The NBA's first Chinese-American player, Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks, is breaking all types of records and stereotypes. And he's inspiring Asian-American youth all across the country — for good reason.

Lin, a graduate of Harvard University, is the first Ivy League player to play in the NBA since the 2002-2003 season and, most importantly, he continues to prove himself on the court, putting up 27 points and 11 assists Tuesday night against the Toronto Raptors — while hitting the game-winning three with 0.5 seconds left — in just his latest bit of heroics for the Knicks.

That only let Lin break Shaq's NBA record for most points in a player's first five starts.

All around the world and in the news, reporters and sports enthusiasts have dubbed this sudden explosion 'Linsanity,' and by God, I’ve bought into it. The positive and uplifting portrayal of Asians in the media couldn’t have come at a better time either.

U.S. Senate candidate Pete Hoekstra, a former Republican representative for Michigan, ran an advertisement during the Super Bowl that featured a young Asian woman pedaling through a rice field, speaking broken English in a stereotypical Chinese accent:

The ad rightfully caught criticism from both sides of the aisle and, when pressed, Hokestra defended it, saying it was supposed to be “satire” and the campaign wasn’t using any offensive stereotypes. “This is a young woman in China who is speaking English. That’s quite an achievement,” Hoekstra told Fox News.

He's not the only person in our PC-positive government who has managed to offend Asian-Americans. In 2009, during House testimony on voter identification legislation, State Rep. Betty Brown (R) suggested Asian-Americans should change their names because they're too hard to pronounce:

Considering all this, it’s no wonder that whenever there is a national news story that focuses on Asian-Americans, I go through a range of emotions, beginning with excitement and usually ending up around fear. Fear of how we’re being stereotyped this time.

Growing up, I realized at an early age that there weren’t that many nationally known Asian-Americans on television screens that kids like me could look up to. I mean sure, there was Bruce Lee, Lucy Liu and Michelle Kwan, but what if you didn’t want to be an amazingly kick-ass martial artist, actress or figure skater?

Dat Nguyen, the first Vietnamese-American to play in the NFL, served as a good role model during his stint from 1999-2005 on the Dallas Cowboys, but never received close to the amount of media attention Jeremy Lin has in the past week.

Then there re the characters in television that seem . . . confused. I’m talking about Mike Chang of Glee, who, when first introduced, was known solely as “other Asian.” Then there’s the effeminate Han Lee of 2 Broke Girls who furthers the stereotype that an Asian actor could never be a masculine leading man.

What have I come to realize from the Linsanity? It’s the year 2012 and I’m still amazed at how nervous I get when I see or hear about an Asian-American in the news.

For every positive story featuring Asian-Americans that seemingly allows us to progress and be as 'capable' as everyone else — in Lin’s case, his capability to compete in the NBA — there is always another story that highlights the backwards thinking that some (granted, only some) people — still have (Pete Hoekstra, we're looking at you).

While it wouldn’t be fair for Jeremy Lin to have to carry the torch on breaking Asian stereotypes, here’s hoping that he has a long and successful career in the NBA — one that gives hope to young Asian-Americans and shows them they can do whatever their hearts desire, no matter what they see on TV or in the media.

Considering the Knicks have now won six straight with Lin set to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, it looks like we'll be hearing more of him for quite some time. No complaints here!