NBA TV Analyst Calls Yi Jianlian a 'Chinaman,' Later Apologizes

In his NBA.com video recap of last Friday's Magic-Nets game, NBA TV analyst Rick Kamla made the unfortunate mistake of referring to New Jersey forward Yi Jianlian as a "Chinaman." After FanHouse contacted Turner Sports about the remark, the video was pulled from NBA.com. It ran on NBA TV Friday and has been available on NBA.com since Friday night.

Turner Sports spokesman Jeff Pomeroy relayed to FanHouse an apology to anyone offended by the remark from Kamla and the network, which manages NBA TV and NBA.com. Pomeroy said Kamla was not aware of the connotations of the word, and meant nothing malicious or offensive by it.

Kamla's ignorant slip is far less troubling than the fact this video was broadcast on NBA TV and had been available on NBA.com for five days. The NBA has made serious strides to reach out to all corners of America and to expand the league's presence worldwide, with particular emphasis on Asia. Given the league's emphasis on marketing product to Chinese Americans, for this to go unnoticed within the NBA's digital arm for so long is disheartening.

Kamla isn't the first to make this mistake: AsianWeek took Steve Kerr to task in 2004 for referring to Yao Ming as a "Chinaman." Kerr apologized after being educated as to the history of the term and its continuing offensiveness to Chinese Americans. At the 2008 Masters tournament, CBS broadcaster Bobby Clampett called Chinese golfer Liang Wen-Chong "the Chinaman." He later apologized.

"Chinaman" is a term first used in a derogatory fashion in the American West beginning in the late 19th century. Anti-Chinese activists in California and throughout the West used the term to classify Chinese immigrants as subhuman.

Anti-Chinese sentiment is a sad legacy of the industrial boom of California in the post-Gold Rush era. European American-dominated unions led a fight to deny Chinese families the right to emigrate to the United States, culminating in President Chester Arthur's signing of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. The law not only restricted entry for Chinese families, but prevented Chinese men and women already in the United States from leaving and returning at a future date. The act was not repealed until 1943, and unlimited Chinese immigration was not allowed under federal law until 1965.

Note: An earlier version of this post stated that the clip ran several times on NBA TV Friday and Saturday. Pomeroy clarifies that the clip only ran on NBA TV once -- during the live broadcast of Kamla's highlights Friday evening. The clip was available on NBA.com until this morning, however.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)

11-04-2009 @ 2:06PM

Jordan said...

It's always nice to be educated about these things. People really should know. Thanks for the informative post!

11-04-2009 @ 9:49PM

Sieben said...

I love it insult someone,say your sorry and all is forgiven

11-04-2009 @ 4:41PM

nate said...

Great History lesson TZ. There is a lot of places throughout the Central Valley alone that bear this unfortunate stain of the Anti-Chinese act.

On the other hand, we can also thank the Chinese workers who blasted their way through the Sierra Nevada mountain range (the tallest mountain range in the US), and then had to blast their way across 2 different deserts and more mountain ranges in Nevada and Utah.

And anyone wants to claim that they didn't know "Chinaman" is considered derogatory is flat out lying.

11-05-2009 @ 11:13AM

mkurtich said...

not lying!
I thought it meant a man from China.
Stupid me, it sounds the same as Irishman, Englishman, any country man.

11-05-2009 @ 12:57PM

sillycook said...

Excuse me, but I don't appreciate being called a liar. I honestly have never heard of this term being used to offend anyone.

11-06-2009 @ 8:23PM

lordhavlock said...

What a dumb comment...99% of Americans have no idea the 'chinaman' has any negative connotation. You have to establish intent before you crucify someone for using it. The two sportscasters and others used it in same fashion as if they were saying "Englishman", "Canadian", "Yankee" or anything else. This is a non story and typical American need to find things to complain about even when there was no harm intended...stupid story...and dumb comments.

11-06-2009 @ 10:29PM

gaystreet said...

I didn't know. Would black man or englishman or gentleman be a slur also.

11-06-2009 @ 11:23PM

home said...

I guess I'm one stupid person. No, I never thought of Chinaman as offensive, or anything other then, "I'm talking about someone from China".

11-07-2009 @ 4:09AM

jeep said...

Nate,

I'm 50 years old and am considered fairly smart and I had never heard of the negative connotations of the word.

So this term was an insult during the Gold Rush and people are making a fuss about it being said today?

How about 'get over it.'

OR we could start using some 17th century insults and see who they offend...

11-04-2009 @ 4:55PM

Mat said...

I honestly did not know that it was a derogatory term, and I'm an educated man from the Central Valley, so let's not cast stones too quickly, readers.

I thought that it was a lame accusation until this article contextualized it. I am sure that Kamla felt the same way before he was informed.

11-04-2009 @ 10:10PM

desifrau said...

Give me a break Mr. Central Valley! I live here too and know that it's inappropriate! Go back to school and enroll in a history class! IT WILL DEF. DO U SOME GOOD!

11-04-2009 @ 10:58PM

CloudAsSubject said...

Did you learn that it was an inappropriate word in a history class? Is it mandatory learning for all children in California schools? Can you recommend a course with a curriculum that *guarantees* learning such a derogatory term?

It's great that you at some point learned that "Chinaman" connotes something negative about Chinese people. I didn't. Never came up. It happens, as it apparently did with Kamla. Give him (and me) a break. Knowing the significance of the word "Chinaman" is not a litmus test for either intelligence or tolerance (which hopefully means that Kamla does not lose his job for this gaffe).

11-05-2009 @ 12:53AM

realist said...

screw this. rick kamla still rocks imo. who knew that "chinaman" was a derogatory word? i knew "chink" was because of the railroad stuff where chinese were pretty much paid slave labour (sorry for using the word in totality dont mean to offend anyone) but chinaman? i didnt know that.

11-04-2009 @ 5:48PM

chechbm said...

mat, you're obviously not educated enough...

11-04-2009 @ 6:27PM

Now that I've read this article, I am!

Where would one learn that "Chinaman" is a bad word? I've never said it or heard anyone in-person say it (I have in films and novels) in a situation where anyone could be corrected, so I had no idea that it would be inappropriate.

11-04-2009 @ 5:54PM

Grer The Sarcastic Bastard said...

Frenchman, Dutchman, good.

Chinaman, bad.

Got it.

11-04-2009 @ 7:10PM

I. Ronik said...

Frenchman, Chinese man, OK.
Franceman, Chinaman, not OK.
Caucasian, OK. Cracker, not OK.

That wasn't too hard.

11-05-2009 @ 9:57AM

red white & YOU said...

Aren't we all from someplace else if we trace our roots back far enough? We should NOT be calling anyone names, unless of course you're talking about someone below the Mason/Dixon line, the the word REDNECK is ok to use.. Like Max in Missouri..

11-04-2009 @ 5:53PM

faarcyde said...

Dude, Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature, Asian American please.

11-05-2009 @ 4:19PM

Jim said...

Try again. Yao Ming is NOT an Asian-American. He is a guy from Asia working in America. In fact, he's a man from China. What is an Asian-American? Can someone from India be one? India is in Asia. So is Lebanon, Siberia, and part of Egypt.

Take you nazified PC rules and your exposed super-sensitive PC nerve, and stuff'em both.