"Yes, its fun to debate but the 'black guys are faster, so there!' argument has been done to death, don't you think?"
White Shogun, as a newbie to this site I must say that one of the reasons I joined the forum was to discuss this very topic and share my thoughts on it. If I ever have as many posts as you I may also find this topic tiresome but it is always going to be one of the main arguments on this site.
My thoughts of this website when I first saw it was that it was not about the speed argument anyway, but about prejudice and denial of opportunity to whites in sports based on their color.
The question is, how did it happen. How did white America come to believe that blacks are faster, superior athletes, Asians and Indians are superior students, Italians are superior lovers and the French are obnoxious jerks. Only kidding about the last two but I want to make several points here that I believe to be contributing factors as to why the Caste system exists and why blacks dominate the speed positions in sports.
1.)BODY TYPE - If you take an average white guy and an average black guy who are both 6 feet tall you will noticethat while they are the same height, their belt line is not the same height. The belt line of the black is higher up. The black has longer legs and a shorter upper body. Well, ifyour legs are what move you, then more ofyour body is doing the moving and less of your body needs to be moved. The person with the bigger upper body has more luggage to carry around. I believe more blacks than whites have that higher belt line, giving them, on average, faster times from point A to point B. Since some of our favorite sports in this country require speed to compete it is easy to see why blacks are given first consideration at the speed positions. Let me add that this faster body type is not unique to blacks, plenty of whites have it also. Whatever the ratio, whites seem to be outnumbered in having the speed body type.
Since people will naturally gravitate to their strengths, the blacks go for speed sports(or positions) and whites do the opposite. Unless you are a fast white or a slow black. It could be said that slow blacks have just as hard a time trying to get playing time at a white position as fast whites do at a black position. Ex. Center, QB, pitcher, catcher. One could make the argument that a fast white kid has a better shot at getting a chance at wide reciever than a slow black guy does at playing QB. I can't think of a single slow, pocket passer who is black and is playing pro or college ball. Only the blacks that bring speed to the QB position get a chance. Charles Johnson was a catcher but he was the best defensive catcher in the game for a while. He had to be that much better to get his chance. The slow black or fast white is totally outnumbered when trying to win a starting position in the Caste system.
2.) THE NUMBERS GAME - My son plays baseball. He is about to start his junior year in high School. He has gone to several showcases. Players pay money to showcase their abilities to local college coaches and pro scouts. It is the new way that colleges look for talent. Anyway, every showcase is almost all white kids. I'm talking 98%. The complete opposite is true in football, according to Jimmy Johnson, ex Cowboys coach. He said that when he coached the Hurricanes hisshowcases/camps were 98% black kids. I'm talking about prospect camps here, not youth camps. With so many blacks in football and basketball the numbers lead you to believe they are better. The baseball coaches I have talked to don't even waste their time trying to find black talent, it just isn't there. I'm sure football coaches feel the same way about white talent. They don't have the time to try and find the great white hope. They just take what is there.
3.) PERCEPTION - The way blacks entered the sports world in this country led us to believe they were better than they really were. Only the best from the Negro Leagues or colleges were signed at first. Let me explain, when Asians and Indians started coming to this country to get college educations we were only seeing the smarter people from these countries. We formed the opinion that they were very intelligent races. But go to India or China or any country and stay a while. You will start to see all the dummies that exist in all races. Weak students, lazy workers, criminals and the sickly. Spend time in an all black community and you will see examples of the complete opposite of the stereotype, respectful kids, concerned and involved parents, dorks and timid, shy people. This country was actually built on a superior group of people. The English settlers and/or Pilgrims who settled here were actually the smartest and what we would call the upper middle class from England. They were tired of being taxed and wanted to escape the King's rule. The original settlers in this country were brave , intelligent andambitious people.It's no surprise that the small population of this country produced the 55 brilliant men who signed the Declaration of Independence.
4.) FEAR - The owners and other white people in power(government) have always used blacks for cheap entertainment. It keeps the blacks from revolting by giving them the perception that they have a reasonable amount of opportunity in this country and distracts them from focusing on education and intellectual pursuits. Why tick off blacks and be called a racist by trying to bring in a white cornerback when people are paying money for your product anyway.