Are black people genetically "well built"?

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Marshallj

Originally posted by: stormbv
I think socio-economic factors play a larger role than racial ones. What are the cheapest sports to play? The courts are already there, all you need is a basketball. It doesn't cost anything to run. Hockey gear is expensive.

I agree with your point about hockey and basketball. I think the main reason that more blacks aren't into hockey is for the reason you listed, and also because it's just not as popular among blacks as basketball is. In fact, if you look at the only time that white people dominated in that sport, it was because our racist policies kept them out. Once they were able to fairly compete with us, they proved to be dominant.

What about sports that *everyone* can play, but certain races dominate? For instance how come people from western african descent hold 95% of the sprinting records? Watch the olympics, you'll see white people, asian people, Latin people trying thier hardest... but you'll see people of Western African descent winning 95% of the time.

I don't see any reason why they couldn't be good at hockey though.

but the pool of possible runners is different. in many poor african countries theres probably a culture of running as a sport. not to mention poverty+running = motivation for many more to try it as a route out of poverty?

if u spend your time in math club no matter your genetic potential as a sprinter you'll not be a sprinter eh?

 

[gopunk]

i think that it is true for some....

depending on what tribes they came from or something. i mean you know there were fit tribes and there were fatty tribes

 

[stormbv]

Originally posted by: Marshallj

Originally posted by: lowtech
IMHO, Blacks are not genetically superior to other races, but the US Black might have a stronger genetic due to selective breeding/slavery.

But it's not just a US phenomenon. It's a phenomemon all over the world. The fastest US runners are black. The fastest Canadian runners are black. The fastest German runners are black.... the countries are various, but the one thing that remains constant is that the top sprinters are of western African descent.

And for long distance runners that compete in marathons, such as the Boston Marathon, one country dominates- Kenya.

Here's a list of the top rated Boston Marathon runners:

Moses Tanui, Kenya 2:06:16
Ondoro Osoro, Kenya 2:06:54
Joseph Chebet, Kenya 2:07:34
Elijah Lagat, Kenya 2:07:41
G. Anera, Ethiopia 2:07:54

If you notice, the top four places are held by Kenyans. But there's a challenger from Ethiopa... which is right next to Kenya...

It's obvious that people from that region have a clear advantage.

That region produces the best marathon runners because of its geography. They train in high altitudes on steep slopes, as parts of the area are very mountainous.

 

[0roo0roo]

i think 20/20 just had a thing on about how genetics isn't that big of a factor in stuff like weight.

The Skinny on Fat- Being Overweight Isn't Just in Our Genes

twins studies and stuff kinda make it more difficult to blame american fat @sses on genes.


The Tale of the Twins

Well, a recent study done at California's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab found that people with exactly the same genes ? identical twins ? could have big differences in their weight. The researchers studied 35 pairs of identical twins to try to learn if certain traits, like obesity, are mostly hereditary. Their conclusion ? fat is not.

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
but the pool of possible runners is different. in many poor african countries theres probably a culture of running as a sport. not to mention poverty+running = motivation for many more to try it as a route out of poverty?

if u spend your time in math club no matter your genetic potential as a sprinter you'll not be a sprinter eh?

Of course not. You of course have to try to be good at what you want to do, and it takes devotion.

But I'm saying that among the people who DO want to be sprinters and who DO train for a living, it just happens that of those athletes who are at their prime and hitting their genetic limit, people of western African descent (regardless of current location or nationality) have shown to have a slightly higher limit... enough of an advantage to win 95% of the sprinting records, and holding every 100 meter dash record for the last 40 years.

This isn't just a slight deviation here... if it was 51%/49% I'd probably be leery of making any conclusions based on those results.... But when we're talking 95%, there's definitely some strong genetic factor at work that is being exposed.

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: stormbv
That region produces the best marathon runners because of its geography. They train in high altitudes on steep slopes, as parts of the area are very mountainous.

Of course... you have a group of people who evolved in that region, and have developed very efficient bodies. So it's no surprise that ethnic groups that evolved in an area such as that will be very efficient. It's more than just temporary training... having to live in conditions like that will cause changes in your body... you'll evolve.

Humans evolve based on the geography and environmental conditions they live in. Groups of people that evolved in high, mountainous regions with lower oxygen will be more efficient cardiovascularly, and people who evolve in cold, sparse areas will evolve to be shorter and thicker... more rugged, like Eskimos.

 

[toant103]

Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
It would seem so.

 

[BmXStuD]

im a very skinny person :/

 

[VBboy]

Originally posted by: BmXStuD
im a very skinny person :/

Pics.

 

[tcsenter]

people are afraid to say a race is genetically well built, because that might lead to the argument of certain race being genetically more intelligent.

BINGO!

But I'm saying that among the people who DO want to be sprinters and who DO train for a living, it just happens that of those athletes who are at their prime and hitting their genetic limit, people of western African descent (regardless of current location or nationality) have shown to have a slightly higher limit... enough of an advantage to win 95% of the sprinting records, and holding every 100 meter dash record for the last 40 years.

Well said. Watch the Pete Maravich story some time.

Its not like white people just 'discovered' the basketball or baseball or running or football or [insert any black dominated sport here] within the last 20 years. How long has football been a religion at Notre Dame? Basketball at Indiana? Track and field at Ivy League schools? Who do you think developed and popularized these sports LONG before blacks were allowed to participate?

There have been hundreds of virtually all-white communities with serious passions for their organized sports like football, wrestling, and basketball since the early 1900s, if not longer. Organized, competitive sports, where kids dreamed of greatness and spent every bit as much time practicing and playing their respective sports, in organized competition, as black kids, if not more.

Yet, from the moment the color barrier was broken, despite many blacks literally coming from little more than street ball experience with no organized competitive experience at all, it was clear blacks had an atheletic edge.

My home town worshipped basketball and football and won many state play-off spots. We routinely got our asses handed to us by a black school with whom we played an annual non-conference game. We were practice fodder for them. Did they 'practice' more than our basketball players? Yeah, that must be the reason!

There are going to be definite genetic differences in a population whose ancestors are barely 200 years out of the bush vs. those whose ancestors are 2000+ years out of the bush.