7 ms·

Blacks make up 13% of the population in the US but 75% of NBA players and 67% of NFL players. Do you think white peoples under representation in US pro sports

by eip 11y ago

Blacks make up 13% of the population in the US but 75% of NBA players and 67% of NFL players. Do you think white peoples under representation in US pro sports is more due to genetics or environmental influence? Having worked in Sillycon Valley for a long time I think it's funny/sad how the whole scene pretends to be PC about race and diversity issues when pretty much all the tech employees there are white or Indian males. What's even funnier is that white people are only a small percentage of world population but have the audacity to refer to all other races as 'minorities'. I don't know any good solution to systemic race/diversity issues other than making mushrooms legal and mandatory.

norea-armozel 11y ago
In the 1930s the majority of basketball players were Jews. So, race has little to do with sports performance at least in basketball.
- YeGoblynQueenne 11y ago
  Not to mention, African Americans play a lot of basketball because Americans in general play (or view) a lot of basketball. In Europe, say, Africans play a lot of football. But there's also just as many whites who do- so are African Americans only endowed with the kind of genetics that help them play good basketball? Or are Africans in general endowed with good _basketball_ genetics, but not good _football_ genetics? And what about European basketball? Why are basketball teams in Europe not predominantly African American? [Where "football" read "soccer" if you're on the other side of the pond, please]
  - whitegrape 11y ago
    Surprise, there are actually more diverse sets of black people than "African", each with their own biological diversity. African-Americans (that is, blacks in America who can trace their ancestors to the southern slaves) overwhelming come from a specific part of Africa, and those Africans are quite different from Africans elsewhere on the continent. You even have race wars among different ethnic groups of Africans! (See Rwanda for a particularly gruesome example.) So some African subgroups are actually better at different athletic traits -- not all can jump like African-Americans, but then again not all can sprint like another group, or run for very long distances like yet another group -- just as not all White people are actually as intelligent on average as the British. Human biological diversity is pretty rich and varied, it's just unfortunate that the thing that matters most in modern society (intelligence) correlates as well as it does with such general and otherwise not very telling traits like skin color.
    - tptacek 11y ago
      Rwanda is a lovely example: an "ethnic conflict" created by Belgian colonialism.
uncletaco 11y ago
> What's even funnier is that white people are only a small percentage of world population but have the audacity to refer to all other races as 'minorities'. I am fairly certain that is because they are often referring to other races in their own countries. If you live in the US, most of your news is about North America and Europe, both continents that are predominantly filled with white people.
- eip 11y ago
  A pretty large percentage of Americans would refer to a black person born and living in Africa (or any other continent besides the Americas) as African-American. So you may be giving them more credit than they deserve. I would bet a large percentage of Americans couldn't identify their home state on a map of the world.

by eip 11y ago

norea-armozel 11y ago

In the 1930s the majority of basketball players were Jews. So, race has little to do with sports performance at least in basketball.

YeGoblynQueenne 11y ago
Not to mention, African Americans play a lot of basketball because Americans in general play (or view) a lot of basketball. In Europe, say, Africans play a lot of football. But there's also just as many whites who do- so are African Americans only endowed with the kind of genetics that help them play good basketball? Or are Africans in general endowed with good _basketball_ genetics, but not good _football_ genetics? And what about European basketball? Why are basketball teams in Europe not predominantly African American? [Where "football" read "soccer" if you're on the other side of the pond, please]
- whitegrape 11y ago
  Surprise, there are actually more diverse sets of black people than "African", each with their own biological diversity. African-Americans (that is, blacks in America who can trace their ancestors to the southern slaves) overwhelming come from a specific part of Africa, and those Africans are quite different from Africans elsewhere on the continent. You even have race wars among different ethnic groups of Africans! (See Rwanda for a particularly gruesome example.) So some African subgroups are actually better at different athletic traits -- not all can jump like African-Americans, but then again not all can sprint like another group, or run for very long distances like yet another group -- just as not all White people are actually as intelligent on average as the British. Human biological diversity is pretty rich and varied, it's just unfortunate that the thing that matters most in modern society (intelligence) correlates as well as it does with such general and otherwise not very telling traits like skin color.
  - tptacek 11y ago
    Rwanda is a lovely example: an "ethnic conflict" created by Belgian colonialism.

uncletaco 11y ago

> What's even funnier is that white people are only a small percentage of world population but have the audacity to refer to all other races as 'minorities'. I am fairly certain that is because they are often referring to other races in their own countries. If you live in the US, most of your news is about North America and Europe, both continents that are predominantly filled with white people.

eip 11y ago
A pretty large percentage of Americans would refer to a black person born and living in Africa (or any other continent besides the Americas) as African-American. So you may be giving them more credit than they deserve. I would bet a large percentage of Americans couldn't identify their home state on a map of the world.