Seeing how quickly e-mails and rumors make the rounds with the w0rld wide web, I'm sure most people have read about Shaq's alledged comments about Yao Ming. Well, this is from www.slamonline.com, a different, perhaps more level-headed perspective.

SHAQ ATTACK: THE BIG RACIST? I started getting flooded with emails yesterday afternoon with a link to this column by Irwin Tang in AsianWeek about Shaquille O'Neal. According to this article, Shaq recently told a reporter, "Tell Yao Ming, 'Ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh.'" The article says: "No, the superstar center of the L.A. Lakers was not trying to speak Chinese. Shaq was, in a most derisive tone, aiming a racist barb at the rookie center for the Houston Rockets." The article also points out that while on the Worst Damn Sports Show Period, Shaquille "spoke with a mock Chinese accent and made mock 'kung fu' moves,' and that "in June, Shaq announced that he would test Yao's toughness by taking an elbow to Yao's face. This comment, combined with Shaq's racist taunts are particularly disturbing, as Asian Pacific Americans often suffer racial taunts while being assaulted or physically intimidated." While I understand Mr. Tang's anger toward Shaq, I don't think Shaq is racist and I don't think his comments were racist. If anything, I think he was being Culturalist, discriminating against a culture by attempting to poke fun at perceived behaviors. The problem here is that Shaq was trying to be entertaining and funny, something he's usually very good at, and something he failed to be here, instead showing himself as ignorant and ill-mannered, and perpetuating stereotypes that don't deserve recounting. That doesn't mean that it's OK to say the things he said, but having spent time with Shaq and around Shaq, I've never heard him say anything even remotely racist. Which, of course, doesn't settle anything. But maybe this bit of info will help: According to my sources, when the Rockets visited Los Angeles on November 17, Shaq sat out the game with his bum toe. But after the game, after the Houston locker room had cleared out, Shaq came in and took the time to introduce himself to Yao Ming. He talked briefly with Yao through his translator, told Yao that he'd been joking and was honestly looking forward to playing against him, and that he wished Yao the best. And Yao thanked Shaq and said he's looking forward to playing against him, as well. If Shaq was actually a racist person, I don't think he would have taken the time to approach Yao, to sublimate himself, to tell him he enjoyed watching him play. As for the other publications that Mr. Tang says he tried and failed to get to address this issue, I can't speak for them. Mr. Tang says: "Let's not beat around the bush. If a white player had, for instance, made monkey sounds to taunt a black player, it would have been a national controversy. But Yao is Chinese and Asians are fair game. For evidence, watch TV for a couple of hours." I watch TV a lot and don't know what shows Mr. Tang is watching, but I'm sure the profiling he is talking about does exist. But his white player/black player thing is dead wrong. The situation he mentions indeed deserves to be a national controversy, because the white player would be comparing the black player to an animal. Shaq made fun of a language; he did not compare Yao Ming to any animal. He didn't even go like Reggie White a few years ago, who said that Japanese and other Asians "can turn a television into a watch." But I don't think Shaq deserves to be branded a racist. Compounding things, Mr. Tang makes the unfortunate comparison of Yao Ming and Jackie Robinson. When Jackie Robinson was shattering baseball's color barrier, he was being spit on and black people were being beaten in the streets. In the south, black people had separate bathrooms and special seats on public buses. Besides, it's not as if NBA owners have been conspiring to keep Asians out of the NBA. If a 7-5 guy with a sweet jumper came along, they'd sign him up, even if his skin was green and covered with blue polka dots. While I can't deny that some Asian-Americans are still being discriminated against in the U.S.A. these days, it's a ways away from the Civil Rights era. So think twice before you go branding Shaq a racist. Though for all I know, Shaq could be innately racist against Asian-Americans, I honestly don't think he is. He tried to make a joke, one that turned out to be insensitive and cruel. And he should learn from the mistake and become a better person from it and not do it again. Whether Yao Ming knows it or not, he is not only going to be a great basketball player and an advertising godsend, but he's also going to be the most visible ambassador ever for a culture that has been mostly hidden from the mainstream United States for decades. And after spending time with Yao over the last few weeks, I think he's the perfect person for that gig. Heck, he's beating the pants off of Shaq in the All-Star voting. So that's my two cents. Moving on...

I guess after being UT asian greek, I'm sort of tired of the whole indignant angry asian thing. Frickin ridiculous. I'm not saying "oh its ok Shaq, say what you want ... " Oh wait, actually I am. People claim to be sick of the whole "political correctness" language, yet when someone violates that, oh, here we go. Political correctness doesn't buy mutual respect for others, it only puts on a terribly fake facade over the misunderstandings that still exist. Spending the majority of my time around asians, we spew the same spew about other people/cultures/races just like they do about everybody else. What makes me sick, is that now, there's gonna be a whole community of 15-25 year old asian americans up-in-arms about some stupid comments that some basketball player made tryin to be funny and cool, comments of the same nature that I hear take place in everyday conversations in circles around me. Stop the madness yall!