Sports Economics: Oppression and Blacks Myths Exposed. What’s Really Going On?

Have you ever wondered why Blacks dominate sports like they do? Why there is no need for affirmative action in sport like it is needed in the rest of our economy? Why promise for being an athlete is more observed than promise of being an occupation such as a dentist? It’s really puzzling, we think that we get a couple of black coaches and or that we see ourselves on TV and all of a sudden we've done something. The sensationalism of sport is intricate in modern slave mentality. Moreover, the discrimination of the black man and woman in America goes much deeper then some civil rights movements of the 60s and the integration of the black race in sports. Ever since slavery, the black man has been bread to be inferior to the white man (Lynch 1712). This is why we believe in these absurdities that black people have extra muscles in their legs or that blacks don’t have the mental capacity to be great quarterbacks, or point guards let alone administrators or owners (Stoll, Lumpkin, and Beller 2003). Hopefully this expose diminishes these thoughts for you.

I may seem to go off on a tangent just a bit, but ever since the capture of the black man from Africa and the United States, blacks have been lead to believe that they were inadequate. Reading was outlawed among black people to keep them from any type of intelligence. Examples of Willie Lynch are still in effect such as; the division of black people based on shades of black. Light is right in the “black” community and being darker is the worst atrocity known to mankind. Pardon the exaggeration but this is life as a darker black person to an extent. Trust that this resonates with a lot of people of color. No matter what, the black race is thought of as second class citizens.

We see guys like Kobe Bryant or Michael Vick out there moving and shaking, and we think we’ve made it because of their hardships. How we have worked ourselves to where we are in modern sports today is nothing short of remarkable but also, it’s by design. It’s not by genetics but how society shapes us and how we're conditioned. Nobody is born with their destinies determined by genetics. One of the myths to dispel here: Were black people really bread to become better athletes due to a curve ball from the captivity that is slavery  or some sort of extra muscle in the legs? I think whole slavery/athlete relation was a joke initially and then it manifested itself throughout the minds of impressionable people and spread abroad as the truth. What’s race got to do with it? People should not be fooled the ratio of the black population in sports. In the Johnson, Hallinan and Webster (1999) experiment they discussed African American athletic superiority and they found out that these stereotypes are believed by many.

248 students from the south where involved with an average age of 20. Most of the participants were white, and only 12 percent were black and the other groups fractioned off at about 6 percent. The study was to test the common stereotypes of black athletes and white athletes. The participants were shown head and neck shots of collegiate athletes and they were supposed to determine what physical or mental advantages that each player had. The results showed that chose that blacks had more innate/genetic talent where whites were more calculative/hardworking. This experiment gives proof to the belief that false evolutionary stereotypes apply to certain races as some sort of innate attribute already pre-assigned by nature. These results remained constant in plenty of other research I found as well. Survival in the midst of people does not provoke evolutionary changes only survival in the midst of NATURE can incite evolution.

Why would people think that? In a study on Genes done by David Epstein (2010), a geneticist, he dispels any type of gene factor in building athletes. The truth is… Who knows? As far as sport genes are concerned, those are considered myths because there is no way to prove it. Genes that were found in say an athlete like Colin Jackson, a world class sprinter, were found in a geneticist named Pitsiladis according to Epstein (2010). Certain things become social stigmas. I believe that basketball’s popularity in the Black Community is a major influence on African Americans that increases their involvement in different sports. A lot of Rap Music has direct correlations to basketball. Rappers and athletes are our heroes. To be honest I believe the white race is too busy trying to take over the world, make people conform to their blueprint of their ideal world through cruel calculated steps and to hell with sports. This could be a generalization, but given the history of mankind makes it a fact nonetheless.  To say things are the way they are by some sort of Gene are with out a doubt inconclusive by logic.

There are factors that will give people an extra sense of urgency or need for an escape that can in turn enhance the focus of a young basketball player. However it is important to know understand that minorities are less likely to participate in physical activity then that of Caucasians as documented in Martin and McCaughtry (2008). Also, gangs vs. basketball are a very pertinent issue in the black neighborhood (Atencio and Wright, 2008). Playing basketball granted some people a sense of safety. Basketball is coveted and highly respected in the black community according to the case studies done by Atencio and Wright (2008). The social backing that athletes get is remarkable in what people would consider bad neighborhoods.

So this along with the weight of societies pressures offer at the least an explanation of why things happen.  In my opinion being one of the unfortunate ones gives an advantage due to the predisposition of pressure already bestowed upon certain individuals in order to survive. This may be where the sense of urgency comes from and there-fore making the ratio of the black man and woman the majority. A guy I know that went over seas in basketball summed up basketball for a struggling person from the ghetto. I recall him saying, “Hasani, this is not a game, you have got to play like your food and shelter depend on it. If you are going to play this game, put food on your table.” I blame ourselves for this mindset. Unfortunately we have surrendered to the fact that the only way to make it in life is through sports and music. Affirmative action, the NAACP and the United Negro College Fund do not guarantee success. In a way, blacks still have a slave mentality in the fact that we succumb to the system and don’t fight.

I hope my thoughts and facts dispose of the notions that only white people can shoot because of it's calculative nature or all blacks are athletic behemoths that were born to do 360 degree dunks. Or that a race simply can’t fathom the X’s and O’s of a sport. To play any type of ball you need to well rounded or how they put it “calculating and hard working.” Life gives you a certain hand and it's up to you to play them right. What do you do with 5 funnies and no particular industry to run to? What dreams are possible for you and you walk outside and there's drug trafficking, piss in the hallway, dangerous groups and the police just waiting for you to slip up so they can get you in that system? By percentage the odds of being a successful through the workforce are very slim for blacks even with affirmative action. Very slim in entertainment as well. Very high in incarceration though. Let the animals fend for themselves and then profit off of the bright spots. That's economic enslavement. Nothing has changed from slavery, it's just transformed into a more subtle peaceful entrapment. This is prevalent with sports today, especially collegiate sports.

As it sits today, sports and music seem to be our only outlets to getting notoriety that's why we do it. Genes will never suffice for the actual hard work and desire needed to learn a new skill or be great at something because we all come from black genes according to Epstein (2010). Believe it or not, one of the theories is that the black man was the first on earth. It’s up to you. Do you believe in the cave man theories? That we evolved from Neanderthals or did we all originate from with the first black man being from Africa. Perhaps we are a mixture of both. Pick either or, there are still no excuses. People are guided by the opportunities available to them this is why blacks have not made it past being entertainers and athletes. Society creates the conditions that shape us the way we are. How else can blacks statistically have the most health problems and have the most athletically dominant people in the world? But don’t take my word for it, do your research.

Atencio, M. and Wright, J. (2008). We Be Killin’ Them: Hierarchies of Black Masculinity in Urban Basketball Spaces. Sociology of Sport Journal, 25, 263-280

Epstein, D. (2010). Sports Genes. Sports Illustrated, 112 (21), 53-65

Lynch, Willie (1712). The Making of a Slave. Colony of Virginia, From the Web: http://www.campbellconsent.com/WillieLynch1712.pdf

Lumpkin, A., Stoll, S.K., & Beller, J.M. (2003). Sport Ethics: Application for Fair Play (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.  ISBN: 0072552522, 163-181