That was not me saying that.
It was voiced by Amar’e Stoudemire1, a basketball great who played for the NY Knicks, one of the NYC teams that I support no matter where I now reside.
He answered my question. But hey, I’m way ahead….let’s start at the beginning.
It took place at a recent fund-raising event for the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester (see below).
For numerous years, I have known that Stoudemire had expressed an interest in Judaism, even though he was raised a Christian (more specifically, Baptist).
But what surprised me was that he had converted to Judaism a few years ago – during his interview, he said when he had visited Israel, his time there had clicked so well for him, both spiritually and religiously, that he made his conversion quickly and without difficulty.
As a consequence of learning about Stoudemire’s conversion, I had been wondering if and how his interest in Judaism had affected his relationships with his peers in the National Basketball Association (www.nba.com). I’ve been profoundly deaf since birth and I learned to speak vocally before I learned American Sign Language (ASL). With an exception for the Lexington School for the Deaf, I had attended institutions generally for people with typical hearing. Even Lexington had a policy that strictly forbade ASL there. Although I was exposed to ASL at Lexington, I didn’t have much opportunity to communicate in ASL until after college graduation. So, one could imagine that I was already an outsider by the time when I transformed from a student to a professional in both the Hearing and Deaf worlds. Since it wasn’t likely that many basketball players of African/Caribbean descent would publicly express an interest in Judaic studies, I wondered if Stoudemire’s interest in Judaism had made himself an outsider.
For this reason in addition to my support for the NY Knicks as well as to the opportunity to meet Stoudemire up close, I decided to attend his One-on-One interview at the said event.
Stoudemire’s interview was quite interesting. He described his origins, his basketball talents, the difficulty of keeping up with his career obligations prior to his retirement, and his experiences with Judaism. Prior to his interview, the interviewer had a list of questions obtained from the audience, but I did not send a question of mine to the interviewer. I thought there would be a question-and-answer session at the end of the interview.
Before I go further, I have to mention that an ASL interpreter named Judy attended the event. It was an important factor for my coming to the event – before I decided to go there, I had to ask the event organizers if there would be accommodations for people with hearing loss. If there were none, I would not have come there, but I was told that an ASL interpreter would be present. I was then happy to come there.
There were only three d/Deaf attendants (including very truly yours) at the event. The other two were Dr. Carolyn Stern and her significant other, Al. I recognized the doctor immediately because she treated my wife Denise a few years ago. Denise fell on the tennis court, developing a concussion of her own. I took her to urgent care, and that’s where we met Dr. Stern. When I told Dr. Stern about Denise at the Stoudemire event, she asked how Denise was doing. I said she’s fine and I thanked Dr. Stern for her excellent service.
Let’s go back to the interview. One question Stoudemire was asked was about his identity. He was asked what he saw himself, and he replied that he saw himself as a Jew first, then as a Black. I can’t say that I would agree completely with his answer because if not for basketball, he would not have succeeded as well as he did, but then I’m not in his shoes. If I was asked that same question, I would say that I would see myself equally as both a deaf person and a Jew. I have been deaf since birth and I have overcome so many barriers brought up by my hearing loss. Also due to my deafness, I didn’t have an easy time attending Sunday School at the temple in my hometown of Holliswood – in fact, I was a Sunday School ‘dropout.’ As an eighth grader, I left Sunday School one year before I could graduate from there. It was a complete waste of time – there were absolutely no accommodations for students with hearing loss at that time. One day, my Sunday School teacher asked us to bring in a Current Events article. Supposedly, it had to be related to Judaism, but no one told me. So, a week later, I brought in an article about a local car accident. What did I know?
What matters the most to me is that I have always been aware of my Jewish identity in spite of assimilation into American society. Eventually, I became a Bar mitzvah at age of 33 years, and I continue to be proud of that accomplishment. Even Stoudemire has yet to become a Bar mitzvah.
When the interview with Stoudemire ended, I saw that there would be no question-and-answer session at the end. I looked for an opportunity to ask the basketball player about being an outsider, and Judy was willing to come help me in case that Stoudemire couldn’t understand what I was going to say. There were several kids of Jewish sponsors waiting to meet Stoudemire. Once he was done with the kids, he started to walk away, surrounded by several tough-looking security guards. Somehow, I raised my question, “Do you have time for one question?” He responded, and I asked him how he felt about being an outsider. He didn’t understand the question completely – that’s because he’s not used to hearing a ‘deaf’ voice. Judy repeated what I asked, and also repeated what I had added, “I’m an outsider because I went to Harvard, not institutes for the d/Deaf, for example.” He replied that he had never felt like an outsider, and then added that he may have been an outsider all his life. Knowing his time is very valuable, I thanked him for his time, and he left.
I initially thought his answer was a non-answer, but the further I thought about his reply, I now believe it was a good answer because he has never experienced having hearing loss all the life. He had been a basketball player almost all his life, and that sport is a team sport – players on one team are supposed to be cohesive with each other in spite of their own personal differences (for example, Stoudemire’s interest in Judaism as opposed to his fellow peers’ perceived lack of interest in such a religion). They are supposed to complement each other with their own skills to form an efficient and winning team. That’s why he initially said he had never felt as if he was an outsider. Had he been deaf or hard of hearing for a significant period of time, perhaps he would have become acutely aware of the barriers his hearing loss would have brought to him. Consequently, he would’ve appreciated more being an outsider.
You know what’s funny about Stoudemire. He had a history of knee injuries, but they were not the reason he took a short but consequential break from basketball. He took the break because his brother passed away. As a result, another teammate came and played so well for the next 13 games that he helped the Knicks become a playoff team. That other teammate’s name was Jeremy Lin.2 Interestingly, Lin and I attended the same college (Harvard University), although he graduated about 25 years after me. Even Stoudemire confirmed that some players on his team were resentful of his teammate Lin’s inspiring play!
My deafness has given me an advantage – it helps me develop a strong sense of empathy towards people who could diverge from what society would expect its members to be. That advantage has enabled me to suggest that Stoudemire, Lin and I are outsiders in our own ways. I’ll begin with myself first and end with Stoudemire.
People with typical hearing may find it difficult to accept who I am because I’m not like them in spite of my largely successful participation in institutes that are generally for people with typical hearing. Even many of those had either thought or encouraged that I should go to institutes for the d/Deaf all my life, but I screwed up their expectations. On the other hand, people with hearing loss may find it difficult to accept who I am because they don’t know how or what to exactly identify me. Am I just medically deaf who is not native in Deaf culture because my native mode of communication was voice, not ASL? Am I Deaf who can communicate fluently, if not expertly, in ASL and who has been involved in Deaf life (such as being professional at academic institutes for the Deaf such as Gallaudet University3,4 and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf5)? Or does the d/Deaf community reject me because I am a member of the Hearing Research community whose goals include one to treat or even cure hearing loss, which could be seen as a significant threat to the d/Deaf community? As you may know, I’m not the only scientist with hearing loss in the Hearing Research community (there are at least 125 in total) and I can refer you to the website about scientists with hearing loss (www.deafearscientists.org).
As for Lin, I thought I would mention him just briefly at the end because I thought it was ironic that an outsider (e.g., Lin) could supplant another outsider (e.g., Stoudemire) so that their team could become a playoff team in NBA. But the more I thought about Lin, I realized that he deserved more than just a brief mention. I identified him as an outsider because he is the first American player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to have a significant playing role in the history of NBA. Before his play for the NY Knicks, he was rarely considered for significant playing time for the Golden State Warriors because no one would expect an Asian American to play well for a significant period of time in the NBA. When the Warriors released him, Lin signed with the Knicks, but no one still expected him to play much. However, the Knicks were losing badly and were running out of players due to injury, their coach was desperate for any change in luck. He let Lin play, and the rest is Linsanity. Lin had played so well in NBA that he was universally accepted by society, even if for a few years. Also, he was the first player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to have won a NBA championship (he played for the Toronto Raptors in 2019). In the long run, however, Lin is a struggling outsider again – he claims that the NBA has ‘given up on him’ – and he now plays professionally in China.
Lin and I, however, may differ from Stoudemire when it comes to societal perception. When either Lin or I first appeared, society almost immediately recognized us as outsiders. So, we have had to work harder to overcome their stereotypical thinking (me succeeding in the Hearing world and Lin succeeding in NBA where Blacks and, to a lesser extent, Whites are expected to perform well).
It is extremely rare for any Black professional basketball player to publicly express an interest in Judaism, but Stoudemire did. His interest arose because of his mother – even though she has been in legal trouble, she has been a spiritual person and calls herself as a member of Black Hebrew Israelites. Society, however, almost immediately accepted Stoudemire, because he is Black with an out-of-world athletic talent and a difficult background (e.g., poor neighborhood and family troubles) as well as with lofty goals to not just survive but also flourish in NBA, an ultracompetitive organization that promises athletic achievements and financial independence. Everyone knows that whoever enters NBA as a player has similar goals, and everyone is also aware that very few players could accomplish those goals.
Currently, Stoudemire has retired from playing basketball for two years, and it may be too early for society to consider whether or not he is an outsider. Even though he had been out of NBA since 2016, he had continued to play professionally until 2020 when he helped his team win the Israeli Basketball Premier League championship. However, compared to myself or Lin, Stoudemire may represent a more complicated case. He may be eventually considered as an outsider in both America and Israel for the same reason – he’s a Black Jew. When he recently gave his One-on-One interview, the audience consisted of mostly white Jews. In addition, having both characteristics, along with the Israeli-American dual citizenship, is a rare, rare occurrence for a prominent individual such as Stoudemire. That’s why he said he is a Jew in response to the question about his identity — he wanted everyone to be aware that he is foremost a Jew, regardless of race, talent, or circumstance. That’s also why he said he’s never felt like an outsider (or he’s been an outsider all his life) in response to my question – he must have sensed that he was (and still is) quite different from everyone else ever since childhood, and yet he must have had a strong sense of self for most, if not all, of his life. He may also have gained valuable lessons how to deal with society’s expectations, either directly or indirectly, from ‘trailblazers’ who have produced their own paths for overcoming barriers that society has established against the trailblazers with characteristics including (but not limited to) ethnicity (like Lin) and disability (like myself). Even better, he has come to an era when society has become more aware, if not more respectful, of diversity among its members.
There is no crystal ball to predict what will happen to Stoudemire and his societal expectations in the long term, but I’m pretty sure he’ll do just fine, no matter what.
Postscript: Stoudemire is not the only black top-notch professional athlete in USA who would consider himself Jewish. Four other black athletes either were born Jewish or had converted to Judaism. Three of them, including Stoudemire, played professional basketball – the other two were Jordan Farmar and David Blu. A fourth, Elliott Maddox, played in Major League Baseball in the 1970s – he played for the NY Yankees and the NY Mets, both for whom I root. Trevor Mays is the fifth one who played in the National Football League in the 2010s. You can find them in Wikipedia.
References
1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amar%27e_Stoudemire
2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Lin
3https://the-eagle-ear.com/i-didnt-get-much-of-a-chance-at-gallaudet/
4https://the-eagle-ear.com/we-were-like-oil-and-water/
5https://the-eagle-ear.com/the-flipped-classroom-method-does-it-work-or-not/