4 ms·

Not just African Americans I'm sure. People from Suriname etc as well. It's okay to just say black.

• gumby 9y ago
  I appreciate this comment but in this case I would disagree. If the discussion were about a physiological distinction [+] sure. But this discussion was about social/cultural issues that specifically distinguish swimming ability rates among African Americans in the USA versus whites in the USA. Which is interesting, because you can also see these distinctions, without racial differentiation, in groups world wide who do / do not live near large/deep bodies of water. But in the US case race is a larger determiner regardless of the physical environment. That distinction is interesting. [+] A black friend of mine once said, "I can't swim -- I sink", a reference to the belief that people of African origin have less subcutaneous fat and therefore higher density, so swimming is harder. I have no idea if this physiological property is true or not but the belief is widespread. I have one white parent and swim like a fish. Everyone on that side of my family loves to swim. Hmm...