why are black athletes faster than white athletes?

Well I've herd this somewhere, i'm not saying its true. But might be a somewhat reasonable explanation.
This dates back to the days of slavery. The strongest and most fit black people were kept for slavery, the weaker ones where killed/ whatever else might have been done. After slavery was abolished the black people stayed in the country. And most of the black peoples living now are their descendants, having the natural strenght and fitness they dominate sports. Of course with traning.

Originally posted by solidshot
It's most likely............... how the muscle fibres in their legs are made up? iirc there are different types of muscle fibre some are made for strength and others are made for speed?

ding-ding-ding
that sounds dead on correct

certain percentages of any and all races have people with those
muscle cells that are of a ''Long and Quick'' type
at least that's what i've read about in science & medical journal articles
over the years, if someone is interested, go ahead & search it up for youself

i think the Gene explaination is a mis-statement of the idea,
because 'Gene Expression' is a more important factor for traits etc.
i hand it over to anyone more knowledgeable in anonomy & phisiology

Is it really a genetic difference or a cultural difference.

If it's genetic, then why are white people better hockey players?

[edit on 26-9-2006 by LeftBehind]

Originally posted by Rasobasi420
Becasue there aren't necessarily as many options for poor black people in this country, they are often led into sports as a means for higher education. There probably are white people who could be as fast with as much training and effort, but there isn't necesserily the need because they have other options open to them.

Can you please clarify this statement?

What opportunities are open to whites in USA that are not open to blacks?

Your statement would have been true 30 years ago, but I would love to hear examples of how this is true today.

Originally posted by dgtempe They're the best singers too. ...

Actually i never though about it before but this could be the reason why.
don,t forget, it,s not so much the voice box but the muscles that control it that dictates how well we sing. Thats why its important warming up before singing,just like an athlete warms up before a race.

Originally posted by XphilesPhan

Originally posted by AGENT_T


Hence the obvious genital related quips!

Actually there has been a study that proves that is just a myth....

as for the athletes part, there are some white athletes in many sports...

just not alot in basketball anymore...of course there isnt much else to do in the inner city.

and of course it involves runing, stealing, and shooting.....

that wasn't a very nice thing to say,could you please be a little more civil about this ? I am white and I got offended by your comment!Thank you.

Their gluteus maximus and gluteus medius are stronger and more defined.

MOD EDIT: Removed inappropriate language

[edit on 9/27/06/27 by junglejake]

Here are a couple of links related to the differences in the two. Just interesting facts.

Differences in Sacral Angulation and Lumbosacral Curvature in Black and White Young Men and Women

Cardiovascular responses in black and white males during exercise

I'm prepared to believe that there is some racial/genetic element at work here but you certainly have to take the cultural effect into very serious account as well.

The best examples are the prowess of the relatively small Australian population at a huge range of sports and especially swimming - unless the transported convict population had a propensity to big feet which have gradually evolved into something closer to flippers I'd have to put this down to culture & environment alone.

Look also at New Zealand's tiny population. Rugby is not a world wide sport but their strength is totally dispropotionate to their population - culture again.

Originally posted by XphilesPhan

Hence the obvious genital related quips!

Actually there has been a study that proves that is just a myth....

as for the athletes part, there are some white athletes in many sports...

just not alot in basketball anymore...of course there isnt much else to do in the inner city.

and of course it involves runing, stealing, and shooting.....



I can steal, and run better then black boys! I only fired a gun several times so i never compared, but first time i did, i shot my uncle ( minor unitentional wound )

MOD NOTE

Please mind your mouths and keep on the topic of the thread at hand,

Ignorance will not be tolerated,

Asala...

Being realistic its a socio economic thing........ when I was young all heavyweight boxers were afro this or that, and generally from the americas. Today ALL FOUR HEAVYWEIGHT BELTS ARE HELD BY BOXERS FROM THE FORMER USSR! What a change, its turned boxing on its head. In the future, watch out for the Chinese, its their turn ? Lol.......................

Originally posted by SpittinCobra
I am going to be real frank here.

It is because the slave drivers would only breed for the best qualities, strong backs and broad hips.
Africa Americans where breed for the best qualities, period.




[edit on 24-9-2006 by SpittinCobra]

thanks for having the guts to shine the light on this horrific truth

the OP should have characterized the sprinters as "western" african americans

when is the last time an african sprinter won anything ?

the voyages from africa also weeded out the frail and sickly, so the ones that made it here were strong to begin with

If its a matter of the voyage, then wouldn't that also require that white americans, being those europeans who were the fittest and best able to live in the physically demanding environement of hte americas should be more fit than any european peoples?

I don't think that that can be much of an explanation. We'd have to see phyiscal differences between the immigrant and home populations.

Whites have a density bone stucture that is heavier than Blacks. Blacks bone structure is more thinner and joint structure is more minature. Compare a black sprinters ankle and a white sprinters ankle and make a decision.
Alot can also be the diet a race is choosing, white kids today are button pushers and black kids tend to be more outside, and thus many things can be a social economic thing.
Blacks today are not nearly as gifted as in the 30's thru the 60's in education, they had their own schools systems, own cheerleaders, music bands and such. Forced into social intergration stripped many things from them, what was left was escape to sports. White schools did not expect the black to be excellant and pushed them to the sports field. However, the sports fields grabbed them with open arms and did not expect them to be excellant in anything but sports.
A catch 22 developed where young blacks became lost in be a superstar and not developing themselves to experience the real outside world.
Probably wrong on this but I was as fast as black track members, but I enjoyed the field events better, plus a heck of a lot less running.

I thought Jimmy the Greek settled this question back in 1988.

As some have noted here, there might have been some substance to his assessment, but it didn't exactly enhance his career.

Jimmy the Greek

Originally posted by sympthons_WDF
Well I've herd this somewhere, i'm not saying its true. But might be a somewhat reasonable explanation.
This dates back to the days of slavery. The strongest and most fit black people were kept for slavery, the weaker ones where killed/ whatever else might have been done. After slavery was abolished the black people stayed in the country. And most of the black peoples living now are their descendants, having the natural strenght and fitness they dominate sports. Of course with traning.

This is very much the truth, I posted it on the last page.

Heres my theory:

Europeans sat back in there old farm waiting for there crops / lamb to grow.

Africans hunted for there food.

So yes they probably just have slightly diferant genetics. The Slavery thing was BS. Even people FROM Africa are really good at running, not just families who were in slavery a few hundred years ago.

Originally posted by Nygdan
If its a matter of the voyage, then wouldn't that also require that white Americans, being those Europeans who were the fittest and best able to live in the physically demanding environment of the Americas should be more fit than any European peoples?

I don't think that that can be much of an explanation. We'd have to see physical differences between the immigrant and home populations.

You are comparing apples and oranges when it comes to to white immigrants coming to the New World in relative normal conditions vs black soon to be slaves barely surviving the trip over due to food, water and space limitations. The slaves by far had the worst of the deal. Both trips did tend to weed ou the infirm, but not to the same extent.

Can a greyhound run faster than a bulldog? They are both dogs right? How can anyone say that humans are any different?

People need to get off their high horses and realize we are nothing more than glorified animals.
Through the ages humans have evolved in different areas under different conditions. Those evolving under colder conditions (like europe) needed more brute muscle, smarts, and a 'strength in numbers' mentality to survive. Those in hotter climates in large expanse areas (like africa) needed darker skin pigment to protect themselves from the sun and be able to run long distances for water and prey.

We are talking about a blink of an eye in time since we were hunter gatherers eating raw meat in caves. Give the human race another 1,000 years or so and we may have mixed enough where one man cannot run faster or jump higher than another man.

We are slowly losing our diversity, and one day people will look back in history at us in this time and wonder what it must have been like seeing people interact with different heights and skin color.

Celebrate diversity.