Taboo Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports And Why We're Afraid To Talk About It

by Entine, Jon

• ISBN13: 9781586480264
• ISBN10: 158648026X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-01-10
• Publisher: PublicAffairs

Summary

In virtually every sport in which they are given opportunity to compete, people of African descent dominate. East Africans own every distance running record. Professional sports in the Americas are dominated by men and women of West African descent. Why have blacks come to dominate sports? Are they somehow physically better? And why are we so uncomfortable when we discuss this? Drawing on the latest scientific research, journalist Jon Entine makes an irrefutable case for black athletic superiority. We learn how scientists have used numerous, bogus "scientific" methods to prove that blacks were either more or less superior physically, and how racist scientists have often equated physical prowess with intellectual deficiency. Entine recalls the long, hard road to integration, both on the field and in society. And he shows why it isn't just being black that mattersit makes a huge difference as to where in Africa your ancestors are from.Equal parts sports, science and examination of why this topic is so sensitive,Taboois a book that will spark national debate.

Author Biography

Jon Entine first became interested in the subject of black athletes when he produced a 1989 television special for Tom Brokaw on the subject. The long-time producer of NBC Nightly News, Entine has also written numerous articles, several of them major award-winners. He lives in Southern California.

Table of Contents

Preface: Reflections on Sports and the Genetic Revolution	vii
Foreword	xv
Earl Smith
PART I THE TABOO
Breaking the Taboo on Race and Sports	3	(8)
The Education of Sir Roger	11	(6)
PART II THE EVIDENCE
By the Numbers	17	(12)
The Most Level Playing Field	29	(14)
Nature's Experiment: The ``Kenyan Miracle''	43	(28)
PART III HISTORY OF RACE SCIENCE AND SPORTS
``More Brains or More . . .''	71	(10)
Evolution (of Great Athlets)	81	(15)
Race Without Color: The History of Human Differences	96	(21)
The Origins of Race Science	117	(20)
PART IV THE SEGREGATION AND INTEGRATION OF SPORTS
The Superiority of White Athletes	137	(14)
Jack Johnson in the Ring Against Jim Crow	151	(10)
American Eugenics	161	(11)
Jesse Owens and the German Race	172	(16)
A Knockout Blow to Race Science	188	(10)
The ``Scheming, Flashy Trickiness'' of Jews	198	(9)
PART V NATURE OR NURTURE?
The Integration of Sports	207	(11)
The Sixties	218	(14)
Sports and IQ	232	(14)
Winning the Genetic Lottery	246	(26)
The Environmentalist Case Against Innate Black Superiority in Sports	272	(23)
PART VI WHAT ABOUT WOMEN?
The Superiority of White Female Athletes	295	(10)
East Germany's Sports Machine	305	(12)
The Renaissance of the Black Female Athlete	317	(14)
PART VII FINAL THOUGHTS
A Genteel Way to Say ``Nigger''?	331	(12)
Acknowledgments	343	(3)
Notes	346	(29)
Index	375