Michael Johnson says that slave descendants have "athletic genes"

Whites have "thinking genes". So what?

People are different. Races are different. Move along.

If Michael Johnson is trying to confirm racial differences in athletics and intelligence he sure is doing a fine job.

All I know is that in the future intelligence will be far more important than athletics. I'm sorry but I don't want the average NFL tailback flying spaceships. I definitely don't want Usain Bolt flying spaceships. But its ok when Nicki Minaj sings about spaceships.

Genetics certainly can aid in developing athletic successes, but the bottom line is still hard work and determination.

Dr Herb Elliott, doctor to the Jamaican Olympic team, added: ‘Only the most aggressive and fiercest slaves ended up in Jamaica.’

eh ?

i always assumed that the slaves from west africa were the slowest ones - the ones who weren't fast enough to run away from the slavers

People who say "move along" are obviously afraid to hear the truth.

The truth is that the descendants of West African slaves are the strongest, most athletic people on the Earth. Watch an NFL game. Of course there are outliers in the sampling (Wes Welker), but in general there is no white equivalent to Calvin Johnson. Slaves were bred to be strong by slave traders and slave owners. Although offensive to everybody, the science is basic. Everybody from Agribusiness to Thoroughbred breeders follows a "simple" genetic formula: Allow the strongest to reproduce, and discard the rest. Over time, you achieve a superior specimen.

It's undeniable that the best athletes in the world are descendants of West African slaves. Likewise, the best endurance athletes are from East Africa. In this case, chance and environmental factors have created a group of people with a set of genes that allows them to utilize oxygen at a rate that is astounding.

None of this diminishes their accomplishments. Watching Calvin Johnson stretch out for an impossible catch or being awed by Bolt running 9.58 or seeing a ridiculous 7:20 that will never be broken is a joy to behold.

There is nothing racist in seeing the truth.

Why hasn't he been fired?

Johnson, 44, had a DNA test for a Channel 4 documentary, Michael Johnson: Survival Of The Fastest, to be screened on Thursday night, which confirmed he is of West African descent.

were they expecting a serbo-croat, finno-ugric or mongoloid result ???

I don't believe the "strongest" part necessarily applies. A combination with speed leads to success in many sports, but in terms of pure strength, a case could be made for central Europeans, ie Poles, or even Samoans.

Why is it that only sprinters are considered "athletes" for the sake of the *slave hypothesis*?

Boy you really went out on a limb with that statement.

Running on Empathy wrote:

Genetics certainly can aid in developing athletic successes, but the bottom line is still hard work and determination.

Sometimes it's worth reminding people that they shouldn't let their genetics be the determining factor in deciding their chances of success in athletic endeavors.

Mitt's Celestial Underwear wrote:

Boy you really went out on a limb with that statement.

Running on Empathy wrote:

Genetics certainly can aid in developing athletic successes, but the bottom line is still hard work and determination.

Does Not Believe Himself wrote:A combination with speed leads to success in many sports, but in terms of pure strength, a case could be made for central Europeans, ie Poles, or even Samoans.

How the hell did he fit under the bar?...

This man is the bench press king! Simple as that...

i say he is the best raw bencher of all time, massive as heck, no arch no leg drive, just brute strength!!!...

the "science" is basic? this is the biggest pseudo-science there is. as for the experience of breeders, if they are so good, then why did they breed the taste out of tomatoes while they were breeding them to be a uniform red? answer: they didn't know squat about the genes they were messing with and they eliminated the taste in futzing with the color (see news stories from the past couple weeks). why was Secretariat the fastest ever in the Triple Crown 39 years ago? answer: they don't know squat about breeding. Look to the culture and the training and you get the mass #'s of participants training very hard. Look in the South and you will see huge numbers of youth football players from age 4 or 5 playing constantly with tough coaches and all of the players I saw in Savannah (there would be 11 simultaneous games going on every Saturday in the fall at Daffin Park) were African American. Then you get some Calvin Johnsons and the racists cry race when the observers see the culture that produces athletes like that 1 in a million times.

Though his argument is being made out to be racial, it sounds historical to me.

It doesn't matter that the slaves were black; what matters is that they were -- unfortunately -- subjected to conditions in which only the physically strong would survive.

I think Johnson should have seen that such an argument would be misunderstood in our racist culture, but his argument is not that the black race has some sort of genetic advantage in sport. The argument is that a specific historical event changed the bodies of a particular set of people.

I should add that of course that Johnson's argument is totally speculative and not really convincing, but it doesn't strike me as a racial argument.

Strongest? The East-Europeans dominate weight lifting.

Running on Empathy wrote:

Genetics certainly can aid in developing athletic successes, but the bottom line is still hard work and determination.

Athletic success, especially in speed/power events is about 99% genetics and 1% work ethic.

What gene accounts for the USA's versions inabilities to get the stick around in the relays?

if that's the case, why don't Brazilians dominate sprinting.

Only a fraction of West African slaves ended up in the USA.