Floyd Mayweather’s comments about Jeremy Lin only getting hype because he’s Asian finally reached whatever cave UFC Commissioner Dana White has been living in.
A full week after everyone else went through the normal cycle of getting outraged, being angry and eventually moving on regarding Mayweather’s take on New York’s newest shining star, White decided to offer his two cents on the topic in an interview with FUEL TV.
(via Fox Sports)
"First of all, what (Mayweather) said, I think, is racist. He's made a couple of racist comments. And yes, Floyd, you're racist with the stuff that you've said," White began.
"First of all, Jeremy Lin gets all this credit because he's an Asian player in the NBA that African-Americans never get? Yeah, he's getting all this praise because he is an Asian guy playing in the NBA.
"And you say African-Americans don't get it? Really? Kobe Bryant doesn't get any praise? Michael Jordan never got any praise? The list goes on and on of guys who completely get praised for being great NBA basketball players. Not only can (Lin) compete and make it in the NBA, the guy is tearing it up and is breaking records, you knucklehead."
And on the topic of Manny Pacquiao:
"The other thing you said was that Manny Pacquiao should make some sushi somewhere," White said. "Sushi is from Japan. He's from the Philippines, dummy."
While White is certainly entitled to his opinion, you sort of have to wonder what exactly his endgame is here. Putting whether or not Mayweather is a racist aside; why is the UFC Commissioner bringing this topic back to the news forefront after everyone has already moved on? And honestly, while Mayweather’s incendiary Pacquiao comments are just as racist today as they were when they were first made, his take on Lin isn’t the slightest bit racist. It might be poorly-worded or mildly ignorant, but it’s not racist.
A big part of the way Lin is covered and the hype that he gets is because he’s Asian. Several events that have transpired over the last few days confirm that. So while not all of the hype Lin gets stems from him being Asian, enough of it does for that to be a subject of discussion.
Regardless of where you stand on how being Asian impacts Lin’s coverage, though: is White right? Is Floyd Mayweather Jr. a racist?
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