“What is this idiot doing here? Do you know anything about football? Go back to studying!” After hearing this, I thought, “First of all, I'm not Chinese, and why yes, I know something about football.” These observations were some of the things I faced when playing soccer during my freshman year of high school. These discriminatory statements against the few Asians and me on the team were things we heard daily from other teammates and students. Even though stereotypes were prevalent in my school that Asians were only good for studying and playing badminton or volleyball, that didn't stop me from trying to be the best football player on the team and proving the typical Asian student in my class wrong. Lyceum. Like rising star Jeremy Lin, he too had to deal with these generalizations before actually being noticed in the dominant, largely Caucasian and African-American sport that is basketball. With his impressive starts in the game, he surprised the nation by leading the New York Knicks to a pair of victories. The discrimination and stereotypes that Asians face in sports and in the real world is not something that came out of nowhere, but rather is something that has been rampant since the first Asians immigrated to the United States. Some of the prejudices Asians face in the present may not be as severe as those they have had to deal with in the past, but they still have to deal with bigots on a daily basis. Jeremy Lin, who amazes the basketball league with his performances, is able to fight bigotry against Asians. Until I proved myself to be a worthy asset to the football team, I was considered the fat, nerdy-looking Asian kid who should just go back to doing chores... middle of paper... bigotry of Asians has substantially declined to the point that Asians are now able to participate in activities in which they have never been prevalent. With Jeremy Lin and many other successful Asians proving bigots wrong, Asians have begun to earn the respect needed to improve their living situation in America. As the years go by, people of color will be able to easily overcome those “psychological barriers” and become just as dominant, if not more so, than non-colored people. Works Cited King, Jamilah. “The subtle bigotry that made Jeremy Lin the NBA's most surprising star.” COLOR LINES. Np, February 8, 2012. Web. March 13, 2012.Takaki, Ronald T... Strangers from a Different Side: A Story of Asian Americans. Updated and rev. and. Boston: Little Brown, 1998. Print.