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 matters--it 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.
ISBN-13: 9781586480264
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Publication Date: 01-10-2001
Pages: 400
Product Dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.87(d)
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 |
| Part I |
The Taboo |
|
| 1. |
Breaking the Taboo on Race and Sports |
3 |
| 2. |
The Education of Sir Roger |
11 |
| Part II |
The Evidence |
|
| 3. |
By the Numbers |
17 |
| 4. |
The Most Level Playing Field |
29 |
| 5. |
Nature's Experiment: The "Kenyan Miracle" |
43 |
| Part III |
History of Race Science and Sports |
|
| 6. |
"More Brains or More ..." |
71 |
| 7. |
Evolution (of Great Athletes) |
81 |
| 8. |
Race Without Color: The History of Human Differences |
96 |
| 9. |
The Origins of Race Science |
117 |
| Part IV |
The Segregation and Integration of Sports |
|
| 10. |
The Superiority of White Athletes |
137 |
| 11. |
Jack Johnson in the Ring Against Jim Crow |
151 |
| 12. |
American Eugenics |
161 |
| 13. |
Jesse Owens and the German Race |
172 |
| 14. |
A Knockout Blow to Race Science |
188 |
| 15. |
The "Scheming, Flashy Trickiness" of Jews |
198 |
| Part V |
Nature or Nurture? |
|
| 16. |
The Integration of Sports |
207 |
| 17. |
The Sixties |
218 |
| 18. |
Sports and IQ |
232 |
| 19. |
Winning the Genetic Lottery |
246 |
| 20. |
The Environmentalist Case Against Innate Black Superiority in Sports |
272 |
| Part VI |
What About Women? |
|
| 21. |
The Superiority of White Female Athletes |
295 |
| 22. |
East Germany's Sports Machine |
305 |
| 23. |
The Renaissance of the Black Female Athlete |
317 |
| Part VII |
Final Thoughts |
|
| 24. |
A Genteel Way to Say "Nigger"? |
331 |
|
Acknowledgments |
343 |
|
Notes |
346 |
|
Index |
375 |
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