To wonder what Black athletes have....

[CrispyCod]

......that make them so superior in performance. It has to be genetic. I am in awe of them as they appear to glide effortlessly around the track. The Jamaican athletes are just wow! Their speed is just amazing.

maybenow no you are right, there is no physical reason, when it comes to U.S. African-Americans/Blacks and swimming.

Also, not for gymnastics...

Wow
I can't believe done of the casual racist attitudes on this thread.

Evolution is massively complex, you can't just put the reason black athletes excel at certain events down to ' selective breeding' during slavery not all people in Africa are descended from slaves, and surely to achieve those sort of physical adaptations would take generation after generation.

Environmental issues are crucially important. The lack of black swimmers probably has more up do with culture and access tk training facilities.
I think culture is a key issue - look at the role models, little black boys are far more likely to want tk be Mo Farah than a three day eventer.

casual racism plays a part as well - there was a study into PE teachers and sports coaches as well as young peoples own experiences (I'll be buggered if I can find it now I'll bet!) but it basically showed that those with influence such as teachers steered kids towards certain sports they felt they would be 'better' at due to their racial back ground - and a lot of black kids get pushed towards athletics in the uk

People keep talking about social factors, but not all of these are negatives, or things that would necessarily benefit from an artificial attempt to change them.

Some countries are simply better equipped for certain sports. A landlocked country is unlikely to excel at sailing, unless it has some pretty big lakes. A country that has mountain pony type horses isn't likely to invest in equestrianism.

This means that there might be entirely different factors at work in relation to different countries and the same sport. You might not get many african-americans in equestrianism, or white americans in basketball for all sorts of complicated social and historical reasons but the lack of an equestrian team from Kenya might be for entirely different, practical reasons, and the lack of white players in a Somalian basketball team may well be due to there simply being very few white people eligible for compete for Somalia.

The whole thing is incredibly complicated, just like any aspect of human society. I don't see what is wrong with people finding it interesting.

There's nothing wrong with finding it interesting but linking genetic predispositions to the mere colour of someone's skin is not scientific and can promote casual racist attitudes and assumptions.

You may share more genes with Mo Farah than your White European neighbour.

By the way, why are there so few women in the boardroom? Perhaps it's in their genes or perhaps it's the culture in which they grow up

Good post aboutlastnight.

I am not saying that there is not any explanation as to why some groups of people might be better at certain events than others. It is just when that group is white male nobody seems to question it.

Yes there may be differences between races and sexes generally but I imagine these are insignificant when compared to the differences between individuals so do think it unhelpful to generalise.

Am with creighton on this one. I dont think op meant offence at all but it does come across a bit condescending.

It is just when that group is white male nobody seems to question it

Actually, I questioned it when I noticed the majority of swimmers appeared to be white.

Aboutlastnight, the slavery theory was the one extolled by a Jamaican running coach that Michael Johnson interviewed on his documentary. I think that's mainly where people are getting the theory from.

Crispycod then why did you not ask that in your op too?

Probably because the running was on at the time the thread started, not the swimming.

But swimming has been on for longer than the athletics so why no threads about why white people are better at that?

Also have noticed that when people were discussing the swimming upthread it was generally seen again as what the black peoples attributes were that made the difference rather than putting any emphasis on what might be different about the white people.

Been lurking all day.
This thread would be worthless without creighton's intervention.
I have been labelled "caucasian" when applying for PR in the far east whilst i have been labelled "brown" in europe all my life.
Gave me perspective.
Most people here have not the slightest idea what casual racism is.

Who says white people are better at swimming????

This thread would be worthless without creighton's intervention

That's a little bit harsh

And Am neither caucasian, nor brown

crispy i think it is great, you've started this thread and stayed with us all this time, unlike some other OP's who ask similar questions and then don't engage in the discussion as soon it gets more heated or they disappear alltogether.

Worldcitizen it has been mentioned a few times upthread that there are not as many black swimmers as white swimmers.

Correct Moomin, the athletics were on at the time I started the thread.

Thanks World

I am surprised at the direction this thread has taken though.

Who says white people are better at swimming????

Exactly. Difficult to compare when the majority of swimmers are white. Whereas in the recent athletics there has been a good mix of Black and White athletes yet the Black athletes appear to perform better HENCE my observation and OP.

Choco, but not as many black swimmers as white ...is not the same as saying white people are better at swimming...
Oh, and I'm not saying that this is what you said or meant, but it was mentioned here on this thread quite a few times

Crispy can totally see that and which is why the OP is great, and discussion, debate and disagreement, and also some upset is great and healthy

world dont worry did not think you were implying that I meant that was just a bit about some of the comments implying it must be because black people have heavier bones or braided hair (wtf).

crispy just want to say again that I do think your op was meant with best intentions (my mum said exactly the same thing to me yesterday) it is just I can see why black people may take offence at such questions.

This is an interesting thread, I had always heard it to be down to superior bone density, I'd never heard of this Rift Valley place.