Why are there no white running backs in the SEC

#101
#101
PrattvilleVol said:
Jimmy the Greek told us all why. People can't handle a hard, ugly truth and need a safe space.
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While I think his wording was not exactly advisable or even fully accurate, I think he was hitting at some of the science (in a poor man's way) that some of the other posters above have linked.

The thing that gets me about this question, and we've already seen some posters use this thinking, is the notion that black athletes are more successful because how hard they train and practice. I understand why some people want to believe this: suggesting it's primarily because of genetics downgrades the diligence and determination that are involved, plus we have a history of racism that says black people are "lazy" and "don't try hard enough."

That being said, if you're going to hold to the thinking that blacks are so overwhelmingly dominant over whites, especially considering the racial composition of this nation, because they train and practice hard then you are committing an inverted version of the same sort of sweeping racialist thinking (unwitting or not) that white racists did for so many years (and still do), which says that whites don't succeed as much in athletics (at least the ones that require intense athleticism) because they're too "lazy" and "lack initiative." That's complete and utter bull****, quite frankly. Of course it's because black people, generally speaking, are naturally more athletic. How could they not be? There's no way on Earth they could be that successful in speed/jumping athletics off of merely "practicing harder." That's such an absurd notion. Anyhow, even though genetics are certainly at play, it doesn't mean that just anyone with the right genes, black or white, can succeed without commitment and determination. You have to put in the effort too.

And of course, while the science is there to prove there is a racial difference in minor physical abilities (like running a little faster than someone else; overall, human physical abilities are fairly similar across the board, minus maybe the difference between a 4.4 and a 4.6) there is no science to suggest that such differences exists for the brain.

It is totally possible to construct this narrative sensibly somewhere in between, without having to go all-in or all-out on the matter, as we often tend.
 
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#102
#102
Outofmyvolcanmind said:
The African's that originally were sold into slavery to wealthy Anericans were chosen for their physical prowess. They were the most elite physical specimens in Africa. They were brought here against their will. That is why African American males are superior athletes to many of their white counterparts. There are some exceptional white athletes as well but they pale in numbers to the black athletes here.

It's genetics and over time won't matter with the acceptance of biracial relationships. Eventually we will drop the color discussion and focus on the fact that Americans are superior athletes on average to the rest of the world.

Except Jamaican sprinters. Those men and women are absolutely astonishing.
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You're kidding right? I mean just on the face of it, if they were the most physically gifted how did they get caught and sold?
 
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#103
#103
Genetics vs. upbringing. Here's what I have observed. Both my Grandparents on my father's side ate fried ham and eggs every single morning, as well as all of the southern favorites for the rest of the day. They both lived well into their 90's.

My mother's side of the family, not so much. Same diet, same southern dishes, with the exception of my Grandmother, all died before 60.

Point being, black, white, whatever. There are too many variables at play to put any kind of weight on the race of individuals. My son now is 12. He has always been the best player on his football and basketball teams. I do not know if that will continue, but speed has not been the factor that made him great on these teams. No, it has also not been his dedication to practice either.

It seems to me that natural athletes get it from day one. They just do.
 
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#104
#104
YorkVol said:
You're kidding right? I mean just on the face of it, if they were the most physically gifted how did they get caught and sold?
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Not sure if sarcasm...? Slaves were often sold for guns. The gangs and warlords that captured the free Africans were doing it by force and they mostly captured the young / working men/women. The longer the trades went on, the more guns and thus more chaos/violence, making it easier and easier to coerce large groups of people with the threat of violence (guns).

Secondly slaves werent selected (IN AFRICA) based on their physical prowess. They were sold EN MASSE and the Africans who captured them usually did not discriminate so long as they could still work, however they did tend to prefer young men/women who were in their "prime" years as they had the highest "value". Plenty of the slaves were captured as kids by kidnappers then sold to merchants, many free Africans (workers) were taken during raids and marched to the West Coast to be sold, others were prisoners of war who were sold, others were criminals, and some were originally enslaved to local warlords to erase family debts (usually young girls) and then resold to merchants. It wasn't until they came to America that they started to put higher prices on the heads of the best workers aka the ones who were the strongest/most physically fit. At least that's my understanding of how it worked.
 
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#105
#105
Honestly when I watch sports it almost never occurs to me to wonder about race. When I was watching Travis Henry plow through Arkansas' defense, I saw a kid in an orange jersey running as hard as he could. When I started noticing how good Steph Curry is at nailing contested 3s I didn't think to myself 'is this guy white or black?', I just thought about how crazy it is that we've progressed this well in developing perimeter play since the 80s.

Ill admit that I see race when I watch Duke basketball games. Yes, I know that Laettner was a agood kid from a working class family who worked his ass off to get a scholarship to play ball. I just remembered how the media kept gushing over Coach K and how wonderful the program is and how they always said 'and they're doing it the RIGHT way!' about 3728164 times a game, it always just seemed a little weird and I had to wonder if there was a racial component in that. Or it maybe had absolutely nothing to do with it at all..
 
#107
#107
Outofmyvolcanmind said:
You're either joking or ignorant
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Neither. By your logic, the best black athletes should come out of northern states since they were smart enough and strong enough to escape slavery. That doesn't seem to be the case. Also your slavery lead to a better genetic pool argument doesn't explain the epidemic of diabetes and obesity among black Anericans. Sure a small percentage are gifted athletes but the same exists in every race.
 
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#108
#108
YorkVol said:
Neither. By your logic, the best black athletes should come out of northern states since they were smart enough and strong enough to escape slavery. That doesn't seem to be the case. Also your slavery lead to a better genetic pool argument doesn't explain the epidemic of diabetes and obesity among black Anericans. Sure a small percentage are gifted athletes but the same exists in every race.
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Intelligence and strength weren't the only factors for a black person to leave the south. One could argue that regardless of geography black athletes outperform other races.

As for obesity and diabetes, socioeconomic factors play a role. Eating healthy is very expensive. The whole south is obese for the most part, not just blacks. I haven't read if blacks are more likely by genetics to have diabetes.
 
#109
#109
YorkVol said:
Neither. By your logic, the best black athletes should come out of northern states since they were smart enough and strong enough to escape slavery. That doesn't seem to be the case. Also your slavery lead to a better genetic pool argument doesn't explain the epidemic of diabetes and obesity among black Anericans. Sure a small percentage are gifted athletes but the same exists in every race.
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I apologize for the remark. I took your statement as crass.
 
#110
#110
Dobbs 4 Heisman said:
And yall wonder why I think race has something to do with the whole Dobbs can't throw agenda around here.

Statements like this EXPOSE the subconscious bias some on here have. No wonder some on here focus so much on the few bad throws Dobbs makes versus his many great throws if you believe all black folks are good for is running.

smh
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So, you think that racism is the reason for Dobbs' criticism?

This fan base knows quality regardless of race. Dobbs is no Condredge Holloway or Tony Robinson in my opinion. I think Dobbs is a great kid and a great example for people to look up to, but a top SEC QB he is not.
 
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#112
#112
508mikey said:
and then there is hockey
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Many scholars feel geography plays a huge role. Others feel genetics reacted to center of gravity play the largest role. It also has been debated that West Africa produces far more superior athletes than the rest of the world and this could explain why blacks in America and the Caribbean/West Indies perform so well.

It is an amazing topic that some feel is purely racist by nature. I think most view it as a fascinating topic that shouldn't be afraid to be discussed. Embracing differences is healthy.
 
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#113
#113
Volmorning said:
Genetics vs. upbringing. Here's what I have observed. Both my Grandparents on my father's side ate fried ham and eggs every single morning, as well as all of the southern favorites for the rest of the day. They both lived well into their 90's.

My mother's side of the family, not so much. Same diet, same southern dishes, with the exception of my Grandmother, all died before 60.

Point being, black, white, whatever. There are too many variables at play to put any kind of weight on the race of individuals. My son now is 12. He has always been the best player on his football and basketball teams. I do not know if that will continue, but speed has not been the factor that made him great on these teams. No, it has also not been his dedication to practice either.

It seems to me that natural athletes get it from day one. They just do.
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I'm not attacking you, because I believe you bring up some valid points and that the following is not your intention, but the inevitable outcome of the thinking you posit in your final paragraph is that white athletes simply aren't "smart enough" to "get it." Like I said, I'm not suggesting that is your intent, but that thinking is just patently false.

That kind of thinking may indeed explain why certain individuals, regardless of race, succeed over others, but it does not explain why black athletes are so much more dominant than other races in sports requiring extreme speed or jumping capability.
 
#114
#114
TGVol said:
Sounds politically correct - however as often with PC world the reality seems to disagree. In this case #2 does not matter at all. Either that or there are no white RB's out there at all who are willing to work and represent team/school well?
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Trust me, I'm one of the more politically incorrect people you'll ever meet. I'll rephrase #2..

How about, if you're willing to work your ass off, NOT be a dik and embarrass yourself/school....
 
#116
#116
BubbaDoc said:
White folks have a shorter achillles tendon. Learned that in high school health, knew it would come in handy one day.
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Awesome! And this is how you prove them wrong all the losers who were arguing HS was a waste of time. :pepper:
 
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#117
#117
apevol said:
Honestly when I watch sports it almost never occurs to me to wonder about race. When I was watching Travis Henry plow through Arkansas' defense, I saw a kid in an orange jersey running as hard as he could. When I started noticing how good Steph Curry is at nailing contested 3s I didn't think to myself 'is this guy white or black?', I just thought about how crazy it is that we've progressed this well in developing perimeter play since the 80s.

Ill admit that I see race when I watch Duke basketball games. Yes, I know that Laettner was a agood kid from a working class family who worked his ass off to get a scholarship to play ball. I just remembered how the media kept gushing over Coach K and how wonderful the program is and how they always said 'and they're doing it the RIGHT way!' about 3728164 times a game, it always just seemed a little weird and I had to wonder if there was a racial component in that. Or it maybe had absolutely nothing to do with it at all..
Click to expand...

I imagine it was that he was getting kids who were students as much as athletes and weren't majoring in general studies or communications. They were legit degrees that a normal student would work their ass off to obtain let alone do it while practicing, playing and traveling 20-30 hrs per week.
 
#118
#118
m1al said:
Trust me, I'm one of the more politically incorrect people you'll ever meet. I'll rephrase #2..

How about, if you're willing to work your ass off, NOT be a dik and embarrass yourself/school....
Click to expand...

Much better! Thanks for clarifying. :good!:
 
#119
#119
YorkVol said:
Neither. By your logic, the best black athletes should come out of northern states since they were smart enough and strong enough to escape slavery. That doesn't seem to be the case. Also your slavery lead to a better genetic pool argument doesn't explain the epidemic of diabetes and obesity among black Anericans. Sure a small percentage are gifted athletes but the same exists in every race.
Click to expand...

You think the only blacks up North are those who are descendants of escaped slaves?
 
#121
#121
YorkVol said:
Neither. By your logic, the best black athletes should come out of northern states since they were smart enough and strong enough to escape slavery. That doesn't seem to be the case. Also your slavery lead to a better genetic pool argument doesn't explain the epidemic of diabetes and obesity among black Anericans. Sure a small percentage are gifted athletes but the same exists in every race.
Click to expand...

This post is hilarious. Slavery did not lead to a better genetic pool for African Americans. They are innately faster because of genetics. There is a reason the best sprinters in the world come from West Africa. Contrariwise, East Africans are the best long distance runners. Nandi people (Kenyans), for example, produce an extremely high amount of world class long distance runners in relation to their small population-far more than any race of people.

From my understanding this comes down to different types of fast twitch muscles and how the muscles expend energy. Whites tend to have more slow twitch muscles which are better for endurance while West Africans (for example) tend to have more of both muscle type (fast twitch/slow twitch) so, naturally, they are faster sprinters.

Last I checked this wasn't some big world mystery that no one can explain. The muscle difference explains it perfectly.
 
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#124
#124
Probably oversimplified explanation but it likely is one of the most contributing factors. In actuality it is probably a few other things to boot.

And no it isn't racist to see differences. Last time I checked, diversity is a good thing.

Volunteer_Kirby said:
This post is hilarious. Slavery did not lead to a better genetic pool for African Americans. They are innately faster because of genetics. There is a reason the best sprinters in the world come from West Africa. Contrariwise, East Africans are the best long distance runners. Nandi people (Kenyans), for example, produce an extremely high amount of world class long distance runners in relation to their small population-far more than any race of people.

From my understanding this comes down to different types of fast twitch muscles and how the muscles expend energy. Whites tend to have more slow twitch muscles which are better for endurance while West Africans (for example) tend to have more of both muscle type (fast twitch/slow twitch) so, naturally, they are faster sprinters.

Last I checked this wasn't some big world mystery that no one can explain. The muscle difference explains it perfectly.
Click to expand...
 
#125
#125
Outofmyvolcanmind said:
Just saw that Blacks make up only 13.2% of America's population.

What percent of college and professional athletes do they make up?
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They make up the most popular in America (basketball and football) but baseball, soccer, hockey, etc etc probably even it out a lot.

More than three-quarters of NBA players (76.3 percent) and nearly two-thirds of NFL players (66.3 percent) are Black, while Major League Baseball has the fewest Black players at just 8.3 percent
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