There are few things in this world that are impossible to resist - the gravitational pull of the Earth, money-back-guaranteed quick weight-loss plans, free food samples at warehouse clubs and getting on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon.

Yes, Linsanity even touches the lives of us who wouldn't know the difference between an alley-oop and an air ball, and can only surmise that a "Big Man" refers to ... er his height.

Here is a guy every Chinese mother dreams of - "He's a Harvard grad!" - and every Chinese father secretly wishes for - "My boy can dunk. And he's a future franchise!"

But along with the media hoopla, New Yorkers gone wild, inspiration for underdogs everywhere and the blooming of Asian pride, there is an ugly but insistent voice rising out of the rafters.

The first shots came in the form of a poster of Lin popping out of a fortune cookie, then there was the slight on his manhood by a Fox Sports journalist, followed by a blast from boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr, who tweeted that "Jeremy Lin is a good player, but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise." Later, ESPN fired an editor and suspended an anchor for using a derogatory Asian term for Lin in their headlines.

Even Ben & Jerry's, the high-end hippie ice cream purveyors had to back down and apologize for bringing out its "Taste the Lin-sanity" frozen yoghurt.

Mixed with bits of fortune cookies and lychee honey, it quickly piled up complaints for bad taste, both literally and figuratively.

Overly sensitive you say? Imagine the uproar if a dark chocolate Kobe Dunk was added to the 31 flavors.

Asians, and Chinese in particular, have had a long and - until the 1960's - ignominious relationship with the US.

The first mass migration from China was in 1848, when the California Gold Rush brought thousands of men seeking their fortunes.

Twenty years later, the Transcontinental Railway saw tens of thousands more willing to take on the most perilous and backbreaking jobs, for lower pay than other immigrants.

With anti-Chinese fervor rising in the western states, the US Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 to stop the flow of immigrants from China to a trickle until it was fully repealed in 1965. It's from this foundation that the stereotypes and cliches, the covert and overt racism spring.

Asians, though, aren't supposed to be offended when someone comes up and pretends to speak chop-suey Chinglish, the sing-song, ching-chong babble that we "slant eyes" converse in.

We're constantly blamed for turning out SAT hounds gobbling up all the seats in the Ivy Leagues or being the mother-of-all bad drivers - well, the last one is actually true.

But we're expected to take it in stride. After all, it's only a joke. Saturday Night Live took their own stab with a skit exposing the two-faced humor in the barrage of Linsanity puns, but as I watched the jokes became less and less funny as the studio audience laughed even harder.

Pete Hoekstra who is now seeking a US senate seat, ran a campaign ad during the Superbowl 2012. In it was a Chinese actress portraying a rural peasant in China, only too happy to be taking American jobs. She was made to speak in broken English to "authenticate" her character.

When challenged on the racist overtones, Pete Hoekstra - while never addressing the charges - condescendingly replied that her speaking English was "quite an achievement".

Asian culture is to respect others and avoid confrontation, but just because our deadliest fighters can't reach the overhead straps in subway cars doesn't mean we're happy to be kicked around.

In Hoekstra's case, Kristina Wong has responded with a wicked parody on YouTube, and I'm doing my part by donating to Debbie Stabenow's campaign, Hoekstra's opposition for Senate.

God bless America, and China, too!

You may contact the writer at dinahchinadaily@gmail.com.