ESPN Jeremy Lin Headline: Civil Rights Organization Demands More Than Apology (UPDATED)

UPDATE: ESPN has fired the employee responsible for the offensive headline "Chink in the Armor." The network has suspended the anchor who also used the phrase, the Associated Press reports.

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Though ESPN apologized for referring to Jeremy Lin as "Chink in the Armor" Friday night, an Asian-American civil rights organization isn't satisfied with the response.

ESPN changed the headline, and apologized, but the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, an organization that promotes civil rights for Asian Americans, wants the network to do even more.

In a statement posted its site, the AALDEF said that the term used was "inexcusable" and wants ESPN to apologize on air so that "it is clear to all viewers that this racist language is unacceptable."

The AALDEF offered to meet with the network to help educate its staff and establish procedures to prevent such slurs from appearing in their work.

"The time for apologies is over" the AALDEF wrote. "The media and the general public must understand that racist language and stereotypes used to describe Jeremy Lin are an insult to all Asian Americans, and no one should tolerate their use."

The headline originated after the Hornets ended the Knicks' seven-game winning streak, and ESPN attributed the loss to Jeremy Lin's nine turnovers, and posted the story with the offensive headline.

"We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again," ESPN wrote in a statement on its site Saturday. "We regret and apologize for this mistake."

The incident came just three days after an ESPN anchor used the term "chink in the armor" and one day after the owner of the Knicks aired an offensive image of Lin popping out of a fortune cookie, ESPN published the insensitive headline.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Check out ways to become involved with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund as it seeks to advocate for issues such as economic justice, education equity and fighting anti-Asian bias.

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Comments

[TemoralaMancha]

04:33 PM on 02/21/2012

Lin said he didn't care about the headline and wasn't offended. The writer who was fired said he meant no ill-intent and the pun was unintentional (that he'd used that same headline hundreds of times in the past).

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

[GavurHanIm]

05:03 PM on 02/21/2012

agreed. what a waste of time..

[RancherTx]

04:17 PM on 02/21/2012

This is so stupid people take offense to any thing and lawyers will sue just to make a buck, even when there was no malice.. The phrase a "chink in the armor" dates back to medieval England and simply means a weak place....GROW UP and SHUT UP

[Lewis Cruise]

04:21 PM on 02/21/2012

Go back to Perry's ranch and shut up!

[sweetsexybrat1]

03:59 PM on 02/21/2012

Doug you seem to have a bit of a chip on your shoulder, just saying!!

[SonOfMcBush]

11:29 AM on 02/21/2012

Relax ,it's a word, An apology is sufficient.

[Nairobi Brad]

09:10 AM on 02/21/2012

Jeremy Shu-How Lin is NO LESS an American than Barack Hussein Obama. Or putting it another way, Jeremy Lin is as much of a Chinese as Obama is Kenyan.

Jeremy Lin was born in Los Angeles, California, is an American citizen, speaks fluent American English, and by his own admission, needs help in speaking Mandarin.

Therefore, to say that the term "Chink in the Armor" is racist because it was specifically used to describe Jeremy Lin, is a lot of bullshit.

[douglazyxx]

11:26 AM on 02/21/2012

So let me get this straight. You are saying that because Jeremy was born in California, he is not Asian?? WTF??? I didn't know that if you are born in the USA you can choose your race also. That's amazing. WHAT A COUNTRY.

[Nairobi Brad]

02:06 PM on 02/21/2012

My post is laid out in black and white. Read what you want from it (or what isn't in it). After all, this is America, where many people love to read or hear meanings into (or from) what IS NOT written or said.

[falcon303]

07:33 AM on 02/21/2012

CRY AND CRY A SETTLEMENT, A JOKE IS A JOKE OUR GOVERNMENT IS A JOKE
PASSING IGNORANT LAWS BECAUSE OF PC AND THE VOTE GRABBERS.

[Tom4]

05:47 AM on 02/21/2012

Sorry, but don't know the word and what it means. Maybe the writer (user of the word) didn't know either.

[hsmachine]

01:43 AM on 02/21/2012

A spade a spade

[danrothesq]

11:41 PM on 02/20/2012

This stuff is getting so sickening I am demanding my fair share and I want it now.

[mizdixie]

10:50 PM on 02/20/2012

Years ago while walking to school in Nashville, TN, a black girl about my age jumped out in front of me and yelled "You be a honkie!" It was my first encounter with racism. I lifted my hands, looked at both sides and stated 'You're right and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. So what's your point?' Not another word came out of her mouth & it was the only time I was accosted.

[douglazyxx]

11:33 AM on 02/21/2012

Interesting story. You should feel great that that is your only encounter with Racism. LOL@ "You Be a Honkie" ..I am pretty sure she didn't say it like that....but I realize that maybe you wanted to make it sound more "negro-ish" . LOL

[William A]

09:27 PM on 02/20/2012

Wait... aren't civil rights groups supposed to be FOR civil rights - not AGAINST them?

Isn't free speech a civil right?

Did anyone give these AALDEF (all deaf? geeze) lawyers a copy of the constitution before they gave them permission to practice law in this country?

[lifehub]

04:48 AM on 02/21/2012

Try being non-white for a day. Sheeesh.....

[douglazyxx]

11:37 AM on 02/21/2012

You know...I was about to type the same thing. Its AMAZING how people comment like William and have no clue what it feels like .

[whoissurprised]

09:00 PM on 02/20/2012

What did Jessie Jackson call Obama ?

[Lubricano]

04:24 PM on 02/21/2012

Shakedown Jesse wanted cut off Barry's cajones. Then he cried election
night on national TV. The same guy who was adminstering Clinton on
morals when his Sec was giving birth to his kid.

[mayanindependentspeak]

08:41 PM on 02/20/2012

Does anyone know if Lin has made any public comment about the offending remark? Was Lin offended by it?

I honestly haven't heard anything from him about it, and wondering if anyone else has.

[JubalTHarshaw]

08:33 PM on 02/20/2012

Thin skinned whiners are the stuff from which the Huff is made...

[jianyoa]

08:08 PM on 02/20/2012

I'm glad they fired him. Someone so insensitive and lacking common sense shouldn't be working at ESPN. Think before you act; its that simple.

[Vincent Sbardella]

08:03 AM on 02/21/2012

Right. "Engage brain before operating tongue."

[workersarise]

04:07 PM on 02/21/2012

A chink is a narrow gap in something, and a "chink in the armor" is an old expression for a weakness in someone's defense. Yes, chink is also a derogatory word for a Chinese person. Let's understand where someone is coming from before reacting so harshly. This guy should not have been fired. Jeremy Lin accepted his apology.