Is it racist to say that the majority of the worlds top sprinters are Black?

Well, if someone makes a statement like that, they had better be able to prove that it’s fact, and not a stereotype.

@HungryGuy – I think that the olympics and world championships can prove it!
..... and you never answered my question???

That’s not racist. The racism comes from people making assertions about an entire race.

“This black person is fast.”: not racism.
“All black people are fast.”: racism.

*If, *—after controlling for all of the variables that may influence:
1) who might engage in track and field and
2) who might be encouraged and supported to excel in this type of sport and sprinting in particular,

the number of excellent sprinters are found to be significantly different between groups that differ in racial origin,—

then the statement of that conclusion is not in itself a racist statement.

It would be a racial comparison that is neither positive or negative unless sprinting excellence is deemed to be a highly valued and important characteristic.

It isn’t but once you start thinking of everything in terms of colour it can become racist.

@Mat74UK – Well, I don’t represent all of Fluther, so one person alone can’t answer your question.

Anyway, it could be a racist statement if you’re seeing the Olympics on TV and say, “Aha! The majority of the world’s top sprinters are [such and such a skin color].”

On the other hand, if you’ve accumulated volumes of sports statistics from every sprinting competition in the past generation from every country in the world, normalize the contest results, rank the athletes’ mean performances over many competitions, and then distribute the rankings by race to within statistical significance, then you’re probably safe.

But….why?

@HungryGuy – It was her comment that made me ask. We were watching an advert with Usain Bolt in it and she asked if he were English, I told her he’s Jamaican and she said – Is it racist to say that the majority of the worlds top sprinters are Black?

@Mat74UK – Okay.

“Is it racist to say that the majority of the worlds top sprinters are Black?”

It probably is racist if she’s just seeing a sporting event on TV (such as the olympics) and making a generalization.

It probably isn’t racist if she’s basing her statement on carefully accumulated statistics and rigorous statistical calculations.

That’s my answer to your question. :-)

@HungryGuy – cheers I’ll tell her she’s a bigot!

@Mat74UK – No! Don’t tell her that, you silly goose. Just suggest gently that she might be jumping to conclusions without sufficient facts to back up her opinion…

@HungryGuy – Don’t take me for an idiot I was only joking! I know which side my breads buttered! How will I get my clothes ironed after I did that?

joke female jellies!

What difference does it make? I wouldn’t care if Usain is black, white or orange. I love to watch him run. Man what a stride.

@Adirondackwannabe – just as it should be!

@Blackberry gave a good example of the difference, I think.

It’s not racist to point out a fact. It’s not even racist if it’s perceived as a negative fact. Where a statement can cross to racism is assuming that it’s a fact “because that’s how [that race] is”.

If all of the world’s top sprinters are black, for example, and let’s assume for the sake of this question that that is a fact, then it’s not racist to make that observation. Racism would be continuing with the opinion – which is not borne out in fact – “That’s because blacks are always such great athletes” (even though that might be considered a positive statement) or “That’s because they’re always running from the police” (though that may be true in many cases, too) or “That’s because whites are such horrible athletes” (which is racism against whites, number one, and also a backhanded slap at black athletes who can only win because the competition is so awful).

Now, if blacks were always such great athletes, then the first opinion would also not be racist.

Do you see? It’s the generalizing among racial lines that makes a statement racist. Facts are not racist.

@Mat74UK – I know you were joking :-) That’s why I called you a “silly goose,” lol.

I took a Human Physiology class in college. The professor insisted that black men were faster runners because they had a longer femur to tibia ratio on average than white men. I have no idea if it’s true (or even if it would make one faster) but I always had a hard time accepting that what he was saying wasn’t racist because of his thick German accent. It just sounded so Third Reich when he said it. (I guess that makes me the prejudiced one…~)

It is racist because it is not a statement of fact. No one can define race in a scientific way because race isn’t in the genes. It’s purely a social construct. Noting race is a racist act in the first place. Noting the race of anything is racist. The only reason we note race is to try to separate people on the basis of a purely arbitrary notion that has nothing to do with physical reality, and everything to do with social reality.

No more than saying “white men can’t jump”.

@Jaxk That is so racist!

@Jaxk The thing is some white men can jump. Now when it comes to beating Kenyans in the marathon, I wouldn’t put money on that happening.

I think it just depends who you are talking to and why you are saying it. Even when things like this are fact, if they are stated for no reason, people will wonder why the color of someone’s skin is being pointed out, and they might be offended, see it as racist.

Well the majority of sprinters in this picture are black. Not sure about the statistics of the top world sprinters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Osaka07_D2A_Torri_Edwards.jpg

If she knows that the majority of the world’s top (competition) sprinters are black than surely that’s merely an observation on what she has seen whilst watching athletics on TV etc? If she knows that the majority of sprinters that win major competitions are black then that is definitely not racist. It is fact, although, it may be wise to say ”currently the world’s top sprinters are black”.

Now, if she made a blanket statement like “black people are better runners than white people”, that could be seen as racism.

However, my friend works in a school that is very mixed race. I would say that there are equal white children to black and a few less (although still quite a high number) of other ethnicities and they are all from low privaliged areas. Over the years, she has observed that black children find learning to swim more difficult than white children or those of other ethnicities. She did some research on this and found loads of theories about buoyancy, muscular structure, body fat etc but no solid facts to this nature. I don’t consider her racist for making this observation based on years of experience because she’s not claiming it is a worldwide thing just something she has witnessed in her particular area.

I don’t see the problem with acknowledging the obvious.If I say that Blacks have dominated heavyweight boxing, that’s not racist, it’s fact. Heaven forbid I should speculate as to why as Jimmy the Greek did, I’d be excoriated. Usually when anyone makes a statement like blacks are better runners or Jews are better at finance or Germans build better cars, they are merely pointing out that those fields are disproportionately dominated by that ethnicity. Or at least seem to be. I think we’re way to sensitive when calling someone racist for making a simple observation even if it’s not strictly true. Lighten up. You shouldn’t need years of research to make a simple observation. And if you word it incorrectly, all hell breaks loose.

Racist or not, the statement is true. Last time I looked ALL the top ten fastest sprinters in the 100 meters were black
Usain Bolt
Tyson Gay
Asafa Powell
Maurice Greene
Donovan Bailey
Bruny Surin
Leroy Burrell
Justin Gatlin
Olusoji Fasuba
Carl Lewis
————————————————————————————————————————

A joke on stereotypes.

“Heaven is where the police are British, the cooks are French, the mechanics are German, the lovers are Italian and it is all organised by the Swiss. Hell is where the police are German, the cooks are English, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss, and it is all organised by the Italians”.

They’re not always completely off base.

Another stereotype just to reinforce the point.

One afternoon a lawyer was riding in his limousine when he saw two men along the road-side eating grass.

Disturbed, he ordered his driver to stop and got out to investigate.

He asked one man, “Why are you eating grass?”

“We don’t have any money for food,” the poor man replied. “We have to eat grass.”

“Well, then, you can come with me to my house and I’ll feed you,” the lawyer said.

“But sir, I have a wife and two children with me. They are over there, under that tree.”

“Bring them along,” the lawyer replied.

Turning to the other poor man he stated, “You may come with us,also.”
The second man, in a pitiful voice, then said, “But sir, I also have a wife and six children with me!”

“Bring them all as well,” the lawyer answered.

They all entered the car, which was no easy task, even for a car as large as the limousine.

Once under way, one of the poor fellows turned to the lawyer and said,“Sir, you are too kind.
Thank you for taking all of us with you.

The lawyer replied, “Glad to do it. You’ll really love my place. The grass is almost a foot high.”

—
Come on now…you really didn’t think there was such a thing as a heartwarming lawyer story…did you????

Would it be racist to say that the majority of the world’s top scientists are white?

I am sure the PC police would deem it to be so, but I think to acknowledge something that appears obvious, be it good or bad, is simply taking note of what is.

Saying the majority of the world’s top sprinters are black is not a stereotype in my opinion, it is a true statistical statement. Saying black people are better at sprinting is a stereotype.

This article is along a similar train of thought, I am sure some would consider it racist or something. But I think it is recognizing a problem within a specific group (or actually not necessarily restricted to one group only) and doing something about it.

No, it’s quoting statistics. One might wonder why this is so. I’d say it has to do with motivation. So basically the same reason why there are many black lawyers. In case of the law I’d say it’s because of rectifying injustice.

Open cross-country races are very popular in Germany. There are hundreds of them every year. And the winners and runner-ups can win quite a bit of money. This has created a new business, especially in Kenya and Ethiopia. Successful sprinters and long-distance runners use the money to support their families, but also sponsor colleges of physical education and work there as coaches. There are hundreds of top sprinters participating in these races in Germany every year.

They become role models in their home countries. And this makes kids want to learn that kind of sport too.