Why do we have to be racist????

THE same racial stereotypes that dogged Yao Ming early in his NBA career are now being cast upon Harvard educated, New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin.

American sports network ESPN was forced to apologise on Saturday for an anti-Asian slur directed at Chinese-American Lin that appeared in a story about the point guard following the Knicks 89-85 loss on Friday night.
The headline "Chink in the Armour" was included in an online story about Lin's role in the game that ended New York's seven-game winning streak.
ESPN said in a statement it was "conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologise for this mistake."
ESPN claimed that the headline appeared to only mobile browsers for a 35-minute period but long enough for scores of people to see it.

The Knicks have been on a magical run since former part-time player Lin was called upon with two starters missing and answered with the most points of any NBA player in his first five starts since the NBA and ABA merged in 1976.
Lin's fairy-tale story is further enhanced because he was cut by two clubs, including Yao's former team the Houston Rockets, before the season started.
While the majority of Americans are captivated by the "Lin-sanity" phenomenon, others like US African-American boxer Floyd Mayweather are not.
"Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise," Mayweather said in a posting on his Twitter microblogging website.
Like Lin, retired eight-time NBA all-star Yao had to face taunts and ethnic slurs when he broke into the league in 2002.
Former Detroit Piston Ben Wallace said the then 21-year-old Yao would receive a rude welcome the first time China's national team played the United States in August 2002 in Oakland, California.
"We are going to beat him up. We are going to beat him up pretty bad," Wallace said. "Welcome to the league, welcome to our country. This is our playground."
Yao also had to deal with ethnic slurs from former Los Angeles Laker Shaquille O'Neal who once mockingly told a television reporter, "Tell Yao Ming, 'ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh'."
The 23-year-old Lin said on Wednesday he hopes to change outlooks and stereotypes regarding Asians and Asian-American NBA players.
"I think there are definitely (Asian) stereotypes," he said.
"There are a lot of them. The more we can do to break those down every day the better we will become.
"Hopefully in the near future we will see a lot more Asians and Asian-Americans playing in the NBA."
ESPN has fired an employee and suspended an anchor for using "offensive and inappropriate comments" about NBA phenomenon Jeremy Lin.

The moves come after ESPN apologised for its "Chink in The Armour" headline that appeared on ESPN.com's mobile website following the New York Knicks' 89-85 loss to the hapless New Orleans Hornets Friday.
The phrase, which carries obvious racial overtones when used in reference to a person of Asian descent, appeared on the site for more than 30 minutes before being removed.

The expression was also used by ESPN anchor Max Bretos on Wednesday when he asked a question about Lin's weaknesses during an interview with Hall-of-Fame Knicks guard Walt Frazier.
The network announced today that it had fired the employee responsible for the headline and was suspending an anchor for 30 days for "offensive and inappropriate comments" used during its coverage of Lin. The anchor is reportedly Bretos.
ESPN also said it had learned a similar phrase was used by ESPN Radio New York. ESPN said that it had not taken action for the radio incident because the commentator was not an ESPN employee.
"We again apologise, especially to Mr Lin," ESPN said in a statement.
"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."
Lin, the first Asian-American to start an NBA game and an adopted hero in China, committed nine turnovers in the Knicks' surprise 89-85 loss to the Hornets at Madison Square Garden on Friday night. Lin, however, still showed flashes of brilliance in the game, scoring 26 points and dishing out five assists.
The defeat snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Knicks with the previously-unheralded Harvard graduate, who emerged in spectacular fashion with a run of elite performances to lay claim to the team's starting point guard spot and garner global acclaim.