Why Do Black Athletes Dominate? – YouTube Dictation Transcript & Vocabulary

1.It Was 1980 Jimmy Carter was the president of the United States breev was the leader of the Soviet Union which hosted the Olympics and it marked a milestone there it was the last time a white guy won the 100 meter dash but it was more than that it was the last time any white man in the world even qualified for the finals and that was 44 years ago looking at a lot of sports black athletes do incredibly well especially in track and field basketball and American football so why why do black people seem to dominate Sports and is that belief really accurate hey I'm Ken Lort my goal is to give you an honest look here it's not about declaring any race Superior or inferior but about what differences Exist by race in sports and why first we'll look at whether black athletes actually do dominate Sports then we'll check out the cultural differences at play and also look into the genetic differences examining what the science actually says and doesn't say about racial variations in athletic ability now let's look at the numbers that make some people uncomfortable are black people really better at sports the answer is kind of but it depends on the sports when we look at professional sports it's hard to ignore some obvious patterns about 3 quars of NBA players are black and that's in a country where black people make up about 133% of the population in the NFL almost 2third of the players are black but in this case the demographics change when we look at certain positions cornerbacks and running backs are overwhelmingly black while quarterbacks and kickers have historically been mostly white although it is changing somewhat in running East African Runners especially those from Kenya and Ethiopia have completely crushed marathons for decades with only two exceptions in the last 33 years the Boston Marathon has always been won by an East African man but flip to swimming and you get a completely different picture at the 2016 Rio Olympics 45 of the 50 finalist and men's and women's 100 meter freestyle events were white black Americans are also underrepresented in sports like tennis golf field hockey archery softball and soccer blacks make up only 5% of professional hockey players and the US figure skating Association reported in 2022 that 73% of its members were white 2% were black and 18% were Asian speaking of Asians they absolutely kill it in table tennis and have since the 50s when Chairman Mao declared it the national sport so it seems pretty clear that different races excel in different sports and play different sports to begin with women's gymnastics has historically been the domain of white and Eastern European athletes but Simone biles is likely the greatest gymnast ever and the demographics of that sport are shifting as well as some other sports okay so that's some of the racial patterns in sports now let's dig into why they exist at all one of the first things to look at is the cultural factors that shape the racial landscape of sports it's not as simple as like they're not naturally good at it so in the 1940s black baseball players were forced into a separate League when that changed we saw the depth of talent that had been sidelined integration reshaped the entire Sports landscape and as certain Sports became more accessible to minorities they became cultural touchstones basketball became a Beacon of Hope in many black communities all you really needed to get better was a court easy to find even in crowded cities and you needed a ball too the game doesn't require any expensive equipment or large fields in order to play and then there's the potential income for many kids growing up in poor neighborhoods Sports aren't just a Pastime they're a potential ticket out of poverty now when you're surrounded by economic hardship that NBA or NFL contract is a lifesaver and the economic incentives aren't just about the players either entire communities rally around local athletes who look like they might be headed to the big leagues a successful athlete is is not only a source of Pride but also investment for a HomeTown so it's clear that in some communities certain sports are woven into the very fabric of daily life think about how deeply ingrained soccer is in Latin American countries and this cultural emphasis creates a feedback loop the more a Community Values a sport the more kids play it the more kids play it the better they get and the better they get the more the Community Values it it's a self-fulfilling prophecy that can shape generations of athletes there's also power in seeing someone who looks like you succeed Role Models can be game changers and if you see Heroes who look like you winning games games and earning big you're more likely to be able to see yourself in that role I mean sometimes we all need someone to show what's possible inspiration is a powerful tool so when Simone biles emerged as a gymnastics Powerhouse the number of black girls who began starting that sport shot up but this effect also can be complicated because when Tiger Wood burst out under the Golf Scene there was an initial surge of interest in golf among ethnic minorities but since then the numbers have dropped off likely due to the expense of the sport and the lack of infrastructure let kids and underprivileged communities play it more easily now let's look at snow skiing a sport dominated by whites at the professional and Olympic level it's overwhelmingly won by athletes from nations with more wealth and more snow in these countries skiing is deeply ingrained with the culture with Youth Development programs and easy access to facilities still however you look at it it's expensive the equipment training and access to slopes means athletes often need substantial Financial backing from their families or community to reach the elite level ski resorts and facilities are often located far from Urban centers where minority populations tend to be concentrated in the United States but we can't blame everything on money Norwegians dominate Olympic sports like CrossCountry skiing and speed skating and they can do those things right out their front door families CrossCountry ski and skate together and kids start as soon as they can walk it's ingrained into their culture and that feeds back to the role models a lack of diversity in skiing and winter sports makes it harder for minori youth to see themselves playing that game just as some sports get an entire Community ring behind them others spark no interest in regions that haven't traditionally played them and it's not just winter sports or expensive ones other fields that don't see much diversity are tennis and Lacrosse archery softball soccer it's an intertwined mix of culture and economic forces at play okay so given that now let's look into the most controversial part of the whole puzzle genetics this is where things get really interesting and usually a little bit uncomfortable now it's good to be careful here the argument that different races have different genetics can lead to some terrible beliefs and ideologies but it's also silly to insist that there are no physical differences between people from around the world we should all be smart enough to look at that without getting too weird about it but that's often not the case now you know I like that Jimmy the Greek moment that happens in sports you know like once every four or five years you know that like some 50 55y old white dude tries to explain why black people are kicking the out of white people in practically every major sport you know and it always goes down the same way right literally 20 minutes later that dude's on TV is like fired right he's crying his family standing there he's got like a box of from his desk with like an Emmy sticking out he's like I don't know what I said I was just talking about the quick twitch and the slow twitch I was wasn't just trying to make a point anyhow hey this is a good time to let you know if I make any substantive mistake in this video I'll fix it in a pin comment below assuming I'm not fired by Sundown okay so are there genetic differences between races that contribute to athletic performance yes of course but it's complicated overall there's actually more genetic diversity within racial groups than between them but that doesn't mean there aren't genetic variations that cluster in certain populations scientists have noted that certain genetic traits help certain sports for instance many Elite sprinters of West African descent have a higher proportion of fast twitch muscle fibers which are crucial for explosive Powers these fires contract quickly but Tire more easily making them ideal for short bursts of speed on the flip side east African Runners particularly from Kenya and Ethiopia dominate long distance now some researchers say it may be less about their muscle composition and more about their slim build and Long Legs relative to their height that improves running efficiency a 2010 study in the international Journal of design and nature proposed that black athletes have a 1.5% speed advantage in running because their Center of mass is about 3% higher above the ground than white athletes this supposedly allows them to fall forward more quickly between strides now that sounds scientific but a lot of other scientists are skeptical of such a cut and dry explanation another controversial idea among some scientists links the prevalence of CLE cell trait among people of West African origin to a higher percentage of fast twitched muscle fibers but that hasn't seen a lot of solid evidence to back it up on the flip side look at the relative lack of Asians in sprinting events some researchers say this is body proportions suggesting that the populations generally have shorter limbs relative to their torso length which Mak sprinting harder but again these are theories and it's kind of hard to test exactly and then finally let's not forget the role of epigenetics epigenetics looks at how an athletes body responds to training recovers from injuries and responds to different environmental conditions it suggests that while genetics might give some individuals an edge the way these genes are expressed can be influenced by factors like training and diet even an athlete's mindset this could partly explain why athletes from certain regions excel in certain Sports it might not just be the genes but how those genes interact with their environment and lifestyle and let's not forget that genes that help in a particular sport could be a disadvantage in another the body type that's ideal for a marathon runner is very different from what you'd want for an offensive tackle so it's clear to say that when you look at the research there is no clear Pat answer the relationships are science but they're really unsettled still but still there are some undeniable characteristics in the most elite athletes that seems to show up in some races more than others of course all of this raises the question should we as a society be trying to change the racial makeup of competitions I mean certainly making all sports financially accessible to all kids is a good goal but if you just look at the colors of those who win or those who play that makes things a lot more complicated and sports as full of exceptions to every rule it may be true that some races dominate certain Sports and that isn't necessarily a bad thing just a fact with some interesting reasons behind it it's similar to what I found when I tried to figure out why Arab armies almost always seem to lose against Western powers in fact the last time an Arab regime won a major battle against the West Was An 1187 ad and like in sports the answers are complicated hey thanks for joining me I love researching these and sharing what I learned with you I try my best to be fair and hope that you come back again take care