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Black superiority in running
Jay Bernstein (jbernst@PIPELINE.COM)
Sat, 27 Jul 1996 18:09:11 GMT
With the Olympics going on now, the truism of black superiority in running
is affirmed once again. It is politically incorrect to talk about race as
if it were a real thing, as Vincent Sarich found out. (He took an early
retirement at Berkeley several years ago, after being the most
controversial professor in the university and having his classes boycotted.
He promised to write a book on his work on race, but it hasn't appeared.)
But the question remains. Nationality doesn't seem to be a factor; race,
or at least skin color, is, especially in the shorter distance sprints.
This is not a question of technology or national will, like the question of
whether the Jamaicans can have a good bobsled team. It seems to be a
matter of sheer human power. Male and female alike, the white and
Oriental runners are being winnowed out, and will surely be a small and
lesser presence in the finals. Can any physical anthropologist explain the
superiority of blacks in running? This question must come up in intro
classes a lot.
Jay Bernstein
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