‘Mummy, why do all of the runners have black skin?’

[MoiraRoseIsMyQueen]

So, my 5-year-old has just asked this question while watching the 100m heats, and I’m struggling to answer! Does anyone have any advice on how to respond, without making generalisations or being racist? I am so sorry if I sound ignorant but I said ‘because people from Africa tend to be very good at running because of their genetics’ - and then thought that is probably not a good answer. Help!

I would say - They are the athletes who proved to be in the best position (through talent, hard work in training etc) to be chosen to represent their country.

I don’t think it’s rude to comment on someone’s skin colour. I would answer that the competition is open to all athletes of all skin colours and those athletes are the best. I would be honest and say I’m not sure if it has to do with their skin colour as I’m not sure. Honesty is the best policy.

I would just say "I don't know" because I don't

[quote Snookie00]@Piggywaspushed. I was interested to read that article but quickly realised it was not a scientific paper but a social commentary by a guy who is an accountant/ photo journalist. Genetics and their associated impacts is a fascinating area and papers like that which are short of any scientific reasoning/ detail are not useful. Do you have links to any credible scientific papers which back up what he's arguing.[/quote]
Not without extensive googling but it is fairly widely accepted that the muscle fibre stuff is not correct and is a branch of eugenics. It's not his argument per se.

I read something not long ago that expressed frustration at the BBC being sucked into what is now widely seen as a racialised myth. Will see if I can find it.

Yes - also what pp’s have said regarding different countries having different populations/representation of skin colour, and sporting strengths and focus.

@Bryonyshcmyony

I'd just say because they are the best in their country at running.

Perfectly fine when you are 4 or 5 and just curious. Indepth lectures on the history of the black diaspora and musing on genetics, perhaps a tad OTT in these circumstances.ime.

What’s this world coming to when people are hesitant to say black Africans are generally good at running and white Scandis are good at throwing heavy objects?

😂😂😂😂🤣

@Pinkywoo
Roger Black 😀

'I don’t think we need to go into the genetics and such like for such a young child.'

Why not? Dcs are fascinated by things like this and have brains like sponges. I discussed genetics with mine at that age. Eye colour, hair colour, height etc, dominant and recessive genes. They were really interested.

Genuinely think it's genetics. My son is mixed race white European and black African Carribbean heritage.

Kids like a whippet on foot but sinks faster than a stone in the water. He has more lean muscle mass and better fast twitch fibers. I can see he has lean muscle because without much effort to maintain some sort of sports physical appearance (I mean he's 6 eats a healthy diet and is active) kid is sporting the slightest of 6 packs! I envy his genetics lol. 😂

@teaandakitkat thank goodness someone said it!

I think "I don't know, that's an interesting question" is just fine

scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=hilltopreview

keelesu.com/yourunion/campaigns/current/ongoing/bebetterdobetter/mythbusters/mythbuster4/

"as long as you try your best as anyone can win"

This is just blatantly untrue.

This is an interesting article about why Kenyan athletes have such a good distance running record.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17853592

@Geamhradh

"each country chooses its finest athletes"

Then point out it's rude to comment on the colour of people's skin. Do you live somewhere very racially homogeneous?

It's not rude. It's an interesting question. Different races have different typical body types and therefore excel at different types of athletics. There are differences between races - there's no point pretending there's not.

Interesting discussion.
I have very little useful to offer to help you, @MoiraRoseIsMyQueen, as I'm rubbish at answering questions like that too!

I do know that the concept of "race" has been "debunked" by critical race theory BUT it cannot be denied that there are evolutionary differences between people of different ethnic backgrounds (yes, I know, that's probably the wrong word to use as well).
I come from a background in blood science, and it's unhelpful to deny any racial differences and say it's purely a societal construct - because yes, there ARE differences in blood science between ethnicities. Largely evolutionary, as I said, but they're there. There are certain categories of blood type that occur with much higher frequency in black African populations, for example. Certain antigens, both on red blood cells and on other tissues, that are far more prevalent in different ethnicities. One of the problems that rears its head relatively frequently is that it is harder to find bone marrow matches for black patients, and even sometimes matched blood, because of these rarer antigens/combinations and because there are fewer donors from the matching populations.
It's the same for some enzyme deficiencies and some blood disorders too. And of course it's not just black populations, that was just an example.

So in evolutionary terms, I believe it is rather simplistic to deny racial differences between different populations; but in terms of racISM, I agree that it is totally a societal construct that implies that any one population is in any way inferior to another, and is utterly wrong.

I also disagree that you shouldn't comment on skin colour - "colour blindness" is not an appropriate forward move. Acknowledging the athletes' skin colour is not rude, it is factual - so long as no derogatory comments are attached to that.

I'd probably go for the general cop out of "they have black skin because their ancestors came from very hot countries and they had more melanin in their skin, because it helps keep it safe from the sunlight". If pushed and asked why they were the fastest runners, I'd probably go for the other general cop out of "they trained very hard and won the top places in their country" and comment on their individual physique to explain why that would help with their running abilities.

I don’t think the majority of us have enough in depth knowledge about biological and societal factors to be able to answer fully. I would just be honest and say you are not sure.

Another thought is whether there is any influence exerted by the amount of resources (financial and other) supporting athletes and encouraging sport in schools.

"Countries send their best athletes to the Olympics, and people from different countries sometimes have different skin colours."

Keep it simple as you can build nuance into conversations about race and nationality as they grow older. It's not wrong for them to notice, at their first ever Olympic games, that the world is diverse but that diversity isn't uniformly spread. However, you probably can't fold all the complexity of why into an answer understandable to a 5-year-old.

There's also nothing wrong with telling a child that you don't know the answer or you need to look it up.

Although genetic factors are real, I think it would be unhelpful to introduce these things to a 5-year old.

It sounds like many of the parents here, tho, will be happy to introduce such ideas to children.

People from those countries just benefit from their countries putting more effort into those events. That's that.

Much like every industry on the planet.

They spot sprinting talent in Jamaica from toddling age. People in the Jamaican diaspora return home to watch Champs, the young person's racing competition. It's talked about everywhere on the island. It's a huge huge thing. Running gets massive investment and the whole community pushes them.

No one in Jamaica is hugely bothered about cycling, If they were, well...... ;P :P ;P

I think opportunity has a lot to do with it. In addition to raw talent, you have to start young. Tasmania has 9 olympic pools for a population of 500,000. Sydney has 7. The UK has 60 odd olympic pools, Kenya has not a one, Jamaica has 2. To be a good swimmer in Australia is important and there are classes and weather and opportunity as well as parental drive.
The Europeans and Aus/NZ dominate in equestrian sport which has an enormous grass roots base...how many dressage arenas do you suppose Chad and Myanmar have.
Its not unreasonable for a curious child to ask that question.

I was a teacher for many years
I taught kids about race/religion/citizenship. I do have years of experience with kids who are curious and ask questions. Questions that make adults squirm.
I remember once a kid was so worried to offend he wasn't sure if it was ok to refer to someone as 'black'.
Of course it's fine but it reminded me of how tetchy ppl get around race/religion/ethnicity as they don't want to offend.

Your kid is 5 years old. You're not going to make them racist or be racist by talking about ethnicity or skin colour like come on. Surely we don't want to be in a colourblind world where we don't or can't see race/or be comfortable enough to acknowledge different skin colours.... skin colour isnt taboo.

Well your 5 year old is observant and right. A lot of talent in track are from black athletes (probably for a number of reasons) but there is nothing wrong noticing this or talking about it.....it's not racist!

Firstly I'd say yeah because they're the best their country has....I mean at 5 years old you don't need to go much deeper.
However if your kid is a bit older there is absolutely nothing wrong with discussing it with them the reasons.
You may want to say genetics paly's a part ie
For instance Mo Farah is designed to be a marathon runner whereas a someone genetically heavier isn't.
And the sprint runners have to be genetically blessed with long, strong legs that someone short isn't going to have.
Or ,if your kids was older you could even discuss the lack of opportunities for certain groups of ppl which potentially leads to lack of diversity (obviously don't mean for all sport).

UK Sport runs year on year campaigns to identify possible Olympians. They often look for specific body types for specific sports. To apply you obviously have to be good at sport, but they assess you to see whether you are a good "fit" into a particular sport. Helen Glover is a good example.

So, to say certain types of people are better at certain sports is not controversial, this also, inevitably does highlight that some ethnicities/races are better suited to certain sports because of body type or height, or weight, or bone structure.

....and a good point regarding some countries have more of a love for certain sports ie running and track

@Rege the only white person on the podium for the women's AA was the bronze medalist!