NFL Mimics Other Left-Wing Orgs by Embracing Anti-Asian Bigotry

Eugene Chung told he was ‘not the right minority’ during coaching interview

Andrew Stiles • May 24, 2021 3:45 pm

The NFL’s transition from prominent sports league to middling left-wing institution is proceeding apace. Reports suggest the league is attempting to emulate the systemic racism of elite universities, where qualified Asian students are frequently penalized for being the “wrong” kind of minority.

That is precisely what former NFL offensive lineman and assistant coach Eugene Chung said he was told during a coaching interview this offseason. “It was said to me, ‘Well, you’re really not a minority,'” Chung said last week during a webinar hosted by the Boston Globe. “I was like, ‘Wait a minute. The last time I checked, when I looked in the mirror and brushed my teeth, I was a minority.'”

Chung, who in 1995 became the first Korean American selected in the first round of the NFL draft, did not identify the organization that conducted the interview. Chung says he asked the interviewer to elaborate and was told he was “not the right minority that we’re looking for.”

Ivy League universities have made similar arguments in defense of their controversial admissions policies, which critics have challenged in court on the grounds that they unfairly discriminate against Asian applicants.

“It was absolutely mind-blowing to me that, in 2021, something like that is actually a narrative,” Chung said, adding he did not feel as though Asians were “looked at as a minority” in the NFL. “That’s where my stomach churns a little bit.”

Republican lawmakers attempted to pass legislation in April that would bar federal funding from universities that discriminate against Asian-American students. Democrats blocked the measure. Meanwhile, a coalition of Asian-American activists is urging the Biden administration to revive a Justice Department lawsuit against Yale University based on allegations of discriminatory admissions practices.

The Democratic Party’s refusal to combat anti-Asian discrimination in higher educations comes amid a surge in anti-Asian violence in Democratic-run cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.