Air Force coach - "Afro American kids can run very, very well"

yes that is actually well documented. First of all, you had to be a pretty strong and healthy dude to survive that deathtrip from Africa to the Americas. Second, a lot of slaves were captured form one particular area which were known for their physical superiority. A lot of the African Americans today can trace their genes back to those slaves, so it only stands to reason they would have the same physical advantages. For comparison, look at Kenyans as compared to African-Americans. Need I say more?

 

Although horrific, I do believe that we may have evolved physically in some aspect a little more than others because of slavery. My great grandfather told me that blacks were bred. The bigger we were the more money you could get for us. I dont know how this could be proven or not though..

 

Just a addon to my previous post. Most slaves were captured from what is now the Sudan region.

 

I believe it was Al Campanis (former Dodgers GM) or Jimmy 'The Greek' Snyder that made a similar comment.

 

Jimmy the Greek http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/almanac/video/1988/

 

Blacks are faster/ jump higher because they tend to have lower body fat with greater numbers of high-speed twitch muscle fiber.

Whites with more body fat will dominate (for example) swimming events.

Some sports domination comes from socioeconomic reasons (ie) tennis or cycling.

There’s your blanket generalization of white and black athletes for the day.

 

I don't really see how anyone could disclaim that. I thought it was a pretty well known fact that white slave owners breeded the slaves to get the best of the best, so to speak. Hell, Chris Rock even said so much in one of his standups.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Asians will start to dominate swimming.

The problem with generalizing or stereotyping is that it only works "on average". So maybe blacks are quicker on average or jump higher on average. Maybe asians are better at math on average. But when you get to the top tier, like the upper 1%, then you find white guys who are extremely fast and asians who are great marathon runners, etc.

 

Are Asians smarter in mathematics worldwide or just in America?

 

not a very PC comment but i wasn't really ticked off about what he said. the only thing that made me a little mad was if you are pissed off about being too slow, you should have been recruiting speed a long time ago. hell, the guy has been there for 22 years or something. black people didn't just pop up 5 years ago, and speed has been a reason for success in all sports for over a decade. this guy is just old, set in his ways and has finally caught onto the importance of speed in football.

there are white guys who can run, trust me. i had a white friend who ran a 4.4, got a football scholarship to UT. guy was an amazing all-around athlete. but on the whole blacks are usually better athletes than whites, for whatever reasons but look at the numbers in pro sports like football and basketball. this guy is just too damn slow to catch on to what is happening in sports.

 

I don't have any stats, but I've heard that some students in asian countries (korea, japan, china) are learning calculus in 6th grade!

 

I think the guy shouldn't have to apologize. There's a difference between a negative and positive sterotype.

 

I agree, but why is then that Jimmy the Greek was crucified for saying pretty much the same thing?

Edit: OK now that I've gone back and read Jimmy's quote I see the difference. Whereas DeBerry was just stating what everyone already knows, Jimmy actually went beyond just stating his opinion and used words like "During the slave period, the slave owner would breed his big black with his big woman..." I'm guessing it's phrases like "big woman" or "big black" that got people worked up, not just the statement that there's probably a genetic difference going back to slavery that has an impact on black athletes' performance.

 

damn good post.

i was gonna chime in with the "but it's pretty much true" line, but you made some very valid points.

 

But is the idea that blacks in general are faster really such a stereotype? Here's the definition of "stereotype" found at dictionary.com: "A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image." The question is how formulaic and/or oversimplified was DeBerry's statement? It's not like we're talking about baggy pants, hip hop, or bling bling.

Black athletes themselves have pointed out the obvious. For example, the sprinter Carl Lewis was referring to black athletes when he said that "We generally carry less fat. I can look at our bodies and tell that. We have long levers. And those are the two things that help us sprint better."

Here's what Arthur Ashe had to say on the subject: "The results are outstanding, nothing short of stellar. Sociology can't explain it. I want to hear from the scientists. Until I see some numbers (to the contrary), I have to believe that we blacks have something that gives us an edge.... My heart says no, but my head says yes."

And here's a quote from Vince Lombardi (who was of course white, but knew a thing or two about athletes and was able to speak a little more freely in the pre-PC days): "I think Negroes are more naturally endowed. I think physique has a great deal to do with it. They're built differently. Their muscular development is longer. Their muscles are not as bunched. They have a longer type of muscle. That gives them greater spring and more quickness."

And finally, from my own experience in the Navy, I observed that black sailors generally had a tougher time passing the swimming test in basic training than those of other races. You could certainly make the argument that this was at least in part attributable to cultural or socioeconomic differences experienced during childhoold (such as lack of access to swimming pools). But to my (untrained) eyes, it was least partially due to physical differences as well - it seemed that many (not all) of the black sailors had to work much harder at staying afloat, tended to sink like rocks, and in general lacked buoyancy, possibly due to differences in muscle type, body fat %, etc.

These are statements based on observation, not meant to demean or slander. I understand the history of discrimination, but I don't see how anything is fixed by sweeping obvious facts under the carpet. It's sad to me that when my daughter watches the Olympics and asks why all of the sprinters in the final heats are black, I have to say something like "because they're the fastest runners, but be careful about asking those types of questions in public."

If every football coach in the nation has the same thought that DeBerry expressed, why should he be called out for uttering the thought?

BTW, here's a link to an interesting article I found that has the quotes above.

http://www.jonentine.com/reviews/ottawa_cit_recon.htm

 

I am glad you did. Most of us MEXICANS that can swim well are already on this side of the border...

 

I understand you wanting to use common sense from observation but the problem is that those same observations are made about other subjects such as education. Its a slippery slope, and unless someone actually does a comprehensive study on these issues, then we should put our observations in check.

 

I'm a white guy who sinks like a rock. I am also a poor swimmer. I don't think it is anything that couldn't be completely overcome with good technique, but it is certainly a hurdle to be overcome when trying to learn how to swim. You'll note that top swimmers don't tend to have a whole lot of body fat, but most of them have pretty good technique by that point. I think most of the difference in swimming is a socioeconomic difference though.

Sinking like a rock makes free diving a lot more fun though. =)

 

Nuture over Nature

Rocket River

 

What this is really about isn't who's faster. It's much deeper.

The whole world tries to pretend to live under this illusion that all races are genetically the same - for good reason. The spectre of discrimination is so distasteful, we adopt a policy of everyone is equal so we don't have to deal with any kind of unpleasent ideas.

This isn't about sports...it's the fear of opening pandora's box - that one race may be genetically smarter then another - and the next thing you know we're talking like Hitler. No one wants to go there.

It's unfortunate this guy has to take the flak for it...