The Black Dominance

(2 of 6)

¶ Of 30 medals won by American track and field athletes in the Montreal Olympic Games, 24 were garnered by black athletes. Blacks won all the U.S. gold medals in boxing.

¶ Most of the records in major sports —rushing, slugging and scoring marks once held by such legendary figures as Grange, Ruth and Pettit—have been bested by Tony Dorsett, Henry Aaron and Wilt Chamberlain.

To millions of U.S. sports fans, watching in stadiums and arenas or on TV screens at home, the trend is obvious and incontrovertible. The image of the star athlete is, increasingly, a black image. Yet, while many Americans, black and white, wonder about the reasons for the overwhelming black presence in major sports, simply to remark on the fact makes some people uncomfortable. Racial differences —whether physical or cultural—have been employed in the past as excuses for discrimination. Throughout history, scientific findings have been twisted to serve the social theories of supremacists from ancient Greece to Nazi Germany to separate and unequal America. Racist arguments falsely claiming the intellectual superiority of one race over another can distort any discussion of racial differences.

For that reason, most U.S. scientists are reluctant to study the physical differences between whites and blacks. Says Dr. Peter Wolff, director of psychiatric research at Children's Hospital in Boston: "In the present climate, it is a touchy business because no matter what you say, people with one prejudice or another will immediately use your research to extract a value judgment."

Still, physical differences do exist: Orientals are generally smaller than Caucasians (and, incidentally, better gymnasts for it); certain diseases have been shown to be genetically linked to particular groups and races—Tay-Sachs disease among Jews and sickle-cell anemia among blacks. The shapes of eyes and noses vary as widely among the races as do skin colors.

Thus in the minds of both black and white sports fans—even those who insist that they are racially color-blind —the questions do arise. Does the obvious superiority of so many black athletes mean that blacks in general are better athletes than whites? If so, why?

To some of the men on the field, and those who coach them, the answers are clear. O.J. Simpson, for instance, has no qualms about describing the racial differences he has observed. Says he: "We are built a little differently, built for speed—skinny calves, long legs, high asses are all characteristics of blacks. That's why blacks wear long socks. We have skinny calves, and short socks won't stay up. I'll argue with any doctor that physically we're geared to speed, and most sports have something to do with speed." Joe Morgan also sees some differences: "I think blacks, for physiological reasons, have better speed, quickness and agility. Baseball, football and basketball put a premium on those skills. I don't know the reason why, but we are clearly superior in that way."