ESPN Apologizes Over Offensive Headline

[itsrobert]

ESPN issued an apology last night after a racially insensitive headline about New York Knicks star guard Jeremy Lin appeared on their mobile site.

The headline, "Chink In the Armor," appeared only mobile browsers, the network said, and only between the hours of 2:30 AM ET and 3:05 AM ET.

http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/18/jeremy-lin-knicks/#comments-anchor

[ZombieHorde]

1. The saying isn't inherently racist, but that was a really bad time to use it. nt

[nobodyspecial]

2. Yes, it is

Chink is no different than spic or nigger. Or, do you think ESPN should be able to find the "right" time to use those as well.

[TlalocW]

3. "Chink" is offensive

"Chink in the armor," which refers to a small opening in armor making the person wearing it more vulnerable is not offensive unless some idiots try to get clever and make a Chinese person's poor defense the chink in the armor.

Spic is offensive. Spic-and-Span, which refers to something being shiny, bright, and new is not.

I don't have an example for the other word.

TlalocW

[Scuba]

4. "Chink" is certainly racist. "Chink in the armor" is not, but as noted above....

... this was a poor time to use it.

[madmom]

5. Your definition is the slang, chink in its original concept means..

a crack, cleft, or fissure: a chink in a wall. 2. a narrow opening:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chink

therefore their use of the word, while insensitive, is not necessarily racist, IMO

[taught_me_patience]

17. Then they should have used "crack in the armor"

Using chink while showing a picture of the only Asian-American player in the league is racist plain and simple.

[MH1]

24. I'm sure someone was deliberately trying to be cute. unfortunately

they weren't smart enough to realize that their "cuteness" was racist. I am sure ESPN management has clued them in.

[ZombieHorde]

8. Seems like you found the "right" time to use those words.

"Chink in the armor" is an old saying.

[cthulu2016]

11. Dictionaries are useful.

[Iggo]

20. The term is not racist. The usage definitely was

Someone should be fired.

[nobodyspecial]

23. Thank you for clarifying

This is what I meant.

[taught_me_patience]

15. Lin is the only asian-american player in the NBA

so using "chink" in a headline is racist plain and simple. I can't understand how anybody on DU can defend this.

[ZombieHorde]

18. What is your interpretation of my post? nt

[pipi_k]

22. If racism is defined as

Involving the belief in racial differences, which acts as a justification for non-equal treatment

Then would you please explain exactly how the phrase "chink in the armor", used to praise the gamesmanship of that team, translates to non-equal treatment of the only Asian-American in the NBA?

In other words, how does using that phrase to praise the team equal "racism"?

[HopeHoops]

6. On the other hand, "Santorum Surges" fits perfectly.

Anyone who knows anything about headlines knows that the objective is to make a connection, a play on words. That's particularly true with sports stories, but any headline will use one if available. I seriously doubt this one meant "a weakness".

[TlalocW]

7. It did, but it did so badly

Chink is a hole in armor, but it can also refer to the player. The armor in this case was the team's defense against the other team.

TlalocW

[HopeHoops]

10. I still doubt it was a coincidence.

[Iggo]

21. It certainly was not a coincidence.

[TlalocW]

9. Not to take away from the seriousness of the matter

But this was a mini-plot of an episode of the TV show, "Scrubs." The Janitor who hated one of the main characters, JD, asked him for help with a crossword puzzle clue, "Blank in the armor," to which JD gave the correct answer, prompting the Janitor to move aside and reveal one of the hospital's Asian-American doctors who said, "You know... I always suspected."

By the end of the episode, his mentor, Dr. Cox, wanted to know why all the Asian-American employees were giving JD the stink-eye.

TlalocW

[nevergiveup]

12. Some poor little ESPN employee

didn't understand that using the word "Chink" in the headline might possibly be taken as a racial slur towards Jeremy Lin. Yeah, I will believe that when I believe pigs fly. One can spin this however they like but it still comes down as racist, pure and simple. In my opinion some heads should fly at ESPN.

[Ilsa]

14. Some people may have never heard the slur.

I was in my twenties and got in trouble with all-male staff for setting a random password that, streetwise, refers to a woman's genitalia. One of the more religious young men came to my office and gave me an education! We laughed about it. They said they figured that I had led too protected a life, which was true.

My children haven't heard racial slurs in this family. They wouldn't be able to recognize it, yet. We'll be educating them, though.

[nevergiveup]

16. I understand

but we are talking about adults working for a major tv network. The odds of these adults not knowing the racial implications of this word are slim to none.

[Ilsa]

19. I think it is more likely that the person who set it ...

up didn't know, And others along the process didn't bother to say anything. "It's not my job."

Honestly, I didn't Know that racial slur when I was in my twenties.

[Curmudgeoness]

25. I don't buy it.

If we were to think along the same lines as you are thinking, the term "chink in the armor" is one of about a million choices of headlines with no connotations to them----where did they come up with this one? I suppose that it could have been dumb luck for the headline writer, and I also suppose it is possible for me to win a $100 million lottery. The odds are about the same.

Edit to add:

But I do think it is cute how you are still naive about this, and it is nice of you to give the benefit of the doubt.

[Blue_Tires]

26. I think it's totally intentional...

many of these ESPN serfs are just a couple of years out of college, and this looks very similar to something prankster editor at a college paper would do

[fascisthunter]

13. How Stupid!