Ichiro and annotation

The author's main point is that American's accept immigrants if they are skilled at something or gain celebrity status. Also, he sustains that Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans are all lumped together into one group by Americans. Immigrants in general, meet a lot of obstacles. Asian Americans are typically not good at baseball and the fact that Ichiro is a star is a breakthrough in modern stereotypes. In baseball, cultural and racial barriers often do not matter because baseball is an even playing field. Baseball is equated to patriotism and Americanism.

Kang, a Korean American sports writer, argues how Ichiro both broke down and sustained stereotypes in American culture. By being an Asian that succeeded in baseball, Ichiro was atypical in his baseball abilities. He was more accepted by American culture because he was respected in the field of an American pastime. Kang, on the other hand, was uncomfortable cheering for Ichiro because while they were both Asian, Kang was specifically Korean while Ichiro was Japanese. In addition, same Americans felt that baseball should be played a specifically American way which was not the way that Ichiro played.