Harry Edwards is a sociology professor at Berkeley. He says the demographic changes in the major sports are due to the collapse of the family farm. Many white professional athletes come from small towns and rural areas. Meanwhile most black professional athletes come from black neighborhoods in major cities.
What gives this theory credence is the farm crisis of the 1980s and the resulting depopulation of rural areas corresponds to a sharp decline in the number of white players in the NBA and NFL.
Harry Edwards would agree with many Caste Footballers that blacks have no inherent genetic sports advantage over whites. "...There has never been any scientific study linking any supposed physical or genetic characteristics of race to athletic competence."Â "Race is a socially and culturally ascribed status with no roots in biogenetics."
Yet he also said in 1987,
"As farms fail, white athletes from small rural areas are moving to the outskirts of urban areas and CAN'T COMPETE WITH INNER-CITY BLACKS. So the suburbs produce doctors, dentists and lawyers. Meanwhile, in the next seven to 10 years, basketball will be almost all black, football will probably be 75 percent black and baseball 35 to 40 percent black."
But if whites can't compete with blacks, and there are no genetic differences, what is the reason? What gives blacks an advantage?
My theory is sports are as much a social event as they are a competition. Your teammates are your friends. You identify as a 'jock' in the social nomenclature of school. If the teams are largely black, and they don't want you as a friend, or vice versa, then there are plenty of other things to do.
Another theory is the 'glory' positions on teams are often filled by blacks almost by default. Even when the school is overwhelmingly white or Hispanic the running backs, receivers, and DBs are all black. There is also mimicry of Div. 1 college trends with the QB being black as well. HS coaches, being HS coaches, often do not employ the logical strategy of having each player considered for every position. Young persons rarely have an accurate understanding of their abilities. The fast runner will say he's slow. The braggart will insist he's the fastest thing alive. Position assignments are often made on nothing more than a player's interest and a coaches assessment of a player's physiognomy. Test for speed, strength, 'cutting' ability and agility? Nah, too much trouble.
It is not uncommon for a HS basketball team to have four or five black starters despite the school at large being less than 10% black. Creaky old desegregation orders often include an open enrollment requirement allowing students to attend any non-exam school in a district. HS coaches are not averse to recruiting 'superior' athletes.
Another theory is increasing academic and economic competition. Sports are time and energy consuming. Injuries are common, which is very worrying when the injury is to the brain, which can lead to life long cognitive and emotional problems. Football teams in suburban Boston have a hard time competing for players against less injurious sports and time intensive academics and serious hobbies. Middle-class and upper middle-class parents do not see 'major' sports as necessary for a college education. If anything obscure sports offer a better chance for college admissions (but not scholarships as the Ivies and others do not offer athletic scholarships).
Texas is perhaps one of the few remaining areas where white parents view football and sports in general as character enhancing and therefore of independent value.
The Sports Illustrated article gave some attention to alternative and extreme sports, with the implication whites can't compete with blacks in 'real' sports so they run off to the skate park and do tricks.
My theory there is sports are very regimented with often inept coaches screaming abuse and invective. Whites are more individualistic than other races and do not always accept blustering authority with equanimity. At the same time whites are arguably more self directed and disciplined than other races and can therefore train themselves in various endeavors. I don't think Kelly Slater was ever on a 'team'.
Another factor is boredom. Many sports are flat out dull. Of the three C's of success; charisma, creativity and competence, only competence is a major factor in sports a magazine like Sports Illustrated considers important. The industrial age and regimented sports fit perfectly. The same motion, endlessly repeated, was perfected. The throw, the rivet, the shot, the tackle, all actions pre-determined and sanctioned, performed by obedient players and obedient workers.
I think white people, at some level, during all historical periods, prefer challenges which defy score keeping. So maybe that's the ultimate reason why whites are kicking sports to the curb. Boredom.Edited by: Charlie
