Factual Observation or Racism?

[markrvp]

This story was just posted on msn.com

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/5025942

Basically, the Air Force Academy football coach said that "black athletes run very, very well."  He believes that a lack of black athletes on their team is hurting their overall competitiveness.  Now his comments are being probed.

Here is my question:  How does his observation make him a racist? 

He very correctly observed that black athletes run well.  A majority of U.S. track records are held by African Americans.  He seems to feel that more black athletes on his football team and that would be an improvement in talent.

Shouldn't this be considered an affirmation of the skill level of black athletes and not the rantings of an old racist?

This seems like an innocent observation to me.  During the last Olympics, black athletes "ran very well."  Most of the U.S. track and field events are dominated by black athletes.  The African American community should be proud of these accomplishments.  Jesse Owens showed what was possible back in the 1930s. 

If anyone should be upset, shouldn't the white players on the Air Force Academy feel discriminated against?

Race relations will never improve if people are penalized for making simple, truthful observations.

[Havok]

I used to be on the varsity track team when I was in high school, and I agree with that statement. It should be taken as an observation, and a compliment.

[SirPoonga]

Reminds me of this story.
http://katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=4016414

[ChadTower]

It is so true it's not even funny.

[Dartful Dodger]

If he had said white people are slower, instead of saying black people are faster, he would have gotten away with it.

That is so true it's not even funny.



...okay, it's a little funny.

[ChadTower]

It's one of the few racial topics you can just toss around on an athletic field without starting a fight.  Everyone knows and accepts it.

Before Sunday's game, a couple guys commented on how our team wasn't scary "cause you only got one brutha".

I shot back that "you only got one brutha that doesn't look like Ruben Studdard so we're even".

Everyone laughed and we resumed tying up the cleats.

Making a problem out of this is stupid.

[RetroJames]

By (this) defenition, it is racism

rac

[ChadTower]

I didn't say it's not racism.

I did, however, say it is true and accepted among athletes.  It is accepted to the point that we joke about it without fear of a fight.

It's GOT TO be universally accepted for white guys to come out and say it in the middle of a game without a fight breaking out.

[markrvp]

By (this) defenition, it is racism

rac

[ChadTower]

Nor African Africans, or African Dominicans, or African Latinos, or African Rhinos.

[RetroJames]

I didn't say it's not racism.

I did, however, say it is true and accepted among athletes.

[RetroJames]

By definition, then, it was a racist comment.

[RetroJames]

Actually looking again his statement was not racist by defenition.  In the quote above, he said they run very...well.  Not better than xy or z.

[SirPoonga]

He seems to believe that black athletes are superior to others.

No, he did not say that.  He said he has observed that blacks seem to run better.  He didn't say that makes anyone a superior athlete.

[SirPoonga]

Examples would be tricky,

Examples of what being tricky?

[markrvp]

He seems to believe that black athletes are superior to others.

No, he did not say that.

[Bones]

This a perfect example of a world gone mad.

Asians are good at gymnastics, Eskimos are usually cold and Australians are superior lovers.

Honestly, where does a simple comment end and this politically correct  ---auto-censored--- begin?

[Dartful Dodger]

Australian sheep don't run very well.

[Bones]

Australian sheep don't run very well.

True, if they did we would have evolved into quicker runners. 

[RetroJames]

Australian sheep don't run very well.

True, if they did we would have evolved into quicker runners.

[ChadTower]

From experience of 25+ years of high level athletics... the better runners are the better athletes 99% of the time.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

From experience of 25+ years of high level athletics... the better runners are the better athletes 99% of the time.

I ran a 10.9 in the 100-Meter dash during High School.  With a consistent 11.0 - 11.1...Too bad there's not much call for 'dashing' in the real world. I'm a thoroughbred Honkey!  hehe


mrC

[Harry Potter]

Australian sheep don't run very well.

True, if they did we would have evolved into quicker runners. 

Considering the unique history of OZ, you would think the sheep would be able to do the 1min mile by now. 

They can as long as they're in the front seat of the car doing ---god knows what--- to the driver.

[ChadTower]

I ran a 10.9 in the 100-Meter dash during High School.

[mr.Curmudgeon]

I ran a 10.9 in the 100-Meter dash during High School.  With a consistent 11.0 - 11.1...Too bad there's not much call for 'dashing' in the real world. I'm a thoroughbred Honkey!  hehe

Sure there is, there's lots of dashing in football.  Flat speed is useful for WR and KR.

Unless you're also 5-5 or something.

Naw, I'm 6ft and I did play two years of HS football. With my size and speed they used me as a fullback and halfback. From time to time I was WR, and special teams KR. But I preferred backfield plays, so I could hit more people and run the ball. Great fun.

But, back to the topic at hand...one time I beat a couple of black runners in the 100M during a regional, and they got a kick out of it. We had a jovial relationship, so in jest they asked if it helped me run faster when I pretended they were chasing me. Always thought that was pretty funny. (I was the minority in my area, which was predominately black)

I think it can be shown that different races, genetically, have varying physical potentials (in general). It only becomes racism when you assume something about a person, specifically because they are of a certain ethnicity.

(ex: I'm a fast white guy. Although, I really can't dance...so I *do* fit that stereotype)


mrC


 

[ChadTower]

Among my friends, both black and white guys, the joke is that the fast white guys have some brutha in them.

[markrvp]

This coach was forced to issue an apology for his comments.

Basically, "I'm sorry I said black athletes run very well."

Just for the record, if anyone ever says, "markrvp builds arcade controls very well," you don't have to apologize.

[ChadTower]

I'm sorry I said black athletes run very well.

Oh, wait, can't say that either, I'm sorry I said black athletes run.

Crap, um, I'm sorry about black athletes.

No?  What?  Okay, fine, sorry some people are black.

[Grasshopper]

I remember that Roger Bannister (the first man to break the four minute mile) got in trouble for saying something similar a few years ago.

The shorter distance track events are now almost 100% dominated by black atheltes and it's hard to believe this is a coincidence.

Some people have argued that the track events don't require expensive equipment and infrastructure (unlike most white-dominated sports) and that is why poor African nations focus on them. This might be a partial explanation but I don't believe it's the full story because there is much more of a racial mix for the longer distance events. If you look at top marathon runners for instance, they come from all over the world including Asia. So I think it is likely (but by no means proven) that there is something about black physiology that makes then better at events requiring short bursts of speed.

Just did a google search for Roger Bannister and came up with an interesting site discussing this very topic.

http://www.lonestarladydragonspolevaulting.com/Articles/story_behind_the_amazing_success.htm

[markrvp]

That article was very interesting.  I have never once thought black people were closer to animals than humans (as mentioned in the article).  I just believed they were better athletes due to physiological makeup. 

This is a compliment to the abilities of black people and not demeaning them as more beastlike than human.

It's a shame that some people will always try and turn a praise into a racist putdown.

[ChadTower]

[markrvp]

My point is I've never thought of black people as animals, nor do I know anyone personally who does.  I guess there are people who do which is why all the racial tension, but I have never thought as such.

Also, I have never owned a slave, my dad never owned a slave, and my grandfather never owned a slave.  I'm pretty sure my great grandfather never owned a slave.  To my knowledge, the last remaining African American who was a slave died in the late 1960s.  So for at least 45 years there has been nobody in American who even saw slavery.  Therefore, I believe the argument that anyone is owed anything due to slavery is complete horse ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---.

We simply must move forward from the racial discord of the past and stop trying to use it as an excuse for not making the most of current opportunities.

[Dartful Dodger]

My point is I've never thought of black people as animals, nor do I know anyone personally who does.

You and the people you know should take a biology class.

Black people are animals.
Black birds are birds.
Red woods are trees.
Gold fish are fish.

[jbox]

Also, I have never owned a slave, my dad never owned a slave, and my grandfather never owned a slave.  I'm pretty sure my great grandfather never owned a slave.  To my knowledge, the last remaining African American who was a slave died in the late 1960s.  So for at least 45 years there has been nobody in American who even saw slavery.  Therefore, I believe the argument that anyone is owed anything due to slavery is complete horse ---Cleveland steamer---.

I like to think of this as "Guilt Laundering". Money laundering is when you take some 'evil' money, and then keep passing it along until people forget where it came from so that now it is 'good' money. Guilt laundering is where the profits of an evil action are passed around until the distance between the people who committed the act and the people who also profit by it is so vast that people don't think it has anything to do with them.

Political parties and Nike are two more very good examples of how this occurs in the modern age. I personally have no idea how much debt it truly represents, but the *ONLY* people who can truly write that debt off are orphans who didn't inherint more than their gene's from their parents.

[ChadTower]

Well, that would be pretty much me then... since I will end up paying my parents' debts off when they die, not inheriting anything.  Plus, there weren't slaves where I'm from, just lots and lots of little territorial wars between the French and Spanish.

[jbox]

Well, that would be pretty much me then...

Meh, I don't particularly care who is and isn't indebted, since I'm a socialist who thinks the government should seize all the land and drive the economy into ruin.   

I just dislike it when people use this argument in Australia that since *they* personally didn't steal land from the Aboriginals that their $1M worth of farm land was somehow built entirely from scratch by their own two hands. Sure, crops and equipment I grant you, but the original capital investment is being swept under the rug just a little too quickly for my tastes. 

[ChadTower]

Why don't they all just go and blame the British for putting white people on Australia in the first place?

I mean, you descend from nasty convicts, who is surprised when you steal an entire continent from some short natives?

[jbox]

Why don't they all just go and blame the British for putting white people on Australia in the first place?

I mean, you descend from nasty convicts, who is surprised when you steal an entire continent from some short natives?

Because then we'd have to go and get ourselves a president as well, and that's just too much real work for a country of slackers.