I’m an avid curler. Yes, that funny sport from Scotland where people slide rocks down a sheet of ice, and others chase after them with brooms.
The curling club I belong to is quite diverse: rich and working class, young and old, men and women, with Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Asian Indians, Asian Asians … but no blacks. The curling club is based at a country club that has black members – it’s not exclusionary – but none of them curl. No blacks have attended any of the curling demonstrations that are frequently held, despite quite a bit of promotion, and the club’s location in a racially integrated middle class community.
When there’s a bonspiel, with curlers from around the US and Canada playing in a tournament at our club, none of the players are African-American or African-Canadian. In all the photos and media coverage I’ve seen of rinks (teams) and draws (games) at other curling clubs and events around the world, I’ve never seen a black curler on the ice.
While there are black golfers, black hockey players, and black skiers, I’m convinced there are *no black curlers playing at either a club or tournament level. None, anywhere on the planet. This got me thinking … what are the “whitest” sports out there – those with the least amount of participation by blacks – and why are they that way?
[QUOTE=elmwood]
I’m an avid curler. Yes, that funny sport from Scotland where people slide rocks down a sheet of ice, and others chase after them with brooms.
[/QUOTE]
Chasing after them with brooms? I’m not sure you’re doing it right…
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal]
How does that work, exactly?
[/QUOTE]
Nobody knows, exactly, but just like how curling rocks spin in the opposite direction of how thrown objects usually spin on a flat surface, there’s research being done at the University of Manitoba to discover why.
Why does “white = not black?” Where do Asians come into this?
[/QUOTE]
Because it works out linguistically. Some people often simplify into an “us” and “them” racial or cultural perspective and then retrofit convenient terms for it.
[QUOTE=elmwood]
Because if I posted “What are the least black sports?”, I’d probably be flamed by pizzabrat.
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But I haven’t even posted in months.
Besides, a bizarre and curious interest in which sports have the fewest blacks is slightly less flame-worthy than your strange definition of “whitest”. Slightly.
[QUOTE=groman]
Because it works out linguistically. Some people often simplify into an “us” and “them” racial or cultural perspective and then retrofit convenient terms for it.
[/QUOTE]
So “white” would essentially mean everyone except blacks because, to elmwood, Asians, Indians, etc. are a part of “us” but blacks are a part of “them”?
