Posted 8:26 PM by e*star

Shaq-Yao Updatings

Since Raymond has called to our attention that Tiger Cafe is one of the top hits regarding the Shaq controversy, I took it upon myself to research more and update what's been going on with this whole mess. It's good to get different resources and different opinions, don't you think? I thought ESPN Insider (a feature of espn.com which you have to pay for/subscribe to) did a pretty thoughtful piece on reporting the whole incident.

*****
Shaq under fire for Yao-bashing
by Chad Ford
Shaquille O'Neal may be one of the most beloved figures in the NBA, but his recent verbal attacks on Chinese big man Yao Ming is starting to raise a troubling question -- is Shaq a racist?

Some feel Shaq's recent comments in his escalating war of words with Yao have crossed the line from trash talk to racial slurs.

AsianWeek columnist Irwin Tang recently called out O'Neal for several derogatory comments thrown in Yao's direction.

"Tell Yao Ming, 'ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh.' " O'Neal said to a reporter recently in a mock Chinese accent.

When asked this summer how he would greet Yao, Shaq said his elbows would do the talking.

"Street," O'Neal said of what is awaiting Yao in the NBA. "Playing in a gym, shooting jumpers and all that ... that's fine. But I'm street. I'm how to take a 'bow to your nose and (make you) think about what I'm going to do next time down."

Those aren't the only times Shaq has threatened Yao or mocked him for being Chinese. And Shaq isn't the only one. Charles Barkley has had his fun with Yao. Even the league itself has perpetuated stereotypes, including a recent Miami Heat promotional giveaway of 8,000 fortune cookies.

Yao, ever the diplomat, has stayed above the fray. He has joked alongside Barkley, sparred a bit verbally with O'Neal and said he found the fortune cookie promotion amusing, even if the Chinese in China don't actually eat fortune cookies.

Insider talked to several people close to O'Neal on Thursday. All of them were emphatic that O'Neal is not a racist. He was trying to be funny, they explained, and would never intentionally degrade someone because of their race. In fact, they were quick to point out, the NAACP recently honored O'Neal with its Young Leaders Award.

But even if Shaq was simply trying to be funny, Tang thinks the NBA, and the media, are employing a double standard when it comes to Asians.

"Let's not beat around the bush," Tang writes. "If a white player had, for instance, made monkey sounds to taunt a black player, it would have been a national controversy. But Yao is Chinese and Asians are fair game ...

"Forgive my bitterness. I grew up in Texas, facing those 'ching-chong' taunts daily while teachers averted their ears. I love basketball, and when Yao was drafted by Houston, I had to suppress my excitement, lest he turn out a complete flop. I went to see the Rockets play the L.A. Clippers on Dec. 12. Yao is a huge young man with huge skills. But he's also a kid in a foreign land. You can tell by the way he carries himself when the ball is not in play. My heart goes out to Yao Ming. Yao Ming is our Asian Jackie Robinson, though he does not face the intensity of animosity Robinson faced. Unfortunately Shaquille O'Neal is the modern-day Ty Cobb, the rough-playing baseball superstar who used the n-word about Robinson."

Tang is not the only one ruffled by Shaq's comments. I've received several reader e-mails over the last week about the issue. One long-time Insider reader wrote me Thursday to express his sadness over Shaq's comments:

"If this is accurate, it is pretty reprehensible," he wrote. "Too bad Shaq did not attend the World Basketball Championships. He might have found it as culturally enlightening as the rest of us. I will never forget the vigor of the Argentinian crowd after Emanuel Ginobili dunked all over Russia, or the Chinese flag-waving, 4-foot-10 Yao fan at the US-China game. ... At least Allen Iverson has seen the light. Yao is truly, 'A gift from god.' "

In a league that has been the model for integration for all ethnic groups, the issue shouldn't just be swept under the rug. Only Shaq knows what his true intentions are. But the thing about racial remarks is that the pain felt by those on the receiving end is very real, even when the intentions are benign. The NBA knows China, and its billion-plus potential fans, deserves better.

Ironically, the NBA announced the results of the latest All-Star voting numbers Wednesday, and Yao had widened his lead over Shaq for the starting center position on the Western Conference team. While some look on in dismay -- Brent Musburger reportedly lamented on ABC's Christmas Day broadcast that "the hordes of China" (another veiled slur?) might stuff the All-Star ballot box -- others will see it as a sign of hope. Hope that the borders that still demarcate the game will one day dissolve. Hope that the league will include the fans who follow the NBA faithfully throughout the world. Hope that there will come a day when we embrace players based on their level of skill and the content of their character, and not on the color of their skin.

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Alas! We get a response from Shaq!

Quite, quite poor, might I add. So poor, I regret that a response was even made by Shaq. He just continued to complete getting not only his foot into his mouth, but shove it down his throat.

"I said it jokingly, so this guy was just trying to stir something up that's not there. He's just somebody who doesn't have a sense of humor, like I do. I don't have to have a response to that (the charges of racism) because the people who know me know I'm not,'' O'Neal said Friday before Los Angeles' game against Cleveland.

Nice apology. And thanks to the Associated Press to cover his ass for him, too. They made the article so reconciliatory-sounding. Like, "All is fair, now. He apologized." They even sum it up to his being a "bad comedian" since he was "only kidding." How absolutely horrible. Yeah, Shaq. Thanks for the apology. We appreciate it.

"I mean, if I was the first one to do it, and the only one to do it, I could see what they're talking about. But if I offended anybody, I apologize.''

What the hell does this mean?? Thanks, Shaq--you're off the hook now because guess what! You *weren't* the first one to do it! And you're an NBA star, so that further negates you from any accountability.

Steve Kelley from the Seattle Times also thought the apology was not appropriate. Thank goodness somebody is on our side, and not necessarily an Asian American writer, therefore biased in everyone else's eyes. Thanks, also, to Jim Rome, who also thought the same thing of Shaq's poor apology.

To top this off, I'll just reference, here, other Asian American issue-conscious sites also covering this controversy in full detail.
Angry Asian Man
Paramecium Parachute

That's it. :)
*e