Overdogs #5 Can Black Men Jump?

“In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king” – Desiderius Erasmus

A white male is an overdog, fair game for the barbs of pundits and bigots alike. Stereotypes abhorrent when applied to an underdog are acceptable and even popular when applied to an overdog. The movie, “White Men Can’t Jump,” sparked no major outrage. Would a sequel titled, “Black Men Can’t Read,” ever make it out of the studio? Are demeaning stereotypes okay so long as they’re directed at a white male, an overdog? How many sitcom jokes involve “the slow white guy?”

The debate whether blacks are better athletes than whites has been especially heated since televised pro sports blossomed in the sixties. Statistically, blacks have had greater success in the sports we choose to watch most. Basketball, football and track are exciting. The running, jumping and quick reactions make great TV. The cameras love those sports, as do we. Showing a world-class athlete boggle the mind with an explosion we can only dream about grabs Nielsen numbers.

But many sports exist where non-blacks excel. These sports, the focus of fewer TV cameras, require different abilities. If the American viewing public had decided that skiing, skating, pitching, bowling, horseshoes, golf, darts, lawn bowling, hockey, ping-pong, tennis, lacrosse, polo, curling, etc., were the definitive athletic endeavors, our discourse on racial athletic talents might well be reversed.

The races obviously have different physical capabilities. A 1997 Stanford University report by Chris Thu states, “white fast-twitch fibers are found in many of the muscles of the legs and arms of an animal. For instance, in humans, the calf muscle is involved in jumping. Such an explosive and short contraction requires white-fast-twitch fibers in the muscle. Another example of the effects of muscle fiber type on performance can be seen looking at a marathon runner and a sprint runner. Marathon runners have a high percentage of slow-twitch fibers, (80%) which suits their activities much better. The running that marathon runners do is long distance where the muscles have to repeatedly contract for hours at a time. Slow-twitch muscles are perfect for this. Sprinters, however, have a higher percentage of fast-twitch fibers (60%). The kind of running that they do is short and explosive, which makes having fast-twitch fibers an advantage.”

Blacks usually have a higher percentage of white, fast-twitch fibers than do whites, so they tend to be better at the explosive types of activities. Sports requiring a more sustained, measured endurance utilize the red, slow-twitch fibers hat have more staying power. Whites usually have higher percentages of these fibers, so they may have an advantage in the many less-explosive sports.

Professor Kenneth Kidd of Yale University, a gene-mapping expert, dismisses concepts of inferiority and superiority. He focuses on the idea of variability.

Kidd says, "Without a doubt, in almost any single African population… there is more genetic variation than in all the rest of the world put together." In one sample of 50 Pygmies, he found nine variants in one stretch of DNA. But in samples from hundreds of people from around the rest of the world, he found only six variants in that same stretch of DNA. Each of those six variants was also found in the Pygmies.

Kidd concludes: "If everyone in the world was wiped out except Africans, almost all human genetic variability would be preserved."

Africans have the broadest spectrum of genetic variability. The tallest and the shortest people in the world come from Africa. If racists believe that blacks are less clever than whites, the law of variability forces him to admit that many blacks are more intelligent than whites.

If we deem blacks superior physically due to success in a narrow range of sports, consistency demands we concede mental superiority to the Russians for their dominance in chess. And where are the Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans in these discussions? Omitting them is rude and chauvinistic as hell. They may not give a rip whether blacks or whites are the better athletes. They might claim it’s simply a race for third, fourth or fifth place.

Sentiment in the 1930’s was that Jewish dominance in basketball was inevitable. Lively debates centered on physical reasons for their dominance. Tiger Woods, the world’s best golfer, is more Asian than either black or white. The eleven world record holders in the high jump over the last 44 years include two Caucasian-Americans, a Cuban, a Swede, a German, a Pole, a Chinese and four Soviets.

It’s not about athletic ability or superiority. It’s about choices we make for sports requiring white, fast-twitch fibers. So I ask, “Can black men jump?” If they have such great hops, where are they in the high jump record books?

The better question, posed by Rodney King is, “Can’t we all just get along?”