Chink In The Facade Of American Tolerance

The recent uproar over ESPN's use of the term "chink in the armor" to describe Jeremy Lin didn't suprise me all that much. Sure it is derogatory to the Asian population. But I think most Americans don't realize how hurtful it is. By comparison, through education and shame, everybody knows that using the N word to describe African Americans has been permanently banned from public usage. I too had a relatively recent run in with a Caucasian using the term "chink" to describe an Asian feature and this didn't bother him in the slightest.

I was a medical resident working in the labor and delivery ward at a local hospital. I was in a delivery room shortly after the birth of a baby from an Asian wife and Caucasian husband. There was much joy and celebration in the room at the new life that had just been brought into the world. One of the first things the husband asked the nurse, after the baby had been cleaned up and handed to him, was, "Does he have chinky eyes?" He could clearly see that I was an Asian standing in the room with him. The nurse, who was white, replied, "No, he doesn't look chinky at all."

I was too shocked to say anything. I was not prepared for this slap in the face while working in a professional setting. I hadn't heard anybody use such a crude term since high school. I felt like I should have stood up and corrected the people in the room but it seemed like an inappropriate time to give somebody a lecture on racial tolerance while they are celebrating the birth of a baby. I did mention the incident to my superiors, who were white. They too expressed dismay that something like that happened, especially with a nurse who has worked with them for years. But nothing came of it. No apology. No expressions of guilt or remorse. And that was that.

So while Americans in general are becoming more aware of the sensibilities of living in a multicultural society, ignorance and malevolent feelings are lurking just below the surface. Who knows what they are saying in the company of their own kind. While the N word, and now the C word, have been banned from public discourse, that doesn't mean they don't express those thoughts when they think nobody is paying attention.