describe many Asian athletes. This is an over-generalization of a racial group, which like any other, has members who vary in body shape and size. Focus on athletes’ bodies in this manner also takes the spotlight away from the painstaking years of sacrifice, focus and training they have dedicated to accomplishing this level of achievement.
Bias is present in the arts as well, including dance. Misty Copeland, a renowned ballerina who made history as the American Ballet Theatre’s first Black principal dancer, was the only Black ballerina for the first 10 years in ABT. She shares her experience of being criticized for being “too muscular” or for the size of certain body parts. She also speaks out about the ongoing use of blackface in ballet performances around the world and the need for more racial inclusivity.
Copeland continues to advocate for social justice, saying in an interview for Yahoo Finance, “This has been my life’s work as a dancer, speaking about racism in the world and in ballet, speaking about the lack of diversity.”
Stanley Thangaraj, an anthropologist, author and former athlete and coach told NBC News, “This is one of the critical ways racism works – by creating these different terms of humanness and ability.” He goes on to describe the scope of racial prejudices as “both institutional and individual.” For better or worse, what we think about ourselves and others helps shape reality, both now and in the future.
We need to reexamine the beliefs and assumptions of how things “should be” and are. We need to reevaluate how we view ourselves and others, and be aware that each and every one of us has implicit and explicit bias. When we work to expand our perspective, seeing each person clearly and without bias, we are all more likely to achieve our full potential.
Can we truly go “faster, higher, stronger,” if we bear the burden of racism and bias like a millstone around our neck? This year, the International Olympic Committee changed its motto to “Faster, higher, stronger, together.” Hopefully this is just one step of many toward a more just, inclusive and fair arena, not only in sports, but in the rest of life as well.
Jennifer Ju, MD is a physician who is a graduate of the Brown University family medicine residency program. She is also an actor and writer who has performed in various theatres across the state and whose plays have been produced locally. Ju has also presented numerous online and in-person workshops on mindfulness, health and wellness for parents and children, as well as for pre-K-12 educators in New Haven and Fairfield counties.
Jen, I’m telling you…you have some special material that can make people feel compassion and empathy. START WRITING PLAYS ABOUT IT! Writers write about what is important to them. It gives them the inspiration to let people in and see their souls. I’m still thinking that you can write a play about a little Asian girl…put yourself to the test and start writing. The audience will feel your soul if you choose to share it!!
I respect this article, however, there are certain things I wanted to call out.
To begin, the article is based on the assumption that some of the more racially charged comments/actions are generally accepted by the public. The Greek commentator was fired from his job and though Jeremy Lin does see his fair share of racial slurs (which most come from a group of people that are generally insensitive and even from some of the players who come from minority backgrounds), there have been serious consequences dealt against individuals making explicit racially degrading comments (i.e. “Chink in the armor” case). I applaud most of the case studies that this article use, but it does not highlight some of the more implicit racial biasedness which it seeks to address. I would look to how Asian owned businesses were impacted during the COVID pandemic or even the controversial debate on the steep hurdle Asian students face when applying to universities.
I also do want to point out that there have been no considerable action plan given to overcome this. The article spends most of its time critiquing the current system and dedicates a small portion in the end to get people to “reevaluate the beliefs and assumptions.” While it sounds good on paper and morally commendable, hearing such rhetoric repeatedly will not only fall on tired ears, but irk certain individuals who may even not be at fault to begin with.
Lastly, this goes back to some of the case studies given. There is a bit of disconnect between the examples given and the topic of implicit biasedness. The examples given are more explicit in nature rather than implicit. While I did bring up some examples to potentially explore, can a case not also be made that there are some form of implicit biasedness within the Asian community? Not just towards non-asians, but also towards other Asians as well. Asians from different countries can be biased towards Asians from others not because of the American system, but because of their cultural background of their mother nation. Before we start critiquing the system or non-asians, I would argue that certain reflections have to be made about ourselves as well. But even then, I doubt this is something that the Asian community wants to address. Not because of ignorant reasons, but because of other priorities from being a minority group in the USA.
I do want to note I really commend this article for reading a stand. It takes great deal of courage to speak up for one’s belief.