Changing the Guard

I don’t buy the whole great athletic genes inherited through selective slave-breeding. That should have been watered back down to normal after subsequent generations of the typical causes of procreation. It can’t just be that aspiring black folks work harder to make it in the sports that they dominate? What process of selective breeding has allowed Hispanic/Latino athlete to become so prevalent in baseball?

I recall that a sportscaster or two before this has made similar comments and been fired, so its not a new or newly controversial idea. Certainly, there were efforts in the slave era to bread physically stronger humans, and surviving the journey on slaveships was itself a testement to ones physical endurance. The problem with positing something like this, as a conclusion, as opposed to a hypothesis is that you have an incredible amount of largely unsorted data points supporting a conclusion. Efforts to measure human intelligence in a similar vein has led to great controversy when tenative conclusions are then boldly rebroadcast and interpreted through the lense of the racial eyes of the Western world. We would be foolish to ignore the over representation of black athletes in certain sports, or whites in others (hockey for example) without acknowledging the gigantic role that our subcultures play in shaping our whole lives sports included (how many kids stay up until the sun goes down shooting slapshots in Rucker Park). It may turn out that Michael Johnson/Jimmy the Greek are correct and that there is an inbred genetic advantage obtained by modern blacks through slavery’s brutal selection. We do know there are genetic differences, however small, in human populations (differential abilities among human subgroups in consuming more refined starches, milk products, obviously skin colour, hair texture, etc. etc.). Does this mean that there are genetic advantages in hand eye coordination, muscle fibre composition, testosterone and other hormonal levels, which would confere genetic advantage? The best way to make the case for or against such a hypothesis would have to start with base studies on these things. Its hard to do studies like this, so I would imagine that there may be a lack of a foundation to make the argument on, other than by examining the performance of elite humans in things like the olympics.

There is an athlete in each one of us. Let us not forget that WE were all once slaves in past generations, and slavery in no way shape or form produced athleticism. Whoa. Slam. I expected better. Selective breeding happens today. That’s like saying asians are crazy smart from generations of mental slavery. No. They’re smart from ambition.

@ kevin, there is no merit to it. Why aren’t all blacks that are descendants of slaves great athletes then? they got too much white genes in them?

@Slick Ric – I don’t think you can rule out what Michael Johnson said and say that there is absolutely no merit to it at all. In all likelihood, it is likely a combination of many factors including, the effects of slavery, culture etc.
Like Kevin and James aka.. said, not only were the strongest slaves bred, it also took the strongest of the slaves to survive the journeys to the West. Survival of the fittest, adapting to the environment. Much like there are genetic differences between humans in different regions of the world, based on climate, environment, diet etc.
Having said that, I would argue that while you cannot discount slavery as a factor, culture is a stronger factor when discussing the prominence of black players in basketball; Just consider the increased competitiveness of European basketball, other sports etc.

Slaves must of been sprinting and juking all over the place. But if you compare sports to modern day slavery, now you’re talking. That is a whole different conversation. Africa…harsh environments? It’s called genocide. Why aren’t Jews and Muslims elite athletes? Oh, I get it. They didn’t suffer enough. Harsh environments. SMH

Selective breeding alone is not enough to support the theory of Johnson, a person who has no background whatsoever in bio-engineering or genetics. Selective breeding over 150 years ago would not be as physically prevalent as you would like to think in this day in age. First of all, it suggests that a small minority of the slave community’s genes are so strong that they overpower every other gene of those of African decent. Somehow this undiscovered “gene” has managed to maintain its potency more that the genes that carry other physical traits such as skin color and other physical features. That’s a pretty huge assumption to make without any scientific evidence. The idea that social factors take a backseat to this unsupported idea is ridiculous to me. What about Hockey? By Johnson’s logic blacks should dominate hockey too. The fact is, socially the sport isn’t as popular amongst those of African decent. Environmental and social factors can be obvious contributors to a specific group’s dominance of a very specific sport. However, if you’re gonna get into talk about genetics, I better see your published research.

Well as a member of the white race (Greek origin) I confirm that people who descendt from Subsaharan Africans have superior athletic abilities. Even North Africans (Magreb people) are better athletes than most races. That does not mean though that some people of some race should not do sports. Everybody must do, we all saw Jeremy Lin, if you are “special” you might succeed. What I do not like in the article is that 12% of the USA citizens,12million people consider themselves foreigners to USA. African Americans have suffered a lot, slavery etc but are blessed now to live in the USA (try living in an African country you would be shoked). America has done many things wrong in the past but tries now to fix them. Look at the Native Americans they are gaining a lot back. America is now very sensitive about racial issues and that is how it should be. African Americans, adopt the good things the Western civilization has to offer (sciences, sports, arts, education etc) and adopt them to your culture and maybe improve them. Neglect the negatives. Be Americans.
Elis Athens Greece

I think the race has something to do with how good you can be, not how good you are. For example look at Larry Bird – do you think he has the gines for an NBA legend? And now imagine if he was born more athletic.
How your body is biult is a huge factor in sports and the truth is that different races for whatever reason are build slightly differently – how many tall asians do you know:) But no matter what in the end it takes practice and dedication to reach the maximum potential, that your body allows.

West Africans or people of west African descent are typically built well and athletically regardless of the the kind of selective breeding Johnson and others are talking about here. As a geneticist I would be inclined to think that it’s the the former rather than the latter that confers these young men with their athletic gifts. Also – these conversations may well be awkward for some but they are needed. Any truly non-racist, open-minded, intelligent person would not feel uncomfortable – they would recognise it as an opportunity for America to better itself and move on from being the intensly “racial” place that it has been for all of it’s modern history.

I don’t get what part of surviving a journey across the Atlantic in the cargo of a slaveship implies one has a predisposition to atheletic excellence. So LeBron is pretty likely to survive that kind of journey?

The time period encompassed by slavery is just too short to have caused such widespread changes that could have survived until the modern day (in my opinion anyway)the sooner these notions and stereotypes about ethnicities get put to bed the better. The real factor behind what people achieve in life is their circumstances, the opportunities they encounter and how hard they work. If you put anybody in a position to succeed from a young age, they come across the opportunities to succeed, and they work hard enough to succeed then they will. I think it is belittling to suggest an african-american succeeds due to a “natural advantage” rather than just hard work.

Seems like common knowledge to me. I mean, Spike Lee made a movie called “White Men Can’t Jump” (should have been “Black Men Can Jump”, but he’s allowed to be racist). Anyone who has played high school basketball or football knows that a majority of the time during sprints the black kids beat the white kids (not including the heavyweights of course). I don’t remember the black kids ever training harder by running more sprints to gain this advantage, but they probably did haha.

@Knifer, two different comments tried to argue that point.
“..and surviving the journey on slaveships was itself a testement to ones physical endurance”
“And as you all mention, another selection happened on the ships to wherever these people went, where many died of disease and sickness.”
@it, a White gentleman named Ron Shelton wrote and directed that movie.

@Hursty I know you didn’t make this point but to the others: None of which has anything to do with slavery.

I think that socio-economic reasons are the significant factor explaining Black dominance in some sports. Hockey is dominated by upper-middle class white men, since it is so expensive to play, and the climate is much more favourable in the wealthy North. Basketball is a game that is easily accessible to less wealthy citizens, and as such there is a greater cultural emphasis placed on the game amongst African-Americans. The fact is that many Black youth grow up in dangerous neighbourhoods, or come from broken homes. This lack of support, along with the institutionalized racism that prevents them from going to better schools means that there are fewer Black students spending long hours studying so they can become doctors and lawyers, and more spending long hours on the court so they can make a better life playing ball, although this is far from the full picture

Europeans were living in a more “cultured” world?