The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship black athletes have in sports compared to their white counterparts and to discuss whether black athletes have a genetic advantage over other races.
In the past three to four decades it has been believed that black athletes hold a genetic superior advantage in athletic competition, especially in basketball, football, and track and field. It has been questioned whether or not this advantage is a result of cultural background, genetic makeup, or a mix of both. Regardless it is a common topic that is neglected in sports discussions.
The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between sports performance and race. The authors of this entry share no bias towards one theory or another; rather we will examine common cultural beliefs held about race and sport.
Black Athletes... do genetics provide an edge?
Black athletes have consistently dominated the competition and track and field. Sir Roger Bannister said it most clearly when he stated that "I am prepared to risk political incorrectness, by drawing attention to the seemingly obvious but under stressed fact that black sprinters and black athletes in general all seem to have certain natural anatomical advantages.” In fact, the past two hundred record breaking 200m times have all been broken by black men. The top track times in the world are all held by African men.
Perhaps the reason for this domination lies in the area of genetics. Studies have shown that blacks tend to have a higher percentage of “fast-twitch” muscle fiber than whites. There are two types of skeletal muscles: type I, or slow-twitch muscles, and type II, fast-twitch muscles. There are two kinds of the fast twitch: type IIa, intermediate between fast and slow; and type IIb, which are superfast-twitch. Endurance runners usually have more slow twitch muscles where sprinters tend to have greater fast twitch muscles. Claude Bouchard, a Laval University professor took needle biopsies from the thigh muscle of Canadian white students and West African students. He discovered the Africans had 67.5% fast twitch muscle fibers, significantly more than their white counter parts -- 59%. This discrepancy was believed to be one of the causes for the black dominance in sprinting events.
Another genetic advantage may be in blood lactate levels. In a study conducted by Tim Noakes at the University of Cape Town he investigated the difference between the top white and black runners. In his study twenty elite athletes each ran through “a mile in less than four minutes or a 5K in faster than 14 minutes, and the runners 10k times averaged 28:30-29:40, with most of the performances achieved at moderate altitude (5900 feet) near Johannesburg.”(5) Noake found that blood lactate levels in black athletes were considerably lower than in the white athletes. At a speed of 4:36 per mile the blacks runners lactate levels were a whopping 24% lower. Because blood lactate reduces muscle effectiveness and increases muscle fatigue, the lower levels could drastically increase overall performance. Could it be that black’s produce more lactate overall?
Third, the bone structure of black athletes tends to vary slightly from white athletes. As the great running back OJ Simpson once bluntly put it “we are built a little differently, built for speed, skinny calves, long legs, high asses are all characteristics of blacks. That's why blacks wear long socks. We have skinny calves, and short socks won't stay up. I'll argue with any doctor that physically we're geared to speed, and most sports have something to do with speed.” While OJ’s observation may not hold scientific evidence, research has been shown to support some of OJ’s statement. Wisconsin Dr. Robert Malina compared the lengths of bone extremities between Mexican, African American, and White children. He found that “black youth have absolutely and relatively longer lower extremities than Mexican American and White youth.” With the longer extremities also comes an added advantage in sports such as basketball that require height and long limbs to help defend opponents and attack the basket.
Perhaps no one supports the argument that blacks are better suited for athletic competition than Arthur Ashe Jr., the first black male to win the US Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon singles title. He claims on the belief that blacks are genetically superior to whites that “my heart says 'no,' but my head says 'yes.'” While some may argue that black athletes gain their advantage from cultural factors, the fact remains that blacks are consistently dominant in physical activity.
Interesting facts
• Blacks who trace their ancestry to West Africa, including African Americans, hold more than 95 percent of the top times in sprinting;
• Whites are virtually absent from the top ranks of sprinting; though whites have traditionally done well in the longer endurance races, particularly the marathon, their ranks have thinned in recent years;
• Athletes from one country, Kenya, make up more than one-third of top times in middle and long distance races; including top performances by other East Africans (most from Ethiopia), that domination swells to almost 50 percent.
• North Africans do well at middle distances;
• Mexicans (Native Americans), are strongest at the longest races, 10,000 meters and the marathon;
• East Asians are competitive only at the event requiring the most endurance, the marathon, and at ultra-marathons.
Examination that blacks are not genetically superior
First of all, through research, I have found out that human muscles contain fifty percent slow-twitch muscles and fifty percent fast-twitch muscles. A theory has raised that body type and fat depends on race. Studies have shown that body fat does not depend on race, and that body size and fat is due to cultural and economic influences, such as diet and exercise. Olympic sprinters have been shown to have about 80% fast twitch fibers while marathoners may have 80% slow twitch fibers, muscularity that ordinary athletes of any racial group are unlikely to possess. And while some runners may be more athletically talented than others, no gene has been found to account for such difference. In an article published in early 1936, “Race and Runners” physical anthropologist W. Montague Cobb, who examined Jesse Owens as well as other black sprinters, wrote, “Owens’ foot presents none of the characteristics commonly but erroneously designated as Negroid.” Cobb wrote that Jesse Owens calf muscles were anatomically more like the muscles of average whites. “The personal histories and constitutions of our sprinters have not yet been sufficiently analyzed for the formula for the perfect sprinter to be given.” East African middle and long distance runners currently dominate in international track, however many physiological and anatomical factors have been suggested to explain their dominance, research has yet to identify any definitive genetic advantage. In Jon Entine’s Taboo, the success of East African distance runners, in particular Kenyans from the Great Rift Valley region, is attributed to a combination of diet, genetics, customs and geography, And with their athletic success, Kenyans have gained a psychological advantage, with their perceived invincibility. Through research it has been proven that blacks are not genetically superior. However there are much factors that make blacks better than others, and that is not through genes. As I examined the evidence, I found the different conditions causing someone to be better than another, is due to their environment, economy, and culture. The success of each individual is a product of that person's ambition, creativity, and intelligence matched with the serendipity of life - the X factors that make sports so compelling.
Blacks in Hockey
Hockey has long been a game of white athletes. According to league reports, only 18 black players reached the NHL between 1958 and 1991. The inability of black players to permeate the NHL is representative of the lack of focus placed on hockey in black culture. Black children are not raised playing or watching hockey. This disparity could be economically influenced due to the fact that a normal hockey set up includes hundreds of dollars of gear and extensive travel time. These fees may not be able to be met by an economically low class black family that may be able to afford one basketball. Genetically, studies have shown that black’s quads are considerably weaker than whites but more resistant to fatigue. In a game of short two to three minute line changes where the thigh is actively involved in much of the movement, blacks may not be as physically fit to skate as jump and run. Their genetic build does not allow for maximum performance in hockey.
Blacks in Baseball
In 2005, blacks made up 9% of the MLB. This was a drastic drop from 1974, when 27% percent of MLB athletes were black. Again, economic factors may be to blame. Inner city black children cannot afford to play all year or afford the best equipment, and consequently their chances for success are diminished. Because many boys are pushed into baseball by their fathers, some observers have suggested that there is little encouragement for young fatherless black males to play baseball. The Washington Post reported that more than half of the naiton’s 5.6 million young black male population live in fatherless households. The lack of encouragement could have lead to the decline of blacks in baseball overall.
Blacks in Golf
If Tiger is spurring more young players to take up golf and eventually turn professional, some of those players will, naturally, be minorities. Woods will be a critical figure in many young people's decisions to pursue pro careers -- no matter their culture or background. The elimination of caddie programs in favor of revenue-generating carts has closed a door to the game for people from modest economic backgrounds.
Blacks in Basketball
To start off, the economic and social backgrounds of an individual have nothing to do with performance. Among elite athletes, particularly professional basketball players and high jumpers, their vertical leaping ability is significantly greater relative to their height. Due to some findings some data is only relevant for elite athletes and infers little about blacks and whites in general, and whether race endows an athletic competitive advantage. “These are the findings one would expect to see if elite black athletes are working harder than elite white athletes,” observes Michael Blakey. Indeed, such studies fail to explore the role that environmental and cultural influences play in success in a particular sport such as basketball.
Conclusion
So in conclusion, many people believe that blacks are genetically superior over others in sports, while some believe that they are not. Some have proven that being big, or being fast is genetic, while some say that it is the environment that blacks come from, or the social and economic background that they come from. Even if genes are not what makes black superior, their environment is a big influence especially with sprinters and marathon runners. So for now the theory about blacks and their genetic superior is myth to some but the truth to others.
