# Do African-Americans have extra energy in their muscles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 12, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906 "2015-07-12T01:35:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/81 "2015-07-13T17:03:05Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > First step, **octopus** , is the terminology. > > “Ethnicity” refers to a basket of cultural traits, and has nothing to do with genetics except that, because ethnicities are composed of family groups, they tend to be related. Ethnic groups, however, are never completely isolated, so you can guarantee that they share genes with nearby ethnic groups. > > “Race” refers to much bigger categories. “Blacks,” for example, is a group of such mind-boggling genetic diversity that you can’t say much of anything about them that doesn’t also cover all of humanity. “Whites,” in contrast, are much more closely related genetically. In the USA, “Blacks” are an ethnic group, brought about more by shared common experience than heritage. Genetically, they hold genes from two (rather large) regions in Africa, as well as a chunk of genetic material from Europe and some from the pre-Columbian populations of the US South (this varies a lot). So an ethnicity which is unusually diverse genetically. > > For that reason, any attempt to talk about the biology of black Americans is either flawed or responding to cultural / situational behavior. > > American Whites, on the other hand, aren’t really an ethnic group. They don’t have anything in common with each other that they don’t share with non-white Americans except for some pallor and racial privilege, which is social rather than cultural (to the extent you can separate those). > > None of this has anything to do with politics. Gotcha. Which is why I haven’t been mentioning race, have I? The social construct of whiteness and blackness in America isn’t what I am referring to. A greyhound and a pug share genes, btw. They are the same species. You can’t tell me that a healthy pug would ever beat a healthy greyhound in a 100m sprint. I mean lets just look at Africans that are black. Of course there is a ton of ethnic groups, tribes, whatever within that category and each one of those would have a different, however slightly, distribution of physical traits. If we just had a sport called “grow tallest” nobody would have any issue with recognizing that the Pygmies would be poorly represented in the top 0.1% of that sport. Pygmies are a good group because as a group their physical differences are profound. And even the PC won’t claim that if the pygmies just lived in a destitute area and that the only way out was to excel in running, swimming, or jumping that pygmies would hold 99 out of the top 100 records in that sport. So it’s not much of a stretch to think that continents apart and several hundred if not thousands of years of evolution that some groups within these huge continents would not have diverged in such a way that genetically speaking their top outliers are 0.5% better at some random task or sport. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/82 "2015-07-13T17:06:27Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I don’t think anyone is saying this. In fact, slavery had a lot of impact on genetics – because of the widespread rape that came with slavery, many or even most African Americans have significant amounts of European ancestry. This fact, along with many others, demonstrates how unrealistic the idea of ‘breeding’ humans is or was – people can’t be penned in like livestock (they’ll get out if they really want to, unlike sheep), and people will generally be able to choose who to have sex with, even if you try to keep them from doing so. Ok. Understood. So is the problem with the question the idea that different groups have different distributions which lead to different outcomes at the top levels of sport? ---
**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:** [July 13, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/83 "2015-07-13T17:12:51Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Ok. Understood. So is the problem with the question the idea that different groups have different distributions which lead to different outcomes at the top levels of sport? This is possible, but considering that at different times different groups have dominated various sports, the present breakdown-by-race of various sports doesn’t necessarily mean anything more for human genetics than the early 20th century domination of basketball by Jews. So maybe there is some advantage for certain groups in certain sports, but just 'cause so many of the best sprinters are Jamaican (and indeed, IIRC, from a certain part of Jamaica) doesn’t mean that those of Jamaican descent have some genetic advantage for sprinting. It could very well be cultural, which could include things like nutrition, childhood activities, environment, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/84 "2015-07-13T18:35:53Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I’m not a geneticist or biologist BUT, my guess, based on nothing other than personal observation, would be that influencing things like hair color, skin pigmentation, eye color, etc. are fairly easy to influence in a short period of time. Pigmentation is often cited as a trait that can evolve remarkably rapidly, in say, less than 10,000 years. > [@Robert163](#): > > I’m not sure I follow what you mean? Africa is a big place. People range in all kinds of sizes in Africa, correct? > [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I’m not a geneticist or biologist BUT, my guess, based on nothing other than personal observation, would be that influencing things like hair color, skin pigmentation, eye color, etc. are fairly easy to influence in a short period of time. Pigmentation is often cited as an example of a human trait that can evolve remarkably rapidly, in even less than 10,000 years! > [@Blake](#): > > No, it most certainly is evolution. To use Darwin’s terms, it’s “natural selection” vs. “artificial selection”. Consistent with your post, the main difference between natural and artificial selection, in terms of the rate of change in gene frequency, is fitness ratio. With natural selection, a beneficial trait gives some increase in fitness, say a 1% advantage. With artificial selection under ideal circumstances (no undesirable mating), the trait can be given a 100% advantage. Of course, as mentioned above, slavery is far from ideal conditions for artificial selection. > [@andros](#): > > Worse, [Madeline Kahn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9JqbCH4aVw) lied to us. > . “It’s TWOO, it’s TWOO!” She wasn’t actually lying. She was merely jumping to conclusions based on results using an insufficient sample size. 🙂 > [@John\_Mace](#): > > But China, with it’s large and ethnically diverse population is unlikely to be in the same category. In terms of height, at least, remarkably little variation compared to other groups. I worked with a Chinese man who was 6’5". I asked him about it one day, mentioning that though we think of people from India as tending to be small, there are populations of Indians of remarkable height. His reply was that among 50,000 students at his university (of Beijing, IIRC), he was the tallest. Not a lot of diversity on that point! (Admitedly, this doesn’t argue against the point you were making. Just an interesting observation.) > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > “Race” refers to much bigger categories. “Blacks,” for example, is a group of such mind-boggling genetic diversity that you can’t say much of anything about them that doesn’t also cover all of humanity. “Whites,” in contrast, are much more closely related genetically. In the USA, “Blacks” are an ethnic group, brought about more by shared common experience than heritage. Genetically, they hold genes from two (rather large) regions in Africa, as well as a chunk of genetic material from Europe and some from the pre-Columbian populations of the US South (this varies a lot). So an ethnicity which is unusually diverse genetically. Excellent point, and well put. 80% of the diversity in the human genome is found in central sub-Saharan Africa. That may seem odd, but it’s typical of “source” populations. For analogy, there is far more linguistic variation in the southern tip of Taiwan, the source of the Polynesian culture, than in all of Polynesia (from Madegascar to Easter Island!) The reason is fairly simple, and the same in both cases: the source populations were around for a very long time compared to the time between the migration and now, so there was a great deal of diversity in the source. Only a sample of the source population migrated, omitting a large portion of that diversity. While significant diversity has arisen since then, the time is far too short for it to have come anywhere near the original source population diversity. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/85 "2015-07-13T19:07:59Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Not for large-scale differences throughout an entire population. In so short a time, huge reproductive groups would be wholly isolated from each other. Families in New Orleans would have no reproductive contact with families in Kentucky, etc. It doesn’t work. > > Comparisons to animal-breeding programs might be enlightening. It took a lot more than nine generations to produce the modern racing horse, or the Clydesdales of beer-wagon fame. Yet this experiment in the USSR showed you could breed aggression out of foxes in four generations. Im not sure if this sort of rapid chabge is possible in homo sapiens. [http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/03/taming-wild-animals/ratliff-text/2](http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/03/taming-wild-animals/ratliff-text/2) ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/86 "2015-07-13T19:08:33Z")
If anyone wants to actually do the math, it’s really not that complicated. Study the first two sections of this [summary of population genetics equations](http://www.radford.edu/~rsheehy/Gen_flash/ABLE_Workshop/Popgen_Equations.pdf) (PDF!) The first one (Hardy-Weinberg equation) simply gives the equilibrium gene frequencies of two alleles for a given gene, if there is no selective pressure: p = prob(a1) where a1 is “allele 1” for that gene, and “prob(x)” is the probability (aka gene frequency) of that allele in the population q = prob(a2) Note that p + q = 1. The equation (derived in the PDF based on trivial probability) is: p^2 + 2pq + q^2 = 1 If we add a coefficient to each of the three terms indicating the relative fitness of that genotype, we get the “fitness equation”, which shows how gene frequencies will change after one (ideal) generation. In practice, generations overlap, but the discrepancy between models that overlap and those that don’t is less than a factor of 2. I’ve had some fun fiddling with this equation and the introduction of a new mutation, assuming the population is all one allele, assigning a beneficial fitness to the mutation, and seeing how many generations it takes to dominate in the population. (For my simulation, I assumed the same fitness for one or two copies of the mutation.) The growth is nearly exponential – it looks very exponential at first but peters out as it becomes a significant fraction of the population\*. The startup from a single individual in a large population takes a lot of generations, but once it hits one or two percent, it takes over remarkably quickly, as I recall. I have a python script somewhere; maybe I can even still find it. This is very tangential to the OP’s question, but posted just in case someone wants to fiddle with the math. As usual, beware the layman’s flaw. Using an equation we don’t quite understand can lead to invalid results! But still I feel it’s illuminating, as long as we don’t try to apply it to too specific a situation, where reality kicks in and frequently kicks us in the butt. - I suspect it amounts to the difference between two exponential equations, where at first one term is nearly zero but eventually rises to near equality. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/87 "2015-07-13T19:12:57Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Is there a lab somewhere that houses rats and mice with enormous schlongs? You havent heard about the lost Disney Mickey/Minnie tapes? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/88 "2015-07-13T19:21:54Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Eh. Join date Apr this year. Do you know how many times this has been discussed, and debunked on this MB over the years? Search for the other threads. Not going to go thru this again. > > If you think you have some new scientific breakthrough, publish your results and you’ll get a Nobel Prize. It’s just waiting out there for you! If you research how China trains its athletes it is plausible to believe that if China could produce a worldclass sprinter they would. > **[Boarding Schools Generate China's Sport Stars](https://www.npr.org/2008/07/21/92479526/boarding-schools-generate-chinas-sport-stars)** > > Projecting athletic prowess has been a top priority for the Chinese government over the years. And it is some of the country's littlest citizens who must carry this responsibility. From the age of 4, select Chinese children are molded into the... ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/89 "2015-07-13T19:39:14Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > If you research how China trains its athletes it is plausible to believe that if China could produce a worldclass sprinter they would. [And have](http://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/1813360/chinese-sprinter-first-asian-break-10-second-100m-mark). ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/90 "2015-07-13T19:40:15Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > “It’s TWOO, it’s TWOO!” She wasn’t actually lying. She was merely jumping to conclusions based on results using an insufficient sample size. 🙂 From what I understand, her sample size was more than sufficient. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/91 "2015-07-13T19:43:45Z")
> [@andros](#): > > [And have](http://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/1813360/chinese-sprinter-first-asian-break-10-second-100m-mark). Nice!! Lets see how he does in Rio. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/92 "2015-07-13T19:47:10Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > If anyone wants to actually do the math, it’s really not that complicated. Study the first two sections of this [summary of population genetics equations](http://www.radford.edu/~rsheehy/Gen_flash/ABLE_Workshop/Popgen_Equations.pdf) (PDF!) > > The first one (Hardy-Weinberg equation) simply gives the equilibrium gene frequencies of two alleles for a given gene, if there is no selective pressure: > > p = prob(a1) where a1 is “allele 1” for that gene, and “prob(x)” is the probability (aka gene frequency) of that allele in the population > q = prob(a2) > > Note that p + q = 1. The equation (derived in the PDF based on trivial probability) is: > > p^2 + 2pq + q^2 = 1 > > If we add a coefficient to each of the three terms indicating the relative fitness of that genotype, we get the “fitness equation”, which shows how gene frequencies will change after one (ideal) generation. In practice, generations overlap, but the discrepancy between models that overlap and those that don’t is less than a factor of 2. > > I’ve had some fun fiddling with this equation and the introduction of a new mutation, assuming the population is all one allele, assigning a beneficial fitness to the mutation, and seeing how many generations it takes to dominate in the population. (For my simulation, I assumed the same fitness for one or two copies of the mutation.) The growth is nearly exponential – it looks very exponential at first but peters out as it becomes a significant fraction of the population\*. The startup from a single individual in a large population takes a lot of generations, but once it hits one or two percent, it takes over remarkably quickly, as I recall. > > I have a python script somewhere; maybe I can even still find it. > > This is very tangential to the OP’s question, but posted just in case someone wants to fiddle with the math. As usual, beware the layman’s flaw. Using an equation we don’t quite understand can lead to invalid results! But still I feel it’s illuminating, as long as we don’t try to apply it to too specific a situation, where reality kicks in and frequently kicks us in the butt. > > - I suspect it amounts to the difference between two exponential equations, where at first one term is nearly zero but eventually rises to near equality. Sounds like it may be similar to the S shaped logistic curve which results from constrained population growth. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/93 "2015-07-13T19:51:50Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > If anyone wants to actually do the math, it’s really not that complicated. Study the first two sections of this [summary of population genetics equations](http://www.radford.edu/~rsheehy/Gen_flash/ABLE_Workshop/Popgen_Equations.pdf) (PDF!) > > … > > I’ve had some fun fiddling with this equation and the introduction of a new mutation, assuming the population is all one allele, assigning a beneficial fitness to the mutation, and seeing how many generations it takes to dominate in the population. (For my simulation, I assumed the same fitness for one or two copies of the mutation.) The growth is nearly exponential – it looks very exponential at first but peters out as it becomes a significant fraction of the population\*. The startup from a single individual in a large population takes a lot of generations, but once it hits one or two percent, it takes over remarkably quickly, as I recall. > > I have a python script somewhere; maybe I can even still find it. > … There is a simple program , [AlleleA1 written by Jon C Herron](http://faculty.washington.edu/herronjc/SoftwareFolder/software.html) in RealBASIC, that does much of this. Can also simulate selective pressure and genetic drift. Some of his other programs can similarly be used to look at population genetics issues. I could only hope that Dopers would play around with it a bit before making ridiculous statements on population genetics issues. From its online manual introduction: > [@](#): > > AlleleA1 simulates evolution at a single locus in an ideal population of imaginary organisms. The locus has 2 alleles, allele A1 and allele A2. The user enters values for parameters controlling selection, mutation, migration, genetic drift, and inbreeding. As the simulation runs, the software plots a graph showing the frequency of allele A1 over time. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/94 "2015-07-13T19:58:58Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > There is a simple program , [AlleleA1 written by Jon C Herron](http://faculty.washington.edu/herronjc/SoftwareFolder/software.html) in RealBASIC, that does much of this. That is badass. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/95 "2015-07-13T19:59:43Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Is there a lab somewhere that houses rats and mice with enormous schlongs? Rule 34. I’m just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/96 "2015-07-13T19:59:47Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > There is a simple program , [AlleleA1 written by Jon C Herron](http://faculty.washington.edu/herronjc/SoftwareFolder/software.html) in RealBASIC, that does much of this. Can also simulate selective pressure and genetic drift. Some of his other programs can similarly be used to look at population genetics issues. > > I could only hope that Dopers would play around with it a bit before making ridiculous statements on population genetics issues. > > From its online manual introduction: How would that model be of any use? Reality shows that different groups based on relatedness have different characteristics. To assume that these different characteristics have no real world advantages in real world situations or activities is incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/97 "2015-07-13T21:14:54Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > For analogy, there is far more linguistic variation in the southern tip of Taiwan, the source of the Polynesian culture, than in all of Polynesia (from Madegascar to Easter Island!) Errm, I know they speak a language distantly related to Polynesian, but no-one considers Madagascar to be part of Polynesia. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/98 "2015-07-13T22:01:54Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This is possible, but considering that at different times different groups have dominated various sports, the present breakdown-by-race of various sports doesn’t necessarily mean anything more for human genetics than the early 20th century domination of basketball by Jews. This canard just won’t die, will it? When white people “dominated” basketball there was massive institutional racism. Black players played in their own leagues. In the face of desegregation some owners didn’t want black players anyway because they didn’t think white audiences would want to watch a team with so many black players. It became clear pretty fast that if you wanted to compete you had to get black players because guys like Wilt, Russell, Oscar, etc. were dominating to an extent that won’t ever be seen again. The NBA was majority black in just a couple years, by the end of the '60s. You could get white players to dominate again, just ban all the black players. Who wouldn’t want to watch a league filled with Kevin Loves and Kyle Korvers? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/99 "2015-07-13T22:05:22Z")
Kevin Love is one of the best players in the game and the 5th player taken in the 2008 draft ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906/100 "2015-07-13T22:06:04Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > . . . To say centuries of slavery had zero impact on genetics is ideologically motivated willful ignorance. . . . Nope. It is, instead, demonstrating an understanding of the statistical science of population genetics. The centuries of slavery were simply too short a time to have made a meaningful change in the genetic make-up of the enslaved population. It’s like a creationist demanding to see a cat change into a dog. It doesn’t happen over observable time-periods. Significant evolutionary change requires more generations than slavery lasted. I also pointed out that, during the period of slavery, there were many isolated regions of reproduction. Slaves in New Orleans would not have mixed genes with slaves from Kentucky in any useful numbers. The genetic distribution of all slaves could not possibly have been affected in the same way. The fantasy is a simple-minded, even childish degradation of the reality. (Joseph Goebbels was opposed to the Holocaust – the putting of massive numbers of Jews to death in forced labor camps – because, if the weak died and the strong survived, the program would be breeding “super-Jews.” Goebbels was an idiot.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906.md?page=6)