From Supermen to Men – A discussion on blacks and natural athleticism
By Mario Bonas
I used the moistness of my sweaty palms to swipe the film of dirt off the soles of my shoes. This ritual was common among ballers on parquet floors to re-establish the squeaky grip of their rubber soles. I stole glances to scan the group of potential adversaries anxious about the hierarchy of skilled athletes I would face and potentially be exposed by. It was a mixed group of players comprised of mostly blacks and few whites. Players adjusted their waist strings on their shorts, tied shoe laces and pulled up socks as the thud of bouncing balls popped around the open gym. The teams were set and I was charged with guarding a white player who was about 5’9”, several inches shorter than my 6’1’ frame. Early in our match-up I was able to score while my stamina was fresh and energy was abundant in my legs. After a few more trips down the court and charged with defensively covering my assigned opponent I had already turned the ball over twice, shot an air ball and allowed my man 8 points. My bruised ego was only massaged once after I committed what I thought was an authoritative block. It turned out to be a foul resulting in two points and one more via an awarded free throw. It was a long afternoon and I was in over my head. This white guy was punishing me! Throughout my life this was not the first time I had come across respectable athleticism and performance by representatives outside of my racial group. More and more reality betrayed the tragic vision of my perceived innately superior natural talents.
Despite my black racial heritage I was a mediocre athlete in high-school and the athletic clubs at our school were among the elite in our district. My lack of confidence deterred me from any hopes of becoming a high-school hoop star or any athletic star for that matter. Instead I casually reserved my hooping with the other dilettantes uninitiated through the systems of organized youth programs by way of try-outs and special selection, for street ball – the entry-level world of bravado, trash talk and hard fouls. But still I avoided despondency by finally putting my hard head and slow feet to use on the football field earning a starting spot on my high school team from my rookie to senior seasons. And thank god. This allowed me to circumvent any side-eyed judgement that would relegate me an outlier to the folkloric like beliefs held by blacks and their self proclaimed natural athletic ability. Much like what the term "white trash" lazily implies I was worried I would be chastised by my peers for wasting my god-given blackness and not using it to my advantage. What was lost on me was the attention athletes paid to their craft and how talent was something that could be manufactured through the elixir of effort. At the very least what was true, was I was no stranger to varsity athletics and possessed a healthy appreciation for athletic competition.
According to Webster’s dictionary the term athleticism refers to the physical qualities that are characteristic of athletes, such as strength, fitness, and agility. A more comprehensive definition would make mention of variables other than those naturally attained. They would examine more nurture based qualities like effort, circumstance, hard work and culture. Comedian Bill Burr joked in his 2008 stand-up comedy special, Why do I do this about Hitler. He said “that was their whole thing, (imitating Hitler) ‘We are going to create a superior race!’ It’s like dude I think we [America] might have already accidentally done that. If you send a select group of people to the gym everyday, for a couple hundred years, it’s going to pay dividends. They’re [blacks] dunking on us everyday!” While Burr’s comments are meant to be taken in jest the reactions to this comedic bit strums a common chord of illusory truth. Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder, CBS sports commentator in 1988 announced publicly his hypothesis on why African-Americans are more athletic than White Americans. He stated quite confidently, "The black is a better athlete to begin with because he's been bred to be that way, because of his high thighs and big thighs that goes up into his back, and they can jump higher and run faster because of their bigger thighs and he's bred to be the better athlete because this goes back all the way to the Civil War when during the slave trade … the slave owner would breed his big black to his big woman so that he could have a big black kid …" Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder, Wikipedia.
Snyder was subsequently fired by CBS, and rightfully so. At the height of the resurgence of black consciousness in the late 80’s and early 90’s Snyder’s comments were condemned as reprehensible and wildly racist, though not in its traditional sense. Known for his NFL commentating and moonlighting as a Las Vegas bookmaker he was no authority on the subject of race. Even though one could argue he may have felt his comments promoted a sense of pride and a celebration of success in the milieu of black athletic achievement the shards of racist subtleties become detectable to the chew. There have been other instances where similar sentiments have been expressed. Take for instance Air Force football coach Fisher DeBerry, who while expressing frustration over his team's slumping record, attributed their loss in part to not having enough black players who and I quote "can run very, very well." What is most disturbing about these positions is how conveniently and succinctly they dismiss the role racial discrimination has played historically and how it has hijacked the pursuits (of blacks) in other career endeavours. These ideas and others like them that endorse biological superiority reinforce the myths that sports and athletics are the most suitable paths of success for blacks. As rapper Biggie Smalls once said, ‘Either you slinging crack rock/Or you got a wicked jump shot!” Moreover, it robs black athletes of their humanity by not allowing them the pride felt or respect one earns from hard work, perseverance, sacrifice and commitment.
Beast Mode and Mamba mentality were not forged on the playing fields by talent alone. If indeed black biology gives them an advantage in sports then why hasn’t it carried over into other sports, like hockey or tennis where representation has been historically low? For me the simple answer is a path of least resistance. Simply put, blacks work harder at sports and specifically those that do not require large financial commitments through private lessons and expensive equipment like tennis or hockey. In other words black over representation in certain sports can be traced back to opportunity. The fruits of those opportunities can be best realized through the channels seen in inexpensive sports where programs and equipment are publicly supported and facilities are free.
Since the days of Jimmy the Greek sports like basketball and football have become more firmly entrenched in Black culture, especially in America. Culture is often overlooked as a variable that explains the over representation of groups of people in certain sports. Natural abilities do not explain the relationships between European football and Italians, Russians in gymnastics, Brazilians in jujitsu and Canadians in hockey. Examining the stereotypes and prejudices that exist inside the microcosm of western society are often hard to hold up when held under the lens of global scrutiny.
While there exists a wide variety of body types and muscle strains, like fast twitch and slow twitch there is no clear cut evidence to suggest one racial group has an advantage over the other. In the niche sport of body building where participants spend years developing swelling muscle bellies through strict diets and in some cases enhanced supplementation, few have made the transition into more mainstream competition where their plenitude of muscle groups would seemingly provide them with an upper edge. Common sense would suggest that body type differences provide some advantages for athletes in certain sports the way height might in basketball, portliness in football, or the way smaller frames would suit horse racing. They are among many factors that influence success but they are also not exclusive to one racial group. Shock journalism and “hot takes” aside, misconceptions still continue to inform the lexicon of modern day sports broadcasters. Too often phrases like “instinctual”, “gifted”, “natural talent”, and “athletic freak” are attached to black athletes while “cerebral”, “high motor”, “mental toughness” and “student of the game” are ascribed to white athletes. However, it is presumable that when white players that include the likes of Larry Bird, Jason Williams aka “White Chocolate”, Steve Nash,Christian McCaffrey, Luka Doncic and Bianca Andressco start or continue to have success in arenas predominately held by blacks, society will be forced to challenge the narrative of race in sports. Maybe then the stance that athletic ability, hard work and intellectual prowess will be, invariably linked to superior athletic performance to all athletes of all backgrounds.
To this day sports continues to be a big part of my life whether as a player, fan or coach. But what has been most rewarding was the opportunity to coach my own kids and their team mates who progressed through the grassroots level with them. Part of my coaching philosophy was to instill in young minds the old mantra that ‘hard work beats talent, when talent fails to work hard’. This wisdom gave me an awareness of the double edged essence of talent and the abundance of benefits that hard-work provides, especially in an area where only a tiny fraction make it professionally. For most especially blacks, sports offers a deceitful path to success. I have never heard Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Deion Sanders or Michael Jordan who all share their African-American ancestry in common, speak to any measure of their success in their respective fields as a result of qualities solely inherent to natural talent. Words that routinely accompany these black athletes are those that aptly describe their relentlessness, competitiveness, love for the game and most importantly, a passion to win. To many, the heroics of black athletes under the bright lights of stardom are like those of super men. But behind the scenes the qualities that belie their superhuman nature are the combination of talent, discipline, hard-work, opportunity and sometimes luck that offer the real gifts that bless the lives of willful men.
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