Letters to the Editor: Eileen Gu and the double standard rooted in anti-Asian hate

To the editor: Frank Shyong’s column on Olympic freestyle skier Eileen Gu is insightful.

Yes, I wish her gold medals were counted as among our Asian American athletes’ haul for this country. But I support the right of Gu to compete for another country, something so many other athletes have done in past Olympics and these Games. It’s not unpatriotic (more likely, economic).

Unfortunately, the double standard that so often applies to Asian Americans is alive and well. It has been supercharged with the global competition between the United States and China and the misplaced anger about the origins of the coronavirus, thus manifesting itself in renewed and increased anti-Asian hate.

Also, this has given license to the deranged to focus their anger and obsession on Asian Americans, especially women, like in the recent tragic killings in New York City.

Warren Furutani, Gardena

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To the editor: One letter writer said that, unlike China, other countries for which U.S.-born athletes competed during the Winter Olympics have not been cited for major violations of human rights.

Among the countries that placed a diplomatic boycott on the Games were the U.S., Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Have we forgotten these countries’ history of killing Indigenous people, reneging on treaties with Native peoples and taking children away from Indigenous families and placing them with white families to erase cultures?

Human rights violations? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Andrew Ko, San Marino