But Still No Black Swimmers

From Walter E. Williams:

Suppose a speaker said that sickle cell anemia is genetically determined and occurs almost exclusively among blacks. Would Professor Hopkins stomp out of the room, charging racism? What if it were said that a person's chances of being a carrier of the gene for Tay-Sachs disease, a disease without a cure, is significantly higher if he is an Eastern European (Ashkenazi) Jew? Would Professor Hopkins barf and charge the speaker with anti-Semitism?

Jon Entine, in his book "Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports And Why We're Afraid to Talk About It" (1999), says, "All of the 32 finalists in the last four Olympic men's 100-meter races are of West African descent." The probability of such an outcome by chance is all but zero. The genetic physiological and biomechanical characteristics that cause blacks to excel in some sports -- basketball, football and track -- spell disaster for those who have aspirations to be Olympic-class swimmers. Entine says, "No African American has ever qualified for the U.S. Olympic swim or dive team. Indeed, despite a number of special programs and considerable funding that have attracted thousands of aspiring black Olympians, there were only seven blacks who could even qualify to compete against the 455 swimmers at the 1996 Olympic trials."

Do you suppose Professor Hopkins would charge Entine with racism? The only behavioral genetic explanation that campus anti-intellectuals unquestioningly accept is that homosexuality has genetic origins.

Comments

[JLP]

Ya gotta love Walter Williams. He tells it like it is! Thanks for the post. I hadn't seen that one yet.

JLP

http://AllThingsFinancial.blogspot.com

[David]

This would not be anti-black or racist as you note. The reason Blacks are not Olympic swimmers is not so much a mystery. Tennis and Golf were thought to hold the same Blacks can't do it aura. Whenever Blacks have even minimal access and participation in sports and other areas of society they tend to excel and become standard bearers. I can remember when college basketball could not conceive of John Thompson coaching at a "white university" and winning. The idea now seems almost embarrassing to pose. So, what about swimming? Stay tuned.

[Tom McMahon]

Or it could be that African-Americans are just tired of pursuits that don't pay well, like swimming and diving.

[steven k]

you have to suck eggs now the guy who was third in the line up for the USA TEAM relay race in beijing has just contributed to smashing the world record

black people can swim just as they can play golf once mastered there is no stopping them

nothing to do with bones or weight
you have to laugh at peoples ignorance

argument closed and blown out of the (excuse the pun) water

[Kelsey]

CULLEN JONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kelsey]

CULLEN JONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jamal Gipson]

im a 17 year old african amercian male and ive been swimming on and off since i was about 5...i honestly do think its something to do with muscles and them being heavier. I practiced everyday for years with the same white kids and we all started out at the same level but they just got alot better faster. Im not saying your not going to see black people in the swimming olympics in the near future but im predicting a huge football or basketball style takover

[Jamal Gipson]

*sorry i meant to say im *not* predicting a football or basketball style takover