Economic Factors vs. Physical Factors for JT

It has come to my attention during my research for my Junior Theme question ("Why is the NBA predominantly African-American?) that there is a very common conclusion, or stereotype rather, that quite simply black people are better athletes than white people. Although I do not agree with this, people who do believe this conclusion would say that black people became better athletes from slavery when the stronger and healthier slaves thrived more than weaker ones and hence was an example of evolution. To give their side even more credibility, there is a historical study that supposedly 200,000 years ago the first human population in Africa split, and the population that remained in Africa developed genetic variations increasing muscularity and fitness (paraphrased from NY Times review of Taboo).

First off, it would take an enormous amount of time longer than 200,000 years to create any significant genetic mutations. Furthermore, the genetic makeup of each and every single human on Earth is 99.9% identical, so the variations, if any, aren't much. And to claim that in the period of slavery of Africans (roughly 400-500 years) that any adaptations were made is absolutely preposterous.

So with not nearly enough time for African-Americans to adapt, then how are they better athletes, Casey?
Well, in my opinion, they aren't. I believe that there other factors at play here besides athleticism. I think it's very important to first dissect what is needed to play basketball. Unlike most popular outside sports, all you need to play are sneakers, a ball, and relatively small court. In densely populated inner-cities, there aren't many open fields (for soccer, baseball, football, etc.) if any, however basketball courts are a commodity on nearly every street corner. It's also important to note that in inner-cities it tends to be segregated (especially in Chicago) and African-Americans live in these lower-income big city neighborhoods. So in this case it would be fair to claim that African-Americans in big cities tend to be playing basketball more than higher-income whites for example.

Carmelo Anthony overcame poverty in Baltimore
to become on of the NBA's greatest stars

Having said that, I think that the playing field for all athletes, black and white, is completely even. I do believe that poor African-Americans have a larger opportunity to play basketball as they have narrower options for sports, and in many cases use playing on the court as a means to escape gang violence, drugs, or poverty at home. To prove my point, if you look at many of the superstar basketball players, the trend shows that they have had rough upbringings (Carmelo Anthony grew up in the very poor and dangerous part of Baltimore and Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose each grew up in the south side of Chicago just to name a few).

Stay tuned for more deep blog posts like these.......