Twenty years ago today on February 21, 1992, Kristi Yamaguchi became the first Asian American to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the ladies singles category. Her performance brought her worldwide celebrity and an immense sense of pride within the Asian American community. Not unlike another Asian American athlete experiencing his own fair share of worldwide celebrity and Asian American pride at the moment.
But sadly some things haven’t changed much in 20 years. China may represent the growing “yellow peril” these days, but back in 1992, it was Japan in the role of the threatening Asian superpower. And Yamaguchi wasn’t immune from the ensuing racist backlash against Japan.
In the aftermath of her Olympic victory, there was much talk of how her Japanese heritage would prevent her from winning commercial endorsements and if you thought some of the media’s reporting on Jeremy Lin has bordered on racism (“chink in the armor” anyone?), on the heels of her victory, the media criticized Yamaguchi for everything from not being able to speak Japanese to fellow Japanese figure skater Midori Ito (conveniently ignoring that Yamaguchi was an American, born in California) and taking the victory away from a “real” American (that would be fellow skater Tonya Harding).
