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Relevance
This research is interesting in that it speaks to larger issues in the realms of society, culture, and the pursuits of evolutionary science or any other endeavors that attempt to understand why we as humans are the way we are. Within the questions that we are asking, the issue of nature vs. nurture in the construction of attributes and characteristics, perceived or real, among groups of people lead to a multitude of intriguing issues. Understanding where these characteristics and attributes come from (their sources) can enable society and its members to rightly interpret why we as humans are the way we are, both in our differences and our similarities.
Obviously issues of race and its role in how an individual or group is perceived and treated in society come through in this project. For instance, questions of a group’s roles in society and the acceptable professions and personal pursuits that come with being in that group is certainly an issue that is communicated through this project and has been a prominent topic in the history of societies. An example of this is saying, “Well, of course blacks cannot be successful academically. Their talents lie naturally in the realm of sports.” Or, “Asians are so successful because they are just naturally driven to work and succeed.” These statements, which can be found even today fairly consistently throughout society, directly affect the social realities and opportunities for groups of people, whether these effects are seen and implemented consciously or unconsciously. This connection between our project, issues of nature vs. nurture, and the broader issue of social reality and identity for groups of people and individuals is the general link between our project and “real” world issues, giving our project relevance and a greater degree of worth.
There has been a great deal of work done on the topics and questions we are discussing through this project, especially since the emergence of sports as big business in the United States. Harry Edwards, a professor of sociology at California Berkley, appears to be a prominent studier of the connection between sports and race, especially as it relates to African-Americans. He seems, as his discipline of study would imply, to focus on the social environment facing blacks in the United States and how that might shape the distribution and relative success of blacks in sports. Sports Illustrated also, within the past five years, produced a cover story attempting to deal with the issues affecting the relative increase in the participation and success of blacks in big market sports in the latter 20th century. The story involves itself in social, cultural, biological, and genetic reasons for this perceived increase in the participation and success of black athletes in sports.
Materials and Methods
Our experimental design was to distribute 60 surveys around campus in order to gauge people’s perceptions regarding the issue of our project (the naturally superior athlete: myth or reality?). We distributed surveys in classrooms, dormitories, and throughout other social settings. The population surveyed was predominantly a student/professor population with some racial and ethnic diversity. We then took the results of the surveys and created two separate graphs to display the results in a visual format. One graph represents the results of the first question: Do you think black people are better at sports than people of other races? This is a yes or no question on the survey and the first graph represents these two possible answers and displays the difference in perceptions found in the surveys visually. The other graph depicts the results of the second question: If you answered yes to question 1, do you feel this is the case due to… There are three possible answers to this question on the survey, and this graph displays the differences in responses to this question visually.
Our survey questions were designed to briefly and effectively get to the point of our scientific inquisition. We simply wanted to examine public opinion regarding the straightforward first question and then to attempt to understand coherently the reasons behind the individual’s affirmation of blacks as superior athletes. This survey format and content was designed with thought given to applying the results of the survey to both the research we had found on the topic as well as our overall question/objective within the project.
After compiling the results of our surveys, we then qualitatively compared the results from the surveys to the conclusions that we had drawn through our research on the topic. This procedure is fairly subjective in that we are simply comparing quantitative results to our accumulated analysis on the topic, but we saw this as a reasonable approach because of the difficulty in attaining an objective point of view on this particular issue. This is due to the lack of credible “scientific” material on the topic and could be further attributed to the controversial and somewhat political nature of the issue. However, the qualitative approach that we have taken can and does yield interesting analysis on a sensitive and difficult to objectively test research topic. By using the aforementioned approach, we achieve the objective set forth in the project of comparing survey results to research-based findings in order to describe the differences and similarities that we see between public opinion and research material on the topic. This enables us to connect explanations for public opinion in the research materials (media, dominant culture, and economics) to the actual public opinion that we gained through our surveys. This link brings together the two aspects of our project (qualitatively) and creates interesting analysis of the topic.
Finally, our surveys were distributed within the Miami campus area largely because of transportation restraints. We realize that this severe limiting of the surveyed area makes less widely applicable our survey results, however, for the purposes of this project, the selected sampling area seemed relatively appropriate. Furthermore, if more minorities, particularly African-Americans, were included in the people surveyed, that shift in the surveyed population would probably have had an effect on our survey results. We do acknowledge the importance and influence of demographics on our survey results, and see the lack of racial, economic, and generational diversity in our surveyed population as something that obviously shaped our results. Despite these considerations, however, we continued with the project.
Timeline
Week one of the semester: sign up for poster project topics
Week four: submit idea for human nature field project
Week five: gather research materials regarding our chosen project idea
Week seven: submit complete proposal for project (5 pages)
Weeks seven through nine: various meetings and discussions to put together poster presentation (research examined more closely and actual poster constructed)
Week nine: poster presentation in class, first surveys distributed and completed (roaring applause and great fame gained, life has not been the same since)
Week ten through fourteen: surveys distributed and more research gathered and analyzed
Week fifteen: work continues compiling and writing out information in final project format
Blacks in Sports Survey
We are taking a survey about opinions regarding black athletes in U.S. sports today. If you could take the time to answer our questions, it would be very helpful. There are no right or wrong answers, just your opinions. Thank you for your time.
1. Do you think black people are better at sports than people of other races? (Yes or No)
2. If you answered Yes to Question 1, do you feel this is the case due to:
a) their nature (genetics and or their step in the evolutionary process as a race)
b) their nurture (environment: society, culture, class, etc.)
c) a combination of their nature and their nurture
Results
Upon compiling the results of the surveys, we found that the responses to our first question on the survey were predominantly answered ‘yes’ (36 yes, 24 no, see ‘yes and no responses graph’). Secondly, we found that in regards to the second question on our survey, the most prominent answer that the surveyed population chose was answer ‘c’ (a combination of nurture and nature). In addition to this, we found that the answers ‘a’ and ‘b’ were answered at the same level (8 apiece). This information can be found on the ‘explanations’ graph included in the report.
In terms of our original hypothesis, the results of the first question do not go along with our expectations that more of the surveyed population would answer ‘no’ to the first question. However, the results of the second question are in line with our hypothesis that of the people who answered ‘yes’ to the first question, they would most likely cite answer ‘c’ (combination of nature and nurture) as a middle of the road explanation. This is evident in our graphs.
Finally, with the information and statistics that we have gained from our survey results, we could then relate those results to the research that we had done on the topic. This aspect of the project is discussed in the ‘discussion and conclusions’ section of this paper.
Discussion and Conclusions
The idea of natural black superiority in athletics is often seen as a subversive, taboo notion that should not be discussed or expressed in today’s polite culture. However, it is a belief that is widely held (“a recent poll conducted by the Human Genome Society disclosed that 43 percent of the people surveyed believed some races have a natural athletic advantage” (Boyd)) and seems to have an unspoken, yet noticeable, effect on the athletic world and the greater social world. It was of great interest to us to investigate the evolution of these ideas to see how they have changed over the years.
European ethnologists in the 1700’s never questioned in the least Caucasian superiority in both the mental and physical realms. These scientists developed an interesting relationship with the “physically impressive ‘savage’ they could simultaneously admire and patronize” (Hoberman, 36-37). (This attitude is mirrored somewhat in our culture today in which the black athlete’s skills are examined and considered greatly, while little thought is given to the origins of white athletes’ skills (Hoberman, 37).) During the 1800’s the previously unwavering notion of white supremacy began to be questioned. Ethnologists began to ask, “Does civilization vary inversely with strength” (Hoberman, 37)? Studies designed to determine whether or not physical ability diminished with advancing civilization among people began. Many of these studies provided results that still put whites on top in mental and physical categories, but, “despite its obvious appeal to imperial mentality, this kind of physiological chauvinism did not prevail” (Hoberman, 39).
Studies that showed European races as declining in terms of physical ability began to gain popularity. This degeneration theory, which was presented in quite a convincing manner and helped along by the novel appeal of a supremely athletic “savage,” began to gain support in Europe (Hoberman, 39). However, the white supremacist viewpoint that still prevailed in Europe was able to put a spin on this theory that, while granting them physical superiority, still kept blacks in their place. “The superior physique of the primitive became reinterpreted as a sign of inferiority” (Hoberman, 39). The importance of the blacks’ physical abilities became downplayed because it was determined that they did not have mental abilities that could in any way compete with the white man’s. The 1800’s marked the advent of the widespread belief that “muscularity and high intelligence are incompatible traits” (Hoberman, 40).
The idea that brains and muscles are “antithetical traits” (also known as the “law of compensation”) has not changed much since the 1800’s (Hoberman, 54). The stereotypical dumb jock and wimpy nerd are very prevalent characters in our culture. There has been a greater pro-Caucasian spin put on this idea over the last 200 years. For example, the idea that the asset of “leadership” is a race-linked trait that whites primarily hold can be seen in the lack of black quarterbacks in the National Football League (Hoberman, 45). Another popular form of Euro centric chauvinism can be seen in the frequently held belief that a white athlete, were he/she to have the physical capabilities of a black athlete, could beat a black athlete in competition due to the white athlete’s superior intellect. The story of Tarzan is a prime example of this concept. Tarzan is a white man of aristocratic blood who was raised in the jungle and is its most intelligent and athletic inhabitant. This story “asserts the power of good genes – the white racial heritage – to nullify the effects of a “savage” black environment” (Hoberman, 46).
Despite the belief that exists that blacks have genetically predisposed bodies that make them supreme athletes, there is not much evidence to support this idea. Over the years the claims have changed. In the 1800’s many pointed to very dense nerves or sometimes to large nerves in blacks that were uncharacteristic of those of white men and made blacks less susceptible to pain (thought to help in boxing)(Hoberman, 52). In the 20th Century, some individuals have pointed to a vague “natural gift” or advantageous bone and muscle structure in blacks that helps in the athletic arena (Hoberman, 33). Still others look to a longer heel bone that aids in running, a larger amount of “fast-twitch” muscle fibers, or knack for calling on “an inner state of relaxation that is part of their primeval inheritance from Mother Africa” (Hoberman, 34).
Despite all of the claims of blacks’ enhanced physical characteristics that have come up over the years, there seems to be, in all of the research we have done, no steady or conclusive evidence that any such characteristics exist. The claims seem to change every year and every century – one time its superior nerves the next time its extra bones – making credibility difficult. The medical world, in all of its infinite wisdom, has not been able to identify any biological differences betweens blacks and the rest of the human population that would be responsible for some type of athletic supremacy. So why then did 60% of the people we surveyed say that black people are better at sports than people of other races? Why did 22% of those people cite “nature” as the cause of their athletic superiority, while 56% cited a combination of “nature” and “nurture”?
The 22% who felt that blacks are the supreme athletes of the world and that this is due to their genetic makeup are perhaps subscribers to one, or many, of the numerous theories on the enhanced black body type. Chances are they grew up watching a disproportionate amount of black NBA players or professional boxers and, along with the gained information that blacks have “special” nerve endings, came to the conclusion that blacks are simply born better athletes than everyone else. It is an understandable mistake to make in today’s world of racism, misinformation, and biased media. It can also be a damaging mistake that leads to the assumption that blacks are mentally inferior and, thus, dehumanizes them.
The viewpoint of those 56% who said that blacks are better athletes due to a combination of natural and social influences is slightly more complicated. This viewpoint, while it seems to acknowledge the current success of the black athlete in many athletic realms while successfully riding the fencepost on the reasons behind such success, is based on the assumption that black athletes have some degree of genetic physical advantage. The viewpoint does, however, acknowledge the influence of socioeconomic factors on the situation and lot of blacks in this country today. The remaining 22% who said “yes” on the survey, indicated that they felt that blacks were better athletes solely due to their situation in society. This could be construed as a racist viewpoint if these individuals were to take it a step further and say, much like the story of Tarzan did, that white athletes, were they to have the proper upbringing, would be superior athletes to these “nurtured” blacks. We do not feel, however, that this feeling is implied in these people’s answers.
Those who indicated that they do not believe blacks to be better athletes than the rest of the world’s population probably see the reason behind the current successes of black athletes as being a largely socioeconomic one or as not really a significant or truly disproportionate success at all. They could easily cite the disproportionate participation and success of whites in the realms of such sports as golf and hockey to support their answer. The current social system in the United States includes a large population of underprivileged blacks in which many youth feel as though athletics is one of the only avenues out of poverty and, therefore, a great deal of effort and time is put into the pursuit of athletic success. Also, those who voted “no” probably do not buy into the numerous myths surrounding enhanced bodies for black athletes.
All of the research and polling we have done has made us ask more and more questions. Why, in this age of such advanced medical science and well-dispersed conclusive information, are myths of genetic superiority still so prevalent? What can be done to eliminate such myths? How can something like innate genetic differences among races be accurately gauged or tested? Also there is the question of why some people feel that black athletes are superior and other people do not. I think that if we were to do this project again, we might try to do surveys that, while remaining anonymous, took into account the race, economic status, sex, and age of the survey taker. The possibility of being able to determine within what populations stereotypes about black athletes lie, might help us and others work to diminish such fabrications. Ultimately, we would hope that people are armed with facts, and not myths, about the body types and abilities of their fellow human beings. Having proper information can help to keep groups of people from being stereotyped and, consequently, discriminated against and pigeonholed into certain societal roles, sometimes for the benefit of the dominant and ruling culture through the mediums that they control.
Works Cited
Anderson, Talmadge. Black Studies: Theory, Method, and Cultural Perspectives.
Washington State University Press. Pullman, Washington, 1990 (used for the
poster presentation
Boyd, Herb. “Do Black Athletes Have a Genetic Advantage?”
http://pub76.ezboard.com/fnubianblackculturepoliticstheexperience.showMessage
?topicID=39.topic
Hoberman, John H. Mortal Engines. The Free Press. New York, 1992 (used in the
written report)
Hoberman, John H. Darwin’s Athletes. Houghton Mifflin Company. New York, 1997
(used for the poster presentation)
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