It is the one subject nobody discusses publicly. Not even Jerry Springer or Montel or Sally. As a society, we talk openly now about transvestites, homosexuality, hemorrhoids, feminine hygiene and other subjects that used to be off limits. But nobody talks about this other business in a public forum.
Nobody dares to publicly state that blacks might be better athletes than whites.It is one of the last great taboos. So when somebody finally wrote a book about it, it raised a few eyebrows. The book is called "Taboo, Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It." At the risk of stereotyping or offending the politically correct, author Jon Entine writes that it's ridiculous for us not to acknowledge that genetics play a part in the emergence of black athletes -- or even to acknowledge in the first place that blacks are physically superior athletes -- just because the subject makes us uncomfortable. Entine argues that training and cultural and social factors alone can't explain why blacks dominate sports.
The anecdotal evidence is compelling:
All 32 finalists in the last four Olympic men's 100-meter dashes were of West African descent.
No white sprinter's name appears on the list of the top 200 times in the 100-meter race.
American men won 16 medals in track and field at the 1996 Olympic Games, only three by white athletes, all of them throwers. At Barcelona in 1992, American men won 20 medals, three by whites.
No white American male runner has won a medal in an Olympics or outdoor World Championships since 1987 (a bronze).
White male sprinters, American or otherwise, have won a grand total of one medal (a silver) in the sprint races (100, 200 and 400 meters) at the past four Olympics. But black dominance is no longer confined to the sprints. Blacks rule the distance races and many of the field events, as well. In the last Olympics they won every running, jumping and hurdle event except two (13 of 15).
Blacks make up 80% of the players in the NBA.
Blacks make up 67 percent of the players in the NFL and virtually own every skill position (wide receiver, running back, defensive back, the only exception being quarterback).
Sixty-one percent of Division 1 college basketball players and 52 percent of Division 1 college football players are blacks.
Arthur Ashe, the late great black tennis star, faced the overwhelming numbers and reluctantly said, "Sociology can't explain it. I want to hear from the scientists. Until I see some numbers (to the contrary), I have to believe that we blacks have something that gives us an edge. "Damn it, my heart says 'no,' but my head says 'yes.' "
Blacks have become so dominant that we have quietly accepted a reverse prejudice on the athletic field. It is the one place where whites are often second-class citizens. A black coach at the University of Utah once told an all-America football player at Utah that he would have to be twice as good as his black rivals to make it in the NFL -- just because he was white. Nobody objects to movies entitled, "White Men Can't Jump," or the widely used term "white man's disease." Nobody protested when Utah coach Rick Majerus complained a few years ago that his basketball team was too white -- it looked like the ski team, he said (imagine if he had said they were too black). And while there is a great public outcry about the dearth of black quarterbacks and black coaches, nobody complains about the lack of white running backs.
The upshot of all this is that participation by white athletes in basketball and football has been steadily declining at urban high schools in the face of black dominance. High school coaches complain that they can't get the white kids to come out for the basketball and football teams because the kids believe they can't compete with blacks in those sports, and so the net effect of all this is that, even if blacks aren't physically superior, the myth certainly will be enough to perpetuate black dominance. With dwindling numbers, the chance that a wave of great white basketball and football players will emerge dwindles. Whites are turning instead to other sports, namely baseball and wrestling.
An equally curious aspect to this whole issue is our reluctance to discuss it. Entine writes that a country that is "nurtured on the myth that all people are created equal is understandably uncomfortable talking about innate differences, particularly when it comes to race." He also suggests -- with quotes from experts -- that blacks are uncomfortable with the idea of innate athletic prowess because throughout history the belief in physical superiority has implied intellectual inferiority -- a "genetic see-saw."
The author writes, "Why do we so readily accept the idea that evolution has turned out Jews with a genetic predisposition to Tay-Sachs disease and that blacks are more susceptible to sickle cell anemia, yet find it racist to suggest that West Africans may have evolved into the world's best sprinters?"
But of course many are reluctant to buy into it. Jerry Sloan, who has coached or played in the NBA for more than 25 years, is among them. "(Blacks) work harder," Sloan says. "It's the means to an end. I think that's what got me out of a poor background. What would be better is to do a study of the number of players who come from broken homes and tough backgrounds. I believe a lot do."
Olden Polynice, a black NBA center who also rose out of an impoverished background, adamantly agrees with Sloan. "Blacks are not athletically superior," he says. "It's about work ethic. I don't buy into any race being superior in any way. Everyone is born the same. More blacks have seen the NBA as a way to get out. That's bad. That's putting all your eggs in one basket."
Statistics prove his point. Two years ago Sports Illustrated published a poll in which black and white students were asked, "Realistically, what could you become when you grow up -- pro athlete, lawyer or teacher?" Despite the astronomical odds against becoming a professional athlete, 57 percent of black males answered pro athlete (versus 41 percent of white athletes). Only 17 percent chose lawyer and 14 percent teacher (versus 27 and 28 percent, respectively for white males).
Once again, even if black superiority is only a myth, it is having a profound effect on both whites and blacks.
As for the lingering question of superiority, Adam Keefe, a white NBA forward, believes there are too many factors to consider in defining athleticism and understanding why one race is more dominant in certain sports.
"There are no statistics by AMA," he says. "I want to see the studies."
Maybe scientists are steering clear of the subject like everyone else.