Survival of the Fastest

With the Olympics coming up in my home town this week, coverage on it has been dominating the tele and radio waves. Michael Johnson’s documentary made was a refreshing break from the usual reports of how badly we are going to cock up this global event for everyone.

It attempts to establish the impact of the trans Atlantic slave trade on the current crop of Olympic level athletes.

The argument is made that the slave trade was in effect a crude eugenics programme. It has a few steps. First that the ones who were chosen were chosen because they were strong and able bodied. Secondly, the ones who survived the trans atlantic voyage were the toughest. Thirdly, the slave owners themselves would breed slaves like thorough bred horses to try and produce bigger and stronger slave children.

Johnson points out that in the sprinting events especially, not only are the atheletes almost all black, but also that they have slave ancestry. He reaches this conclusion because Jamaica and America’s black athletes are the most successful, and that the vast majority of black people from those countries hail from slaves.

I ask therefore whether you agree with Michael Johnson’s assertion or not? Do you think one of the legacies of the slave trade is the creation of elite athletes today?

This eugenics business is a sensitive topic, and I don’t want anyone to go down the road of implying the insulting notion that black people are stronger but less intelligent as many have throughout history. I just want you to disuss sporting performance.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9379780/Michael-Johnson-Survival-of-the-Fastest-C4-review.html

Johnson points out that in the sprinting events especially, not only are the atheletes almost all black, but also that they have slave ancestry. He reaches this conclusion because Jamaica and America’s black athletes are the most successful, and that the vast majority of black people from those countries hail from slaves.

that conclusion does not follow. blacks from africa are superior to whites from europe. blacks from rogue colonies are superior to whites from rogue colonies and those blacks stem from slaves, so therefor stemming from slaves is the cause.

by the sound of it, Johnson’s an idiot.

I don’t want anyone to go down the road of implying the insulting notion that black people are stronger but less intelligent as many have throughout history.

such as Chris Rock.

Do you think one of the legacies of the slave trade is the creation of elite athletes today?

Black people in Brazil are just as strong as white people, and we have a long tradition of slavery. They are very well-endowed.
It seems like a logical conclusion, though. Perhaps it has some truth in it.

@OmegaDoom

Only the toughest slaves made it as far across as Jamaica, the last stop on the route from Africa. The tiny country won five gold medals at sprint events in the 2008 Olympics, whereas people born today in West Africa rarely succeed as sprinters.

Or basically, there is an indication that they do better on average than their “racially similar” counterparts.

Honestly though, I’d have to watch this documentary before I was willing to comment on it much more than that.

hmm. that would suggest that those arguments about selection and breeding programs etc were targeted at sprinting ability, which seems absurd. in fact if i’d own slaves, sprinting is the last thing i want them to be good at…

i mean why then is it Jamaicans and not African Americans which there are much more of? why then don’t Jamaicans do well at long distance running?

but my biggest problem is that that still does not explain why East Africans dominate middle and long distance. so it’s not the explanation.

Jamaicans have a very sporty culture. Athletics are important in their society, so they produce a lot of good athletes.
The slave trade might have had something to do with that, but their focus on athletics is the primary reason they produce world class athletes.

that would suggest that those arguments about selection and breeding programs etc were targeted at sprinting ability

No, it wouldn’t. Just superior genetics to muscle development (power + efficiency) is enough.

Did you read the article? There isn’t a claim about selective breeding. The claim is that only the physically hardiest could survive the journey across the Atlantic to Jamaica and the Americas, and that this lead to only the best ending up in Jamaica and the Americas.

No, it wouldn’t. Just superior genetics to muscle development (power + efficiency) is enough.

uh, no. that wouldn’t explain why they do so well in particularly that catagory.

Because it’s the mainstream category that requires muscle explosion.

ok. but wouldn’t a slave be bred for endurance?

Some interesting additional info on the subject.

Truth?

Jimmy also said this that is similar to Johnson’s “report”.

Originally posted by OmegaDoom:

ok. but wouldn’t a slave be bred for endurance?

Just a question “tossed” at this “logic” of “breeding”.

If superior physical abilities were “breed upwards” during the “salve years” in a surival-of-the-fittest method….

…wouldn’t subsequental years of LACK OF selective breeding have likewise “watered down” most of the superiority?

Doesn’t it have to work both ways?
Just askin’.

well just imagine how long it takes for blacks in Europe to become white, or whites in Africa to become black…

once the genepool is altered, unless it mixes there’s no reason for it to change back. at least not much.

I think ya misunderstood my implication.
I’m not talking of anything all THAT drastic in the way of genetic alteration.
I’m merely talking about the “watering down” to the level of the “average current black population”. Which, from the appearance of the roster of most athletic teams, still has a predominance of Blacks on them…..making this “watering down process” either slow or starting from a very elevated position or BOTH. Maybe?

Who gives a shit?

Who gives a shit?

Who doesn’t?

Originally posted by Darkruler2005:

Who gives a shit?

Who doesn’t?

This guy.

Originally posted by scoopolard:

Originally posted by Darkruler2005:

Who gives a shit?

Who doesn’t?

This guy.

Doesn’t give a shit, still posts twice to tell us.

Maybe you could give less shits? We’d appreciate it.