Waubonsee Community College

Taboo, why Black athletes dominate sports and why we are afraid to talk about it, Jon Entine

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. [346]-374) and index

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

Taboo

42021494

Jon Entine

"In Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It, award-winning journalist Jon Entine explores the genetic, cultural, and physiological roots of black athletic superiority. Drawing on the latest scientific research, Entine persuasively shows why biology and ancestry are significant components of the stunning ascension of black athletes. He reveals striking differences between athletes of West African heritage and those from East Africa, and shows why such differences could arise and be maintained over time. Entine shows how the favored explanation for black dominance - a dearth of opportunities elsewhere, channeling into specific sports, and hard work - fails to explain the dimensions of the monopoly. And he investigates whether or not there is any linkage between physical superiority and intellectual ability." "Entine tells the gripping story of blacks in sports and the circumstances that have made addressing the facts so difficult and controversial. We meet pioneers like Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, Arthur Ashe, Wilma Rudolph, and Jack Johnson, as well as modern-day superstars such as Michael Jordan, Pedro Martinez, Randy Moss, and the seemingly endless procession of champion Kenyan marathoners."--BOOK JACKET

why Black athletes dominate sports and why we are afraid to talk about it

pt. 1. The taboo. -- Breaking the taboo on race and sports -- The education of Sir Roger -- pt. 2. The evidence. -- By the numbers -- The most level playing field -- Nature's experiment : the "Kenyan miracle" -- pt. 3. History of race science and sports. -- "More brains or more ..." -- Evolution (of great athletes) -- Race without color : the history of human differences -- The origins of race science -- pt. 4. The segregation and integration of sports. -- The superiority of white athletes -- Jack Johnson in the ring against Jim Crow -- American eugenics -- Jesse Owens and the German race -- A knockout blow to race science -- The "scheming, flashy trickiness" of Jews -- pt. 5. Nature or nurture? -- The integration of sports -- The sixties -- Sports and IQ -- Winning the genetic lottery -- The environmentalist case against innate black superiority in sports -- pt. 6. What about women? -- The superiority of white female athletes -- East Germany's sports machine -- The Renaissance of the Black female athlete -- pt. 7. Final thoughts. -- A genteel way to say "Nigger"?