NFL Player Posts Racist Facebook Selfie ‘Chinky Eyes Yoa Ming’

October 8, 2018

Indianapolis Colts cornerback Arthur Maulet recently posted a photo of himself with a racist term embedded on the image.

The 25-year-old football player is shown posing for a selfie using the words “Chinky Eyes Yoa Ming” to describe his eyes.

He not only used a slur commonly found in many ignorant Instagrammers’ posts but also referenced Chinese NBA legend Yao Ming to further drive the point that his eyes look smaller than usual.

As of this writing, the derogatory post has gained 116 likes, 39 hearts, and two laughs.

The word “chink” was popularized in the United States as a racial slur against Chinese immigrants in the 1900s when Chinese immigration was viewed as a threat to Americans. The term and its other derivations were eventually adopted by many racists to insult or attack other Asian ethnic groups.

Much like the use of “n-word” by non-Blacks, the use of “chink” or “chinky eyes” by non-Asians is never funny.

And contrary to what others may think, this is not a victimless crime as many have been attacked and berated with the slur.

Despite this, social media has been rife with ignorant netizens captioning their selfies and posts with such terms in recent years.

Public figures, celebrities, and athletes such as Maulet should be especially mindful of what they write on social media due to the influence they carry.

Last year, The Guardian Australia sports editor Mike Hynter used the term to describe Chinese soccer players in his coverage of a match between China and Australia.

In 2012, former ESPN journalist Anthony Federico wrote the headline “Chink in the Armor” in an article about NBA star Jeremy Lin.

Share this Article