Hmm

I'm still kind of torn about these incidences.  I agree with the post as far as them having their own "special" relationship because they work closely with each other but it really did hit a larger audience since it was televised.  While I understand that we will always  be the subject of some kind of prejudice and will be the butt of the joke every now and then (even more so now that the country is on an anti-China kick, China is the new Russia), but there is a point where it just isn't funny anymore.  

Speaking from personal experiences at work, my previous job and this current one, I chose to turn the other cheek.  There are two ways to handle something like this.  Since in my situation it is in the workplace it's about quelling the situation before it gets out of hand.  I chose to not validate the comments, statements, and "jokes" and just ignore them.  Ideally the negative energy should just dissipate. Unfortunately at my job they don't understand when to stop.  So I guess it's just up to me to be the better person and grow thicker skin.  After all in the words of my dad, it's work.  You're there to earn a living, not make friends.  Put your head down to the grinding wheel and do your work.  Smile a fake smile and go home.  Sadly that is the way it has to be.

So anyway it's one thing to be hyper-sensitive to racial issues and not get offended by every single situation that comes up but I guess when it's directed towards you it's a whole different ballgame, so to speak.

Good For You, Guy: Bruce Chen “Not Offended At All” By Teammate Giving The Chink-Eye:

So, Saturday night during a game between the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates, this happened…

Bruce Chen, who was being interviewed by FOX at the bottom of the 4th, is Panamanian of Chinese descent and a pitcher for the Royals. Humberto Quintero, who was giving the chink-eye, is Venezuelan and catcher for the team. Chen commented on the incident later when he saw the video and didn’t seem bothered by it:

“I’m not offended at all,” Chen insisted. “I’m proud of my heritage and being Asian. I really like the way my eyes look. It makes me look sexy. It’s just joking around. I’m definitely not offended, and I hope other people don’t get offended.

“I don’t think, by any means, was he trying to put my race down. He was doing it to me, and I like the way my eyes look.”

I get that Chen’s a pitcher and Quintero his catcher, and they have a close relationship that lends itself to them giving one another shit of this sort, like, all the time. But when this happens during a televised game, it’s bigger than a couple of teammates fucking with one another. While Quintero’s getting criticized for making the racist gesture, Chen’s “I’m Not Offended At All” defense of it is, in some ways, more troubling. Instead of taking a step back and looking at the big picture, Chen’s settling for being That Guy. We’ve all known That Guy–correction, we’ve all been That Guy–the one who’s quickest not to be offended, because being offended just isn’t cool. Yeah. And the easiest way to show you’re in on the joke instead of the butt of it is to say, “I’m [The Race That Should Be Offended], But I’m Not Offended.”

Good for you, Not Offended Person. You get the Most Evolved When It Comes To Dealing With Racist Jokes Award. Only this shit isn’t about you. It’s not about you or you and one other person or even a handful of people. It’s about this incident being witnessed by a wider audience, witnessed by, say, children who regularly experience the humiliation of people giving them the chink-eye, and it’s about some adult telling them their humiliation isn’t real.

The silver lining here may be that the “wider audience” for this incident only amounted to 3 percent of the country when it happened. (For better or for worse, it will live on on the internet.) And probably an even smaller percentage actually laid eyes–chink-eyes or otherwise–on the game because, let’s face it, no one really has any fux to give when it comes to the Kansas City Royals anyway.

[Big League Stew: Bruce Chen interview interrupted by teammate Humberto Quintero making ‘slanted eyes’ gesture]

Thanks, Dean!