Race, Slavery, Genes?

[Yonko7]

Hiya everyone, I read this article on Yahoo! about slavery and running.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/michael-johnson-says-slavery-descendants-run-faster-because-155858303--oly.html

I always thought of this. As we all know, at the Olympics (specifically Track & Field), the very best are almost always of African descent.

Now there are others of different descent (Jeremy Wariner, Galen Rupp, etc.), so that doesn't mean that the 'athletic' gene is only in one pool.

Also, by a twist of nature, the whole Slavery period did help to breed a 'pool' of superior genetics, which would be useful in surviving. Surviving would mean advanced athletic ability, and in this time, that would mean performing well in athletic events.


-- I don't mean to bring about a thread that has other members harassing others, because of Slavery, Race, or any other factors--- We're all friends here.


Thoughts?

 

[alamaster]

Well if that is true, and I am part Native American descent, then shouldn't I be a good runner too? We were hunted down like animals, you'd think that in order to survive you would want to run fast. Why am I such a shitty runner then? :(

 

[Minwu]

drinking and casinos

 

[Yonko7]

Well if that is true, and I am part Native American descent, then shouldn't I be a good runner too? We were hunted down like animals, you'd think that in order to survive you would want to run fast. Why am I such a shitty runner then? :(

Well the 'White Men' killed your off before you could run away :p

But hey, we all can't be blessed with good genes :(

 

[YTP]

I thought black males were only good in sprints but in long distances other races dominate.

 

[Phadunk]

I thought black males were only good in sprints but in long distances other races dominate.

Like the non-black Kenyans.

 

[Gabe]

Well if that is true, and I am part Native American descent, then shouldn't I be a good runner too? We were hunted down like animals, you'd think that in order to survive you would want to run fast. Why am I such a shitty runner then? :(

That isn't the argument. Your people weren't bred by whites to do that.

 

[Vein]

I'm black, and yes I feel superiority vs other races in the sports I played my whole life - basketball - which like track and field is dominated by us blacks.

But nah, Johnson's claim on slavery gene is shit as ass. I feel that even if my old grampas weren't slaved, we'll still dominate basketball and track and field anyway.

 

[Trax]

At some things it does seem that Africans in general do better at some sports (like running); slavery simply filtered out some of the less resilient genes.

It's kinda the same reason virtually every Polynesian is insanely hard to knock out; thousands of years of warfare with blunt weapons led to people with strong heads surviving.

 

[Hipmonlee]

I doubt that is true Trax. If there is some kind of reason polynesians are more resiliant to blows to the head, I would guess it is more to do with the likelihood of head injuries caused by their society being so based around sailing.. But this seems pretty weak to me, coincidence is every bit as likely.. If there are differences in head-blow-resistance between races, one race has to come out on top, even if there isnt a convenient justification for it.

But I could imagine if there was selective breeding performed by slave owners its impact could be felt today. And it would make sense that such selective breeding would be based around physical strength. My understanding is that when running a farm the impact of selective breeding can be seen across generations within a human lifespan, animals have much quicker generational turnaround than people, but it still suggests that this sort of impact could occur in a plausible timeframe when being specifically targeted. And when looking at the top ten individuals in the world for a certain trait, a small movement of the mean can have a huge impact at the extremes of a bell curve.

I think this is actually quite a fascinating point.

 

[Lee]

i watched the british documentary referenced in the article and it was fascinating...here it is, if anybody's interested (might not be watchable outside UK, iunno)

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/michael-johnson-survival-of-the-fastest

 

[alamaster]

drinking and casinos

oh yea....

 

[Nosferalto]

read somewhere that people have explosive/fast twitch muscles and long legs which is why most of them are sprinters

EDIT: obviously i meant black people :P

 

[Carl]

i hear that athletic people are good at sports

 

[Lee]

seems to be a lot of condescension and belittling here and I don't think it's founded at all. did you know that 'all the athletes that lined up for the men's 100m final at the Beijing Olympics could trace their ancestry back to the trans-Atlantic slave trade?'

or that in jamaica, who have dominated the sprint scene for years now, 'descendants of slaves comprise the majority of their population.'

i certainly believe that the theory is sound and the evidence is clear for all to see - perhaps i'm being naive but i can't see why people are offended by it or view it as even the least bit racist; to me it's just a fascinating exhibition of (un)natural selection at work.

 

[Steeler]

i can't cite anything so take it with a grain of salt, but i recall reading something that said people of african descent have their belly buttons higher up on their bodies compared to those of european descent. which means the former have longer legs and the latter have longer torsos (ie good for swimming)

 

[some hero]

i can't cite anything so take it with a grain of salt, but i recall reading something that said people of african descent have their belly buttons higher up on their bodies compared to those of european descent. which means the former have longer legs and the latter have longer torsos (ie good for swimming)

Seriously? I'm not sure if you are being serious but even i am offended by that(and no i'm not black).

 

[phalanx]

it is genetics, i have heard it is something to do with muscle build, makes sence considering Africa was tribal for longer and has animals that want to also eat you :P, so it is presumably just evolution, like skin colour is (people evolved to be white as they migrated to colder lands)

 

[YTP]

i can't cite anything so take it with a grain of salt, but i recall reading something that said people of african descent have their belly buttons higher up on their bodies compared to those of european descent. which means the former have longer legs and the latter have longer torsos (ie good for swimming)

I've read something along the same lines.

Hide

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1294141/Whats-secret-running-swimming-faster-The-position-belly-button-say-scientists.html

So yes, that is why Black people struggle to swim but excel at running :s

 

[Yonko7]

That makes sense. Although I'm not black I struggle to swim :( but I'm decent at running

 

[jrrrrrrr]

This has almost nothing to do with slavery and everything to do with body structure. "Blacks" have extra fast-twitch muscles in their legs that help them run quicker, while "whites" have things like bellybutton-midriff placement that alters their center of mass which helps them swim better.

If these comments were true, it would only be American people of African decent who dominate sprinting events when in reality it is African-descended people from all over the world. Plus it makes no sense, why would slave masters WANT slaves who are faster? If I was breeding workers for my farm (human or animal) I would want them to be bulky and slow instead of lightning fast.

And as an unrelated note, white people get fired for even discussing these things all the time, it's great to see that at least SOME discussion on the matter is allowed to persist.

 

[CaptKirby]

I am a much better athlete than jrrrr because I am not distracted by the cute butts around me.

 

[jrrrrrrr]

Oh yeah...well..I..you...

I dont have a comeback for that =[

 

[CaptKirby]

Also not worried about if the sweat will ruin my skin or anything. OR how lame the uniforms look or something, help I am running out of material.

 

[Lee]

If these comments were true, it would only be American people of African decent who dominate sprinting events when in reality it is African-descended people from all over the world.

like i already said, all 8 of the finalists at the last olympic 100m were descended from slaves. but to elaborate on their origin, three were Jamaican, one was from the US, two represented Trinidad and Tobago and one was from a small Caribbean island called the Dutch Antilles - all of these countries were very much involved in the transatlantic slave trade.

the 2004 final wasn't much different, with three of the representatives being african americans (US), one from Jamaica, one from St Kitts and Nevis (pronounced history of slaving), Barbados (ditto). The other two were from Ghana and a Portuguese athlete of Nigerian descent so I realise my argument does nothing to refute your claim about physical differences between black athletes and white athletes, I merely wanted to point out that american people of african descent DO dominate sprinting events, and have done for many years.