Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk
About It
by Jon Entine, Earl Smith
Here are some reviews of the book....
Is there a genetic reason that African-Americans dominate professional
sports?
Even raising the question seems tantamount to heresy. Jon Entine not
only
raises the question, he strives to answer it in Taboo: Why Black
Athletes
Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It.
Entine is no stranger to controversy, having worked with Tom Brokaw on
the
award-winning NBC News documentary Black Athletes: Fact and Fiction in
1989.
He's also willing to ask tough questions--and come up with answers
that anger
people on all sides of the issue. Entine starts off with some
statistics
indicating that African-American athletes are disproportionately
represented in
professional sports: for example, 13 percent of the U.S. population is
black,
but the NFL is 65 percent black, the NBA is nearly 80 percent black,
and the
WNBA is 70 percent black. He also examines cultural issues, laying to
rest the
long-held idea that blacks excel in sports because it is the only
avenue open
for advancement.
Some scholars cry foul at the idea that blacks are physically gifted,
seeing
this as a subtle way of saying that they are therefore intellectually
stunted.
Entine carefully argues that historically athletic ability and
intellectual
prowess were linked--with a positive bias. The "dumb jock" stereotype
is a
relatively recent construct--perhaps a defensive mechanism that arose
when
blacks began to participate on a level playing field and gain
prominence in the
sporting world. There's no reason to suppose athleticism and
intelligence are
inversely related; Entine quotes respected sports reporter Frank
Deford:
"[W]hen Jack Nicklaus sinks a 30-foot putt, nobody thinks his IQ goes
down."
The issue of physical superiority is further complicated by fears that
a
genetic explanation results in a belief that blacks don't succeed
because of
hard work, dedication, and drive, but rather (in the words of Brooks
Johnson,
who doesn't believe Entine's claims) "because God just gave 'em the
right
gene."
Is the fear of sounding racist hindering legitimate scientific
inquiry? Entine
believes so, noting that, "Anyone who attempts to breach this taboo to
study or
even discuss what might be behind the growing performance gap between
black and
white athletes must be prepared to run a gauntlet of public scorn,
survival not
guaranteed." Taboo is destined to make most of its readers
uncomfortable.
Hopefully this discomfort will serve as a wedge to open up discussion
of an
issue too long avoided. --Sunny Delaney --This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Scientific American
Few issues are as provocative and as poorly understood as biological
differences among the races. So loaded are statements suggesting
racial
superiority or inferiority that, for the most part, an anxious hush
surrounds
the topic. To his credit, journalist Jon Entine has tackled this
problem with a
no-holds-barred assault. Not shy about poking at the issue's softest
spots, he
goes after the history of sports and race science, the segregation and
integration of sports, racial breeding and... read more --This text
refers to
the Hardcover edition.
Book Description
Now in paperback, the book that jump-started a debate that shows no
sign of
ending. "Could well be the most intellectually demanding sports book
ever
written." -Washington Post Award-winning journalist Jon Entine's
Taboo: Why
Black Atheletes Dominate Sports and why We're Afraid t Talk About It
created
enormous controversy when PublicAffairs released it in hardcover in
the fall of
1999. Rarely does a book so highly lauded by critics also elicit
letters to the
editor so passionately praising or damning the author for even daring
to raise
a subject. Drawing on the latest scientific research, and addressing
all the
major sports of North America, Entine persuasively shows why biology
and
ancestry are significant components of the stunning ascension of black
athletes. He offers a gripping history of blacks in sports and a
fascinating
examination of the circumstances that have made addressing the facts
so
difficult and controversial. Artfully, and carefully, combining
science, sports
history, and sociology, Taboo has already proven to be one of the most
controversial and illuminating books in recent memory. Paperback
edition
includes new Afterword by author.
This book contains several diatribes against Christians. No other
religious
group is condemned. Thoughtful people need to be careful not to
finance
prejudice by buying books like this one. I found this book at my local
library.
When everyone is being so sensitive about issues such as race and
religion, why
would an author take such a risk? The answer is to be found in the
relationship
between the author and his subject matter.
<< He presents the genetic and anthropological evidence for the
dominance of
black athletes in some sports. >>
He is able to link the leading athletes from a sport to specific,
localized
regions in Africa. But the author has no scientific credentials. A
problem? Not
if he acts as a megaphone for the academic elites, the scientists who
do have
the credentials. He is forced to reference them hundreds of times. But
these
elites do not want to be seen as being racist. They have already been
pilloried
by their leftist academic peers for daring to study genetic
differences in
humans. And the author does not want to be a pariah of his liberal
friends in
journalism. No problem! He takes fully half of the book to present a
judgemental history, from leftist academic historians, of blacks in
sports. He
condemns whites ad nauseum, especially white Christians, and compares
their
supposed opinions 100 years ago to the moral standards of the present
day. One
wonders if the hateful opinions expressed in this book will be
respected 100
years from now, under the standards of the future.
ted
http://www.amren.com/ American Renaissance
Great short distancer runners but Mother Nature left out the brains! 
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