Traitor

My favorite individual subject of Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro's terrific documentary Murderball concerns Joe Soares, an American wheelchair rugby legend who, after being cut by the US team, later becomes -- partially out of spite -- the head coach of the Canadian paralympic squad. Thenceforth, Soares's former colleagues mock him and call him a traitor.

And in a strict patriotic sense he is; In a realistic one, however, he certainly isn't. The bottom line in Soares's case is that he assumed head coaching duties for Team Canada because he needed a job. Am I or any other of the tens of thousands of foreign workers in Korea a traitor to his or her respective nation because we work here? Furthermore, is a person who sacrifices his or her citizenship and decides to become a Korean, an American, a Canadian, an Uzbek, etc. a traitor to their homeland? Of course not. Only an overly patriotic jackass would think so.

It is one thing to live and work in a foreign land or change one's citizenship; to completely and shamefully disregard one's own country, however, is another matter. Case in point: Jeanette Lee (aka The Black Widow), who this past Saturday competed in Korea, as part of a Korean team, against a team from The United States -- a member of which, in a scenario mirroring a television sitcom, was Lee's own husband, George Breedlove.

Jeanette Lee is an ethnic Korean, yet she was born and raised in the US and currently resides in Indianapolis, Indiana. Why, then, would she represent Korea? Sure, she no doubt fattened her pocket, but at what cost? How must she feel knowing she has betrayed her country so?

The answer to that last question is likely "not too bad," because I doubt most if any sports fans outside of Korea are aware of the awkward situation in which Lee placed herself.

I might possibly understand were Lee invited to play on a Korean team against a group of, say, Chinese. Or Croatians. Or Vulcans. She is ethnically Korean, after all. But to invite her to play on a Korean team against her home country is offensive on the coordinators' part, especially considering the extent of South Korea's, shall we say, "complex" in regards to American athletes (see: Apolo Anton Ohno). What's even more ludicrous however is that Lee accepted the invitation, and that her husband was part of the opposing team. Not only were the offer and Lee's acceptance foolish, they mocked the concept of sportsmanship and, particularly, marriage. I'd expect such a scenario from a WWE show, not professional pool.

As the father of a bi-racial daughter who possesses both Korean and Canadian citizenship, I would, should she become a professional athlete, have no problem with her representing either country, so long as she didn't compete against the other. And even if she did, despite my discomfort I'd support her regardless of which side she chose to play for. But that's considering she were a dual citizen, which currently, to my knowledge, only lasts until she turns eighteen, after which time she is required to decide between Korean and Canadian citizenship. Yet even then, I would unwaveringly support her whether she chose Canadian citizenship and played for Korea, or chose Korean citizenship and played for Canada, for at least she has lived in both countries.

Jeanette Lee, to my knowledge, has lived solely in the United States of America and has never been a Korean citizen. Her profile states that she grew up in a bi-lingual household (in Brooklyn, New York), yet these days her Korean, particularly her pronunciation and embarrassing use of familiar speech when a situation calls for the honorific tense, is just shy of terrible. She is Korean only in the sense that she looks like one, which apparently is enough for the organizers of the tournament of which she was the main draw. Meanwhile, many bi-racial and non-ethnic Korean children and adults who are in fact Korean but don't "look the part" struggle every day in a presently losing battle (unless they're Superbowl MVP or a kickass PRIDE fighter, I suppose) to justify, to the general Korean populace, that they belong.

The onus to correct most Koreans' myopic vision vis a vis race and nationality isn't Jeanette Lee's responsibility of course, but her decision to compete for a nation of which she is not -- nor has ever been -- a citizen, against fellow sportsmen from her homeland, solely for a paycheck, was crass and unprofessional.

Upon the match's conclusion on Saturday, Lee, after shouting the Korean rally cry "hwighting" to -- strangely -- little fanfare, exchanged trash talk with her husband and quipped that the married couple would spend the evening sleeping in seperate rooms.

I am wont to suggest after Lee's poor display of familial loyalty and national allegiance that she consider residing in another country, namely Korea.

I'm sure she'll be welcomed with open arms.