# Critique this: Why blacks run faster **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 6, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414 "2012-07-06T13:42:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 37
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/721 "2012-08-08T09:45:32Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > In the environment of the time, I can’t think why an owner would allow a stable pony anywhere near a mare when he had stallions aplenty? So how did he keep them apart? He likely had hundreds of men- did he keep most of them chained up 24/7? Physically, how would this be accomplished in a functioning, productive plantation? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/722 "2012-08-08T10:03:57Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > In which country/political system/national history/culture do the whites and asians dominate sprinting and basketball while the blacks dominate the STEM fields over their white counterparts? . I just checked a picture of the French national basketball team, and indeed all but two of the players are black. I had no idea and maybe you’re right. But then, what could be the common factor in short distance race and basketball that would give an hedge to people with west-African ancestry and isn’t a factor, in other sports like, to pick a widely popular one, soccer? ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/723 "2012-08-08T10:13:53Z")
> [@Dingbang](#): > > You all seem hung up on the idea that if it happened at all, it must have been highly organized, done in the most effective manner, and documented. Why do you insist that it didn’t happen because a) it’s difficult, b) it’s imperfect, and c) they didn’t keep records of it? That would rule out a lot of things in history that we’re pretty sure happened. I have one question : besides it being your best guess, have you any other reason to believe that selective breeding took place? I mean, did you read it somewhere, did someone taught it to you, did you watch a documentary in which it was mentioned? ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/724 "2012-08-08T10:29:29Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > So how did he keep them apart? He likely had hundreds of men- did he keep most of them chained up 24/7? Physically, how would this be accomplished in a functioning, productive plantation? I guess you control the mares. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/725 "2012-08-08T11:49:08Z")
> [@Dingbang](#): > > Prettyvacant, you’ve stumbled into the deep left recesses of The Straight Dope. You mentioned race and suggested that there might actually be physical differences. That’s crazy. > It’s amusing to read through the nitpicking about how the slave owners would have carefully noted their breeding and attended weekly meeting of Ye Olde Slave Eugenics Club if the theory you reference had any validity. > Of course it make sense that the owners would breed their healthiest and most productive. It’s just silly posturing to deny that. And of course cultural influences play a large part in who dominates what sport. > It’s so predictable how any suggestion, a mere hint, that people of difference races may have their own strengths, weaknesses, and differences, prompts such vigorous, hysterical denials. Nice of you to admit that you can’t follow the science of the debate. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/726 "2012-08-08T12:03:34Z")
I see that China currently heads up the medals table with golds in weightlifting, gymnastics, swimming etc. Clearly they are the strongest of all races. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/727 "2012-08-08T12:11:58Z")
Damn that Chinese race! ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/728 "2012-08-08T13:21:33Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I see that China currently heads up the medals table with golds in weightlifting, gymnastics, swimming etc. > Clearly they are the strongest of all races. Those bastards! They’re injecting their athletes with African genes! ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/729 "2012-08-08T13:55:02Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > I guess you control the mares. How? These are humans. Unless they’re chained up and guarded 24/7, they’re going to have relations with who they please (and/or submit to their masters and various other folks who take advantage of them). It seem so physically difficult that without any supporting evidence how could we even consider it? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/730 "2012-08-08T13:58:02Z")
Is there even any \*anecdotal \*evidence that slave owners were intentionally breeding for specific characteristics? Everything in this thread has been sheer speculation, the fantasy-scifi kind of speculation. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/731 "2012-08-08T13:58:54Z")
To me it’s kind of laughable to just throw out there something like “of course they bred the strongest (or fastest or best or whatever)”- how, physically, could they? How would they keep the women from having sex with who they wanted? How would they keep the various white overseers, male members of the master’s family, etc, from taking advantage of the slave women? How would they determine which offspring comes from which male parent? And how on earth is it even feasible that they would do _any_ of this without leaving a single record? ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/732 "2012-08-08T14:39:41Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Is there even any \*anecdotal \*evidence that slave owners were intentionally breeding for specific characteristics? Everything in this thread has been sheer speculation, the fantasy-scifi kind of speculation. It’s like asking for an example of an owner not selectively breeding livestock - once you dehumanise, it’s entirely natural. First hit on Google for ‘slave breeding coersion’: > [@](#): > > Ex-slave Maggie Stenhouse remarked, “Durin’ slavery there were stockmen. They was weighed and tested. A man would rent the stockman and put him in a room with some young women he wanted to raise children from.” > **[Slave breeding in the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_breeding_in_the_United_States)** > > Slave breeding was the practice in slave states of the United States of slave owners systematically forcing slaves to have children to increase their wealth. It included coerced sexual relations between enslaved men and women or girls, forced pregnancies of enslaved women and girls due to forced inter inbreeding with fellow slaves in hopes of producing relatively stronger future slaves. The objective was for slave owners to increase the number of people they enslaved without incurring the The l... ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/733 "2012-08-08T14:56:42Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > It’s like asking for an example of an owner not selectively breeding livestock - once you dehumanise, it’s entirely natural. > > First hit on Google for ‘slave breeding coersion’: > > [Slave breeding in the United States - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_breeding_in_the_United_States) This says nothing about selective breeding. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/734 "2012-08-08T15:04:15Z")
You think. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/735 "2012-08-08T15:13:47Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > You think. ?? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/736 "2012-08-08T15:49:17Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > First hit on Google for ‘slave breeding coersion’: Since this is your thread, I would have thought that you were actually following it. The quote you supplied is the one that was already mentioned in a linked Wikipedia article and was already addressed, (three times, by different posters), who noted that the “stockmen” were used to ensure the quantity of breeding without manking any effort at the quality of breeding. (And, of course, you have still failed to note, or even address, that your OP was thoroughly shredded over a month ago, back in post #88.) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/737 "2012-08-08T16:01:32Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > It’s like asking for an example of an owner not selectively breeding livestock - once you dehumanise, it’s entirely natural. So it can be assumed that everyone who has ever owned livestock is engaging in a selective breeding program, and is doing it without exercising any observable form of organization or control. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/738 "2012-08-08T17:07:01Z")
While all this talk is going on in this thread, has anyone noticed that the gold medal winner of the women’s 100 meter hurdles is a white Australian? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/739 "2012-08-08T17:09:16Z")
The sprint gene does not allow for hurdles. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414/740 "2012-08-08T17:38:05Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > While all this talk is going on in this thread, has anyone noticed that the gold medal winner of the women’s 100 meter hurdles is a white Australian? Quite a few of the finalists in hurdles were white looking. See, black people can’t jump. Or something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414.md?page=36) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/critique-this-why-blacks-run-faster/627414.md?page=38)