Race and sports

World's strongest man finalists = all white

Olympic sprinters = all black

The relationship between race and sports and the observed differences in racial performance in different sports have caused debate.

Jon Entine

Jon Entine has argued, most prominently in his 2000 book Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We’re Afraid to Talk About it, that genetic differences between races explain racial differences in sports performance. Such genetic differences include body shape differences (height, muscle mass, subcutaneous fat, length of extremities and torso, lung capacity, width of hips and shoulders, etc) and body physiology differences (muscle fiber types, hormones, metabolic enzymes, reflex speed, bone density, etc).

West Africans are over-represented in certain anaerobic sports, such as sprinting and basketball. East Africans, specifically those whose ancestors lived in the highlands of East Africa for an evolutionarily significant period of time, are over-represented in certain aerobic sports, such as long-distance running. Certain Eurasian regions are over-represented in sports requiring upper body strength, such as wrestling, weight lifting, and throwing. East Asians are over-represented in sports requiring flexibility and dexterity, such as gymnastics.

Race and Sport: Evolution and Racial Differences in Sporting Ability

Race and Sport: Evolution and Racial Differences in Sporting Ability is 2016 review book by Edward Dutton and Richard Lynn. Among other topics, it discusses relationships between body types, race, and sports.

"Dutton and Lynn examine women’s sports as well. Since men are better at all kinds of athletic contests than women, the women who achieve at the highest levels tend to be less feminine than average. Also significant are racial differences in sexual dimorphism: African women and others from tropical regions are less distinct from their men than are women closer to the Arctic. Dutton and Lynn examine data concerning the best male and female performers in over fifty sports and compare them with predictions based on the physical traits of each of these racial groups. [...] Intelligence may also explain why Whites continue to dominate quarterbacking in American football and coaching in basketball, sports otherwise dominated by Blacks."

Textbooks

A 1994 study examined 32 English sport/exercise science textbooks and found that 7 (21.9%) argued that there are biophysical differences due to race that explain differences in sports performance, 24 (75%) did not mention nor refute the concept, and 1 (3.12%) expressed caution with the idea.

A 2010 study examined 18 widely used English anatomy textbooks and found that every one relied on the existence of races. The study gave examples of how the textbooks stated that anatomical features vary between races.

Different center of gravity

The world records for running tend to be set by Blacks. The world records for swimming tend to be set by Whites. This may be due to a different center of mass for Whites and Blacks. For Blacks, it is on average 3 percent higher above the ground than for Whites. This is argued to mean that Blacks on average hold a 1.5 percent speed advantage in running, while Whites hold a 1.5 percent speed advantage in swimming.

Cranial/brain size and running

Another proposed explanation for racial differences regarding running is that races with larger average cranial/brain size have pelvis structures that are suitable during childbirth for the larger cranial/brain size, but at the same time are less efficient for running.

Intelligence and reaction time

Sports that rely relatively more on intelligence and related variables, such as reaction time, may have racial differences related to differences regarding race and intelligence.

See also the section "Race and Sport: Evolution and Racial Differences in Sporting Ability".

Femininity vs. masculinity

See Other race differences: Femininity vs. masculinity.

See also the section "Race and Sport: Evolution and Racial Differences in Sporting Ability".

Penalties

Studies on basketball have found higher frequency of penalties for Black than for White players.

Environmental explanations

Politically correct explanations for the observed racial sport differences include differences in cultural preferences, differences in resources with some sports requiring more resources to participate in which may be lacking in poor areas and nations, differences in physical environment such as living and training at high attitudes causing non-genetic bodily changes, and discrimination.

That United States Blacks do dominate certain sports, despite many claimed general disadvantages and discrimination, creates problems for environmentalists regarding other racial differences. For example, this makes it harder to explain why United States Blacks do not dominate at least one area related to intellectual achievement.

Direct genetic evidence

Recent genetic research has found that certain gene variants are associated with differing degree of success in certain sports and that the frequency of these gene variants are different in different populations.

Chinese views and genetic screening

In China, the proposition that there are genetic differences affecting sports performance has been stated to be widely accepted. During the 2004 Summer Olympics, the People's Daily wrote that Chinese are "suited" to sports like Ping-Pong, badminton and gymnastics that require agility and technique. However, the newspaper argued, Chinese have "congenital shortcomings" and "genetic differences" that means they are disadvantaged at purely athletic events. The success of hurdler Liu Xiang has been explained as due to hurdling also requiring technique, which fits with the stereotype that Chinese are disciplined and smart. A researcher with the China Institute of Sports Science, Li Aidong, said that sports coaches believe Chinese athletes could also be successful in long jumping, high jumping and speed walking. But she doubted Chinese could compete in pure sprinting.

In 2018, China stated plans for genetic screening of top athletes. One company stated that this was already occurring.

Affirmative action

South Africa has implemented affirmative action policies regarding sports with White over-representation.

The United States Olympic Committee attempts to increase the number of non-Whites sent to the Winter Games.

Various countries attempt to increase the number of non-White coaches in various sports.

There seems to be no affirmative action in favor of Whites, despite being under-represented in various sports.

College admissions and graduations for college athletes

In the United States, good athletes are often given preferential treatment on college admissions, being admitted despite having standardized tests scores on average below that of other students. This especially regarding large revenue-generating sports, such as basketball and football. A 2018 report evaluated all of the 65 universities that make up the “power five conferences”, which have teams that compete in revenue-generating sports. At those schools, Black men were only 2.5% of enrolled students, but were 56% of men’s basketball teams and 55% of men’s football teams.

A university in the South was criticized for "racism", since Black student athletes graduated at a rate below that of non-Black student athletes. However, this ignored that the Black student athletes may have had standardized tests scores below that of non-Black student athletes, with this argued to be supported by indirect evidence. The Black student athletes may thus have received even more preferential treatment on admission than student athletes in general, but with this increasing the risk of not graduating.

Salary differences

NBA basketball salaries were in a 2001 study high for White players compared with their actual performance. However, this may in part be due to viewer preferences. Viewership increases when there is greater participation by White players, which means higher advertising incomes. This explains much of the salary gap.

Sport as propaganda

Non-White sport performers are often used for propaganda purposes. Mass immigration is justified by pointing to non-Whites who perform well in international competitions for their new country. National teams where persons of different races cooperate are seen as a model for society. Idolization of non-White sport performers, especially by young people, bring further acceptance. In general, the artificially created sports world arguably gives a very misleading impression of the range of racial differences and problems found in the real world.

Similarly to the rest of the mainstream media, sports reporting has been argued to have become increasingly leftist and anti-White.

Jewish influence

"Of the sixty(60) senior executives of the major sports leagues, talent agencies, and media outlets, forty-three(43) are Jews. This is a numerical representation of 72%. Jews are approximately 2% of the U.S. population.* Therefore Jews are over-represented among the senior executives of the major sports leagues, talent agencies, and media outlets by a factor of 36 times(3,600 percent)."

See also

• Jack Johnson
• Jesse Owens
• White flight: Sports White flight

External links

• White Men Can’t Jump, Black Men Can’t Shot-Put
• Caste Masculinity: Sports and the War on White Manhood
• White NFL Draftees Average 16 IQ Points Higher Than Black Draftees

Article archives

• American Renaissance: Race and Sports
• Articles, commentaries, and reviews by Jon Entine and others
• New Nation News - Black Sports

References

Part of this article consists of modified text from Wikipedia, and the article is therefore licensed under GFDL.