*Black athletes are apparently vastly overrepresented in these sports. But why?
According to The Stranger, “the answers are found in social factors and processes.”
The outlet notes: “The tech industry is only 7 percent black, the NFL is 65 percent black, and the NBA is 75 percent black.”
via The Stranger:
Many white Americans will, again, imagine that this has something to do with black genes, black athleticism, black African musculature. But this an illusion that only justifies white dominance in, say, the tech sector.
Whites have the genes for that kind of thing: coding, programming, electrical engineering, and what have you.
In this view, black dominance in brawn is naturally balanced by white dominance in brains. But anyone who has taught in a US high-school system knows that this balance is strictly imposed on black males. Intellectuality is not just discouraged but not even recognized. When you reinforce this attitude by underfunding education, the remaining opportunities for black success are not found in the classroom but in the gym.
OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Jason Whitlock Attacks Popovich and Kerr in Broad Critique of NBA on China
The @Lakers top CHA at home behind Anthony Davis (29 PTS, 14 REB, 3 BLK), LeBron James (20 PTS, 12 AST, 6 REB) and Dwight Howard (16 PTS, 10 REB, 4 BLK)!
Miles Bridges: 23 PTS
Cody Zeller: 19 PTS, 14 REB pic.twitter.com/SEKuXumnrF— NBA (@NBA) October 28, 2019
“To make matters more cruel, the chances of a young black male becoming a professional sports star are cosmically slim,” the outlet writes. Adding, I recall reading that a high-school baller had a 0.03 percent chance of making it into the NBA (I heard it was more like 0.001).”
U.S. News provides informative insight in of this social process.
A few noteworthy points:
For every success story, there are thousands who are not getting to the league and many who may spend years in minor league baseball.
MLB is spending millions of dollars trying to increase the percentage of black baseball players, while the NFL and NBA do not have to spend any money on developing black players because the NCAA does it for them.
As the American economy continues to favor higher-income families, one can see the same impact in sports.
Read more here.
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