A Level Playing Field? Media Constructions of Athletics, Genetics, and Race
Author(s): MATTHEW W. HUGHEY and DEVON R. GOSS
Source: The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science , September
2015, Vol. 661, Race, Racial Inequality, and Biological Determinism in the Genetic and
Genomic Era (September 2015), pp. 182-211
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. in association with the American Academy of
Political and Social Science
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The link between black athleticism and biological
determinism has been wrought with debate. With the
domination of black athletics over white challengers—
such as boxer Jack Johnson or sprinter Jessie Owens—
some began to assert that blacks possessed a biological
A Level Playing
Field? Media
Constructions
of Athletics,
Genetics, and
Race
predisposition toward athletic excellence and that
Darwinian winnowing during chattel slavery's harsh
conditions magnified African American and West
Indian athletic prowess. Despite biological and socio
logical evidence to the contrary, recent mainstream
journalism has collectively advanced the proposition
that black athletic success is the product of little more
than genetic traits. In this article, we examine the
events and ideologies employed to reify a media dis
course of "black brawn vs. white brains." We demon
strate how such a thesis is empirically untenable.
Through an examination of English-language newspa
per articles (N = 292) published in the decade immedi
ately following the completion of human genome
mapping (2003-2014), we examine contemporary
media discourse surrounding athletics, genetics, and
race. We demonstrate how mainstream media narra
tives construct and reinforce racial essentialism and
provide a unique space for racist discourse in an age
dominated by "postracial" and "color-blind" dialogue.
Keywords: race; genetics; athletics; media; biological
determinism
%
MATTHEW W. HUGHEY
and
DEVON R. GOSS
On July
28,England,
2012, the
gaze
London,
for worlds
the Games
of fell
the on
XXX Olympiad. Marketed far and wide, the
Olympics, a modern tradition since 1896, is
billed as a chance to view the world s best on a
Matthew W. Hughey is an associate professor of sociol
ogy at the University of Connecticut. His research
focuses on the relationship between dominant racial
meanings and structures of racism and racial inequal
ity. He is the author of White Bound: Nationalists,
Antiracists, and the Shared Meanings of Race (Stanford
University Press 2012).
Devon R. Goss is doctoral student in sociology at the
University of Connecticut. Her research examines the
color line and racialization in family formation and
processes.
DOI: 10.1177/0002716215588067
182 ANNALS, AAPSS, 661, September 2015
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A
LEVEL
level
gion
PLAYING
playing
or
race
FIELD?
183
field—a
may
rear
place
their
unhampered quest to perfo
lated as "faster, higher, str
marquee event (the mens 1
BBC-produced documentary
questions about race, slaver
Did the brutality of transmined the superior track s
United States and the Cari
Mass
media
Online
wrote,
answered
"African
its
slave
fittest were transported o
Hurst wrote, "history supp
process whereby only the s
transportation process out
1501 to the 1800s" (Hurst 2
Caroline Frost stated, "it s
stronger,
All
of
more
this
testerone-fil
seems
a
bit
obv
But what makes these cla
not exist in a vacuum, but
tions that black athletic suc
posed traits. Recent mainst
that genetics and genome m
mine athletic performance
dangerous and deceptive w
stream media narratives a
assumptions and beliefs th
ing a nuanced media discus
Black
Brawn
vs.
Since at least the Enlighten
tice, rested upon a shared a
cal
superiority
The
of
canonical
whites
works
ove
of
T
Agassiz, George Gliddon, an
natural, biological, and "fix
a paradigm of "scientific ra
African slave trade and Eu
acceptance
NOTE:
of
We
prior
are
of
Darwinian
indebted
versions
of
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this
to
W.
C
manuscr
184 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
published in 1859), many developed racist
German biologist Ernst Haeckel's notion t
ity was a consequence of evolution (Shipm
By 1896, the very same year that the U.
regation in Plessy v. Ferguson, statisticia
Traits and Tendencies of the American Ne
ity, the tendency of the Negro race has be
to a still greater mortality. And in the e
(Hoffman 1896, 176). The "extinction the
physically inferior, and any attempt to impr
thinkers, such as Herbert Spencer and Dar
convinced of European physical superio
selective interbreeding and a program of
rior stock to save the white race from dec
Charles Davenport put eugenics into prac
Evolution (SEE) at Cold Spring Harbor, N
Harry Laughlin formed the Eugenics Reco
bied for racial segregation, immigration r
many U.S. states (Graves 2002).
From physical inferiority to athletic sup
Despite the widespread acceptance of wh
racial science were afoot. In December 19
boxer Jack Johnson as the heavyweight cham
reconsideration of the assumption of non
tenant of racial science. To reconcile the
string of unsuccessful "Great White Hope
ficial lamb in the early-twentieth-century
2005).
Rather than argue for wholesale intellectual, aesthetic, and physical white
dominance, racial scientists and eugenicists began to emphasize whites' moral
and cognitive superiority in contrast to the supposedly vulgar, savage, and carnal
physical characteristics of blacks—a scientific revival of the antebellum notion of
the "black brute." The narrative of "black brawn vs. white brains" slowly emerged
as a prevalent discourse in sports commentary around the world (cf. Carrington
2010). But such a shift was gradual.2 Many still held aloft the banner of white
physical supremacy. By the 1930s, twelve of the twenty fastest 5,000-meter run
ners in the world hailed from Finland (Sears 2001). In 1936 the German writer
Jack Schumacher wrote a staunch defense of Aryan cultural and athletic superi
ority, Die Finnen Das Grosse Sportvolk, in which he penned, "Running is cer
tainly in the blood of every Finn.... Yes, hurry, light-footed through this northern
scenery, for kilometers, for hours on end.... [They] are like animals in the forest"
(cited in Bale 2004, 69). That same year, the Olympic Games were held in Berlin,
where an ascendant Adolph Hitler intended to drive home the thesis of unfet
tered white supremacy with the success of his Aryan athletes. Despite Germany's
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A
LEVEL
PLAYING
FIELD?
185
overall success in the gam
receipt of four gold meda
Aryan athletic superiority.
into
the
breach
followin
Olympic performance, Dea
track team, said, "The Neg
the
primitive
jump
1941, 5-6).
was
a
than
the
white
life-and-death
The backlash against Nazi theories of Aryan supremacy in the post-World War
II era, coupled with the increased frequency and quality of performances by
black athletes in world competitions, provided ample opportunity for the discus
sion of a "natural" or "superior" black athleticism. Moreover, biological and social
scientific paradigms, still entrenched in many of the assumptions and methods of
eugenics, easily refocused on the search for the core essence of physical superior
ity that supposedly lay locked away somewhere within the black athlete s body
(Graves 2005). Accordingly, the British physician James M. Tanner garnered
attention with his book The Physique of the Olympic Athlete (1964); he con
cluded, based on anthropometric measures of 137 athletes from the 1960 Rome
Olympics and other British Commonwealth Games, that significant racial differ
ences were natural. Tanner argued that such differences would enhance the
athletic performance of blacks in sprinting and jumping (Tanner 1964).
However, it was Martin Kane's words in 1971 that generated a firestorm. Then
senior editor at Sports Illustrated, Kane wrote, "there is an increasing body of
scientific opinion which suggests that physical differences in the races might well
have enhanced the athletic potential of the Negro in certain sports" (1971, 74).
One of Kane's strongest allies was James Counsilman, a former United States
Olympic swimming coach, who stated that black athletes were superior to white
athletes in sports that required speed and power because they had more "fast
twitch" muscle fibers (Hoberman 1997).
Soon the belief that blacks possessed differently suited muscles for sprinting,
or the "speed gene," was married to social Darwinist theories about environment,
selection, and slavery. Many began to postulate that the harsh conditions of slav
ery supposedly eliminated weaker and less "fit" Africans and African Americans
from genetic pools. For example, in 1988, CBS broadcaster Jimmy "The Greek"
Synder stated to a local, Washington, D.C., reporter (which was later rebroadcast
on national television), "The black is a better athlete to begin with because he's
bred to be that way. . . . [The] slave owner would breed his big black to his big
woman so that he would have a big black kid" (in Goodwin 1988).3 The outcry
over Snyder's words then prompted NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw to put forth
a 1989 documentary (Black Athletes: Fact and Fiction) that claimed black ath
letes "explode more efficiently off the ground." The producer and cowriter of
Brokaw's documentary, Jon Entine, continued that line of thought in his 2001
book, Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We Are Afraid to
Talk about It, which claimed that "black babies" have a faster maturation than
infants of other racial groups "even when blacks are poorer and eat a less healthy
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186 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
diet" (p. 250). It is within this context and hist
porary works by Hoberman (1997), Epste
lowed suit and resonate with beliefs about b
prowess and whites' genetic predisposition f
2001; Hughey 2014a, 2014b; McCarthy, J
Sigelman 1998).
Between the Lines: Athletics,
For many, sport represents the ultimate col
ing field where only one's training and skil
(e.g., Bucher 1957; Janofsky 1990; Ling 200
and prejudicial beliefs and phenomena are b
bounds (cf. Love and Hughey 2015). Moreov
activity that promotes racial harmony among
such a claim is a bit simplistic.
Racial discrimination and controversy in s
Scholars have long challenged the content
meritocratic institution (cf. Birrell 1989; Co
Washington and Karen 2001). For example,
that National Basketball Association (NBA) g
ers by an opposite-race refereeing crew th
crew, even when controlling for specific pla
Schroffel and Magee (2012) discovered, even
that NBA coaches give greater playing time
League Baseball (MLB) umpires also express
often if the umpire and pitcher are of the s
pate racial bias by throwing pitches that all
(e.g., fastballs over home plate) (Parsons et
Moreover, public interpretation of athleti
cer and rugby is rife with overt and virulent
of racist epithets to the throwing of ba
American basketball was recently rocked aft
aired from both the owner of the L.A. Clipp
Hawks general manager, Danny Ferry (C
The National Football League (NFL) has rece
name of the Washington Redskins—a racia
discussions of the intersection of sport and ra
racist interpretations: Steinfeldt et al. (2010
Dakota Fighting Sioux online forum contain
toward American Indians, while Love and H
stereotypes and assumptions guided how
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A
LEVEL
PLAYING
disciplinary
often
drug
Racial
187
infractions
excused
use
FIELD?
and
of
am
wrongdoing
violence.
genetic
beliefs
amon
Players and coaches also in
field as the result of gen
(2002); Ismond (2003); and C
many
athletes
while
believe
nonwhite
that
success
w
is
Coaches have also employed
performance: they interpr
facilities, and hard work; w
come of natural speed, lon
Turner 2005; Turner and J
genetic
explanations
instance,
"opt
out"
studies
Baker
of
and
sports
indicate
of
like
that
at
Horton
track
one
s
ath
blacks performed better on
physical ability than those
whites showed the opposite
Public
opinion
Broad
hold
Two
public
genetic
polls
found
that
on
opinion
traits
in
biologica
the
seems
that
make
1990s,
one-third
to
one
one-
endowed with more "natur
Price 1997). And in 2001, a
sports ability was linked to
a natural athletic advantage
believed that East Africans
(Gene Media Forum and Zog
Photo elicitation studies sh
speed, limb length, and mu
whereas white athletes' succ
and better coaching and tr
Jackson, and Regoli 2006; J
Butryn 2006). Morning (20
black presence in the NFL
to socioeconomic factors (5
against white athletes (20 p
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188 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
TABLE 1
White and Black Beliefs in Athleticism
Group
Group
Athleticism
Athleticism Whites
Whites
Overall
Overall
Male
Male
9.36
9.36
9.33
9.33
Female
Female
NOTE:
Significance
Significance
Test
Test
Blacks
Blacks
p < p.05
< .05
9.70
9.70
9.72
9.72
9.37
9.37
o
9.70
9.70
Data
from
the
Gener
TABLE 2
White, Black, Male, Female Beliefs in Athleticism
Overall
Overall
Athleticism
Athleticism
White
WhiteMen
Men
Significance
Significance
TestTest
White
WhiteWomen
Women
White overall
9.05
9.57
Black overall
9.36
10.01
White
Whitemale
male
9.07
9.07
9.57
9.57
Black
Blackmale
male
9.35
9.35
10.03
10.03
White
Whitefemale
female
9.06
9.06
9.57
9.57
Black female
9.34
10.02
p < .05
ft
ft
0
a
NOTE: Data from the General Social Survey 2004; N = 2,611.
used to explain white dominance in other sports: "only blacks' presence in a sport
could be explained by biological characteristics, and even their absence from
certain sports could be attributed to their ostensible physical capacities: e.g., lack
of body fat to swim" (Morning 2009,1184).
When we examine attitudes toward athleticism, environment, genetics, race,
and gender from a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population, we
observe striking patterns (see Tables 1 and 2; Figures 1 and 2). Table 1 and
Figure 1 examine white respondents' attribution of black athleticism to environ
mental factors compared to genetic factors. A 1 on the scale means that the
respondent indicated that 100 percent of athletic ability is environmental; 21 on
the scale means that the respondent indicated that 100 percent of athletic ability
is genetic; and 11 means that the respondent indicated that environmental and
genetic causes are equal. Figure 1 is broken down by overall athleticism and by
gender for whites and blacks.
Table 2 and Figure 2 are similar to the latter two, except that they include
respondents' gender. There remain significant differences in the means (p < .05).
In Figure 1, whites rated black male athleticism as significantly more genetically
related, compared to white male athleticism. Figure 2 indicates that white
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A
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PLAYING
FIELD?
189
FIGURE 1
White and Black Beliefs in Athleticism
i Whites
■ Blacks
Female
NOTE: Data from the General Social Survey 2004; N = 2,611. The figure only depicts the
relevant comparison of data between 9.0 and 10.0 on the scale.
FIGURE 2
White, Black, Male, Female Beliefs in Athleticism
1U. 1
I Jl JIJ
» White Men
■ White Women
: J I I M I I
Ç q CEBbMHM , mHEHHHHI , 9HNMMMI , ^ 1 ^ j ^ 1
White Overall Black Overall White Male Black Male White Female Black Female
Athleticism
NOTE: Data from the General Social Survey 2004; N = 2,611. The figure only depicts the
relevant comparison of data between 9.0 and 10.1 on the scale.
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190 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
women rated black overall, black male, and
genetically related than white men did. Ove
belief among whites (especially white wome
success compared to white athletic success.
Other nationally representative data indica
For example, Shostak et al. (2009) examined
a series of broad domains: physical illness,
personality, and success in life. Their analy
tance of genetics for individual differences
attitudes toward genetics-related policies, in
other measures (cf. Leonard 2009; Carringt
tists have long warned that beliefs about ge
will promote "racial essentialism" (cf. Alpe
Nelldn and Lindee 1995), and that black do
most emotionally charged debate pertain
(Washington and Karen 2001, 196).
Common Assumptions Regardin
There are four common assumptions that gene
drives athletic performance—especially athl
is a biologically distinct human group with
resistance correlates with athletic performanc
natural selection; and (4) biology trumps, a
Byrd and Hughey 2015; Graves 2002; Love
Yet each of these assumptions flounders
scrutiny.
1. A race is a biologically distinct group with unique genetic traits
The evidence that humans cluster into smaller clusters of genetic groupings
has very little, if nothing, to do with race. The search for these genetic clusters—
in the age of genomic research—is more an artifact of scientists' beliefs than an
objective finding through unbiased research methodology (cf. Byrd and Hughey,
this volume; Frank, this volume; Graves, this volume). For example, a recent
article in Sociological Theory by Shiao et al. (2012, 67) argues for "the existence
of genetic clusters consistent with certain racial classifications as well as the valid
ity of the genomic research that has identified the clusters." However, this
research is flawed at a conceptual level. It resurrects a "biologically essentialist"
race concept without reference to the evolutionary dynamics that account for the
distribution of the genetic variation we see in the human species. While Shiao
et al. make the point that there are legitimate genetic clusters that are consistent
with certain racial classifications, the problem with such a cluster analysis is that
the findings can be consistent with any racial classification scheme one wishes to
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A
LEVEL
PLAYING
FIELD?
191
find. That is, if we believ
clusters of genetic materi
if
we
believe
there
to
be
fif
of genetic patterns that
(2014) writes in reply to
First,
although
it
is
true
s
S
that
population, the statistical gro
subpopulations that scientists
struct. As their makers readi
on a variety of assumptions, in
data sets used. Second, few pa
seem to find "race" a useful a
DNA-based
clusters,
(p.
203)
Beliefs about the biologi
"self-vindicating" (Hackin
mary decision as to the nu
the
first
place.
Other research validates
tific evidence for East Af
(e.g., fast-twitch fibers, l
levels),
social
variables
(train
factors (mental toughness
finds that they are not u
power. Vancini et al. (2014
in the superiority of Afr
deoxyribonucleic acid, th
(ACE), and the alpha actin
that the genes most stud
ance running (ACE and A
letes. It seems unlikely th
found in other parts of t
foundation, the "existence
sifications" (Shiao et al. 20
tialist
2.
thinking
Disease
First,
a
than
resistance
genetic
a
tena
make
mutation
t
automatically faster, stro
ticular disease necessarily
to suggest that generation
predetermined superior at
populations that have adap
against malaria—a trait
African Americans hold
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192 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
dominated any particular sport over any t
sociologists or biologists, that clusters of hu
to carry particular genetic information. Bu
provide the basis for social distinctions of
selected and defined phenotypes (Fujimura
only makes sense if we forget that any typ
consistent with any racial classification sch
phenomes that allow a certain individual to
correlate with disease resistance or suscept
untenable.
3. Natural selection in 400 years
Eliminating supposedly inferior traits throug
slavery is quite difficult in light of the ma
gene's frequency in a population. For examp
which all variables (social and genetic) are he
sive allele that resides in 50 percent of a g
more than forty generations to reduce it t
then take another ten generations to reduc
2002). The total time to reduce the presenc
percent is approximately 1,500 years (Gr
Atlantic slave trade lasted approximately
brutally oppressive, the "peculiar institution"
thus failing to provide a constant controlled se
slavery are estimated at approximately 15 p
the social behaviors of slaves and slavehold
sum, the Western system of chattel slavery
stant social conditions, or the amount of singu
was slave rape and sexual coercion that int
into the "gene pool") for a genetic selection
4. Biology trumps society
Beliefs based on "natural selection" throug
a static and fixed genetic correlation betw
slaves' social histories. In moving from this sta
biological explanation to the decidedly soci
football, basketball, or sprinting, are simply
Our contemporary moment of black domin
largely by social and cultural reasons (C
remarks,
A slave could have left more offspring by being intelligent, loyal, and honest or by being
sly and morally corrupt. These behaviors might have little to no genetic cause and might
be completely independent of physiological or athletic performance. . . . Properly
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A
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PLAYING
FIELD?
193
understood, success has both
natural selection alone is not
tion of a given population occ
In the end, the social rela
workers, white slave holde
competing interests, insti
temporary social, cultural
quick work of any argum
genetic basis for superior
Data
and
Meth
To investigate the relation
logically determinative ass
of mainstream media nar
cles that dealt with the in
paper articles were gath
(Historical Newspapers f
through Proquest) and ten
domestic circulation num
Constitution, The Boston
The New York Times, The
USA Today, The Wall Stre
We searched these databa
approach: specific expressi
sports. The terms were ch
are thought to excel, as w
to as "proof' of black dom
mutations of at least one
categories:
(1)
"black,"
"Afri
"sprinting," "football," or
egories resulted in forty
(e.g., "black"-"athletic"-"ge
frame is bounded by Janu
sports discourse since the
2003 and the publication o
Human History in May 20
The initial search returne
eliminate
articles
that
did
n
exclusion of 22,023 articl
stories (usually from mul
After the removal of 952
cles from a wide and vari
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194 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
TABLE 3
Search Term Frequency
Search
Search
Terms Terms
Articles (n)
African sports genetic
86
Black athlete genetic
63
Ethnicity sports biology
31
African athlete genetic
28
Jamaican athlete genetic
21
Ethnicity athlete genetic
10
8
African sports biology
Black sports genetic
7
Black sprinting genetic
6
Ethnicity sports genetic
5
African athlete biology
4
African sprinting genetic
4
Black athlete genetic
4
Ethnicity athlete biology
4
African basketball genetic
2
Black athlete biology
2
Black basketball genetic
2
Jamaican sports genetic
2
Black sports biology
1
Ethnicity sprinting genetic
1
Ethnicity basketball genetic
1
Total
292
around the world. See Table 3 for an overview of the search term category
frequencies.
Once the population (N = 292) was established, a three-tier qualitative analy
sis of the data was implemented. First, the newspaper articles were inductively
examined to identify "sensitizing concepts" (Blumer 1954). Second, we applied
a deductively generated framework based on the sociological literature on bio
logical determinism and sports. This approach consists of reflexive movement
between concept development, data coding, data analysis, and interpretation.
Although categories derived from the literature on biological determinism,
sports, racism, and stereotyping, others emerged throughout the study, leading
to constant discovery and comparison. Hence, we did not seek to create a new
theory relating to the study of race, sport, and genetics, but rather "to check and
supplement as well as supplant prior theoretical claims" (Altheide and Schneider
2013, 26). Our approach remains similar to traditional quantitative content
analysis in that it uses predefined categories of analysis in a systematic and ana
lytic fashion. However, we do not seek to examine only the distribution of a
sample across predetermined categories. We aim to uncover unknown but
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A
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195
relevant categories that i
and meaningful represent
play not as "static and inf
to emerge throughout the
Given this epistemologic
applying our deductively
coding scheme into first-
"discourse"
(Altheide
and
levels of meaning that w
larly "common-sensed" a
Altheide and Schneider (2
for discussing a particula
themes or "the recurrin
within the frames and th
within themes).
Each article served as th
mately linked so that, in
one at a time, each was ac
scored a "1" to create over
a total frequency distribu
520 discourse instances, or
average
of
4.66
codes
Findings
Racial outcomes are biological
The most prominent frame (n = 203) of stories that intersect genetics, sport,
and race is a decidedly racially essentialist narrative: "race" exists biologically.
That frame employs three major themes to explain and justify racially stratified
sporting performance: A "race" has specific genomes not shared by other racial
groups. Second, harsh conditions provide "natural selection" by which certain
racial groups are refined and become stronger through the destruction of weaker
and "less fit" genomes from their population. Third, media accounts were pre
sented as coverage that was supposedly objective and unhinged from political or
ideological agendas.
Real genetic differences. The first theme of real genetic differences (n = 191)
relies on several discursive appeals to various causal mechanisms: fast/slow twitch
muscles, body proportion, and testosterone.
Fast/slow twitch muscles. Explanations for black sprinting success were often
in = 63) attributed to biologically preconditioned dispositions for a higher pro
portion of fast-twitch muscles than other racial groups. For example, the
Liverpool Daily Echo [England] remarked that
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per
196 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
TABLE 4
Frames, Themes, and Discourse
Theme
Theme
Frame
Frame
Discourse
Percentage
Racial outcomes are bio
14.5%
logical (n = 203)
13.6%
Real genetic differences
(n = 191)
Fast/slow twitch muscles
4.5%
(n = 63)
2.9%
Body proportion (n = 41)
Testosterone (n = 24)
1.7%
Natural selection
5.9%
(n = 83)
4.6%
Slavery (n = 65)
African descent (n = 43)
3.1%
3.1%
Science and political
correctness (n = 44)
Taboo evidence in = 30)
2.1%
Accusations of racism
1.6%
(n = 23)
Racial outcomes are
5.1%
environmental (n = 72)
Natural environment
3.6%
(n = 50)
Altitude (n = 48)
3.4%
Diet (n = 30)
2.1%
Weather (n = 19)
Resources (n = 43)
1.4%
3.1%
Training facilities
1.7%
(n = 24)
Drugs/doping (n = 22)
1.6%
Coaching (n = 21)
1.5%
2.8%
Pride and ethic (n = 40)
National reputation
2.4%
(n = 34)
Hard work (n = 33)
2.4%
1.6%
No genetic evidence
(n = 22)
0.6%
Exploitation (n = 9)
Race is a social construct
3.6%
(n = 51)
1.7%
Race is still socially
consequential (n = 24)
Frame total: 326
Race is imaginary (n = 8)
Theme total: 514
0.6%
Discourse total: 520
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1,360 (100%)
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Jamaica's sprint success is all
researchers at the University o
found that 70 percent of Jamaic
A, compared to only 30 percent
seems to be a strong, underlyin
to perform like this. (19 Augus
Additionally,
the
Cape
Arg
the dominance of Jamaicans an
world class sprinting has spark
push the limits of what is hum
twitch to slow twitch muscles is
for each contraction as slow mu
more rapidly - making them bet
Body
proportion.
sporting
was
not
Other
simply
a
as symmetry of knees,
force (n = 41). The Cape
could
help
to
explain
why
m
ma
a c
Tim
Jam
that has found a possible re
sprint events for both men
China
not
Morning
only
them
in
are
these
terms
says
cited
athletes
of
circumferences,
height,"
Post
body
[so]
Adrian
getti
type
their
a
an
centre
Bejan,
one
longer torsos, so their centres o
the researchers calculated that
whites have the same advantage
And
in
a
rare
Independent
biologically
on
d
Saturday
Afrikaans rugby players of
freakish genetic make-up"
packs have down the years
of not just black players, bu
Testosterone. Many papers
ing levels of testosterone (n
to whether testosterone ma
recounted that "white spor
black
rivals
have
higher
level
Independent claimed, "But i
Africans have some extraord
outstanding athletes" (5 Oc
Telegraph [England] wrote t
who had survived the tran
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198 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
testosterone, thicker skin and better musc
toughest slaves [who] made it as far across a
from Africa. The tiny country won five gol
Olympics" (6 July 2012).
Natural selection. Dovetailing with the latt
theme of "natural selection" (n = 83) comm
athletic success derived from a selection p
weaker genes from (2) a superior racial gen
Slavery. Many journalists appealed to the
the weaker genes so that a fast, "slave gene
descendants of slaves, compared to the offsp
instance, The Irish Daily Mail wrote,
The theory speculates this gene has been concent
ancestors journey from captivity in West Africa to
conditions. Only the toughest survived. (4 July 20
Three days later, The Daily Telegraph [Aus
of-factly that
the reason black sprinters will dominate in London next month is because they are
descendants of slaves. Winner of four Olympic and eight world athletics championship
gold medals, [Michael] Johnson said descendants of slaves taken predominantly from
west Africa possessed "a superior athletic gene" which enables them to excel at the
sprints, hurdles and horizontal jumps in particular. . . . Whether there is a "slave gene"
as Johnson infers has yet to be proven, but history supports the notion that there was an
inadvertent culling process whereby only the strongest survived. (7 July 2012)
African descent. The question of whether slavery resulted in a Spencerian
"survival of the fittest" culling process hinged on the belief that Africans are or
were somehow more connected to a physically primordial and robust species of
homo sapiens (n = 43). Other racial groups' supposed biological proximity to "the
African," then, was used to explain their fit for athleticism. Accordingly, the
Weekend Australian wrote, "The body form of Aboriginal players is, for evolu
tionary reasons, very close to that of West African peoples (most African
Americans and Jamaicans are of West African ancestry) - the fastest runners in
the world" (4 June 2011).
This primordial fitness of African peoples was often connected to a variant of
emotion or spiritual fortitude, in which African people and slaves were in posses
sion of an "inner strength" lacking in other racial groups. For instance, the
Sydney Morning Herald [Australia] maintained that
the Caribbean island [Jamaica] was the final stop on the Middle Passage leg of the
Atlantic slave trade and the West African men and women who came ashore had some
sort of inner strength, for they survived outrageously high death rates, amoebic dysen
tery, scurvy, smallpox, measles and other diseases that spread through the close-quarter
compartments during the six-month voyages. (11 August 2012)
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political
cor
stated as "common-sensed"
tific method. Journalists o
than political correctness
and
insinuated
that
their
app
were (2) brave enough to w
Taboo evidence. These new
coverage of the genetic bas
ship because of the topics
dered connotations of raci
Daily Mail [London] claime
descendants
of
slaves
from
W
in the Caribbean to slavery dati
... Such talk is controversial, ala
propounded by Nazi scientists in
of people deemed genetically in
Less
than
faster
2012).
than
a
week
white
later,
rivals
Accusations of racism. Journalists, opinion-editorial writers, and scientists
interviewed for these stories often claimed that they were the victims of racist
"witch-hunts" for simply stating the truth (n = 23). In this vein, the Sunday
Express [England] wrote in a cheeky tone,
Guess what? You can now say that black footballers are better than white players because they are. You could never say white players were superior to blacks because that
would have been called racist and have implied notions of inferiority. . . . We can go
further still. It is now acceptable to explain the athletic superiority of black athletes by
pointing out that it is as a result of genetic differences. . . . They are only stating what
we have always known but have not been allowed to say for fear of being accused of
dealing in stereotypes or of being racist, prosecuted even. (5 January 2003)
While the article claims that those appealing to objective science are now
protected from labels of racism, the author took the debate further:
Can we ask why the whites are usually better swimmers than blacks? Can we, moreover,
articulate some other, less palatable truths: Can we acknowledge that black youths are
responsible for the majority of gun and street crime and that it is they who ought there
fore to be targeted without feeling the necessity to point out that the majority of burglars
and conmen are white? All we want is the tmth. It is the only currency that holds its
value and that is good for all time. (5 January 2003)
As was typical of the claims of suffering under the onus of "anti-intellectual
ism," the author then expanded the argument to other racial, genetically driven
"truths." Accordingly, when biologically essentialist and racist claims were made,
the common discursive tactic was to paint society as opposed to the truth, and the
media messenger as the beleaguered prophet of true news. For example, in
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Th
for
200 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
referencing Epsteins biologically essentialis
Examiner [Ireland] wrote that the book "delv
success, but references to the role of genetic
lighting the fuse on accusations of racism. Epst
for trouble" (6 May 2014), while the Wester
that the discussion of the biological reality o
would be marginalized because: "Quite simply
not allow their core prejudices to be challeng
trovertible" (10 March 2005).
Racial outcomes are environmental
The second most prominent frame (n = 72)
of race as defined by environmental variab
themes: First, racial differences in sports are d
ences. Second, various types of resources to wh
access are understood as providing the ability
accounts pointed to national pride and hard
lighted the exploitative elements within the ath
groups to participate and excel in athletics.
understood that genetic explanations did not
discounted genetic evidence in favor of an en
Natural environment. The first theme of n
three discursive techniques to highlight sup
play: (1) altitude, (2) diet, and (3) weather.
Altitude. Explanations for black athletic
attributed to altitude conditions under whic
the Belfast Telegraph [Ireland] explained,
On the environment issue a high proportion of th
ing those in Belfast today, originate from the high a
stretching north into Ethiopia where, training at 2capacity as an athlete's body must get used to the th
with a significant advantage when competing at se
Diet. Articles also called attention to the r
within racialized athletic success (n = 30). Th
discussing Jamaican dominance in sprinting
[Canada] pointedly asked,
Does Jamaican sprinting success lie in yams? Posin
backyard in Sherwood Content, a small town in Tr
at the sensation he caused when the world came calli
to his son's brilliance. It is the yams: the Trelawny y
ing blog posts, web chatter and rumours that the I
investigating if the Jamaican staple of the poor man
2012)
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In this example, yams are
compared to illegal and illic
Weather. Dovetailing with
altitude training in athlet
weather that racialized gro
comes (n = 19). Summing up
ment in understanding and
Daily Dispatch [South Afric
there are factors
racial, that race,
at work
in fact,
which
does
factors such as geography (Eas
distance mnning), diet, weath
2010)
Resources. Related to the last discursive strategy of uncovering environmental
factors at work within athleticism, a number (n = 43) of newspaper articles
pointed to the importance of resources as environmental variables. These
resources include (1) training facilities, (2) access to performance enhancing
drugs, and (3) excellence in coaching.
Training facilities. The newspaper articles (n = 24) understood access to
superior training facilities as an essential component of athletic success.
Therefore, racial athletic performance stratification was explained by superior
training regimes being more easily available to members of a racialized group
over others. The New Zealand Herald made this argument, stating,
Jamaica does an outstanding job of identifying promising sprinters and nurturing them.
Tellingly, Usain Bolt and his teammates have not moved overseas for training, preferring
to remain with their Jamaican coaching team. A recent documentary on Usain Bolt
showed the quality of the Jamaicans' training regime and the excellence of their coaches.
Explanations for success need to focus on social and organisational factors, such as train
ing regimes and investment of resources, not only financial but also social and cultural.
(8 August 2012)
The heart of this argument lies in the organizational and structural compo
nents to success, with articles suggesting that economic investment into facilities
and training grounds has a direct bearing on athletic success. The New Times
[Rwanda] makes this point rather bluntly:
The economic rise of China seems to have directly correlated with her sporting upsurge.
This dominance at the medals table is because of the investments these countries make
in sport. If you don't build swimming pools, you will not have a Michael Phelps to har
vest the swimming medals. . . . Investment is the surest winning way if the medal tally
by China and the U.S. are anything to go by. (10 August 2012)
Drugs/doping. Newspaper articles (n = 22) also suggested that performance
enhancing drugs could be an obvious resource in athletic success, a resource that
had been suspiciously left out of many conversations about racially stratified
athletic performance. The Sunday Business Post [Ireland], discussing David
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202 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
Epstein's book The Sports Gene, stated,
What goes into the making of a truly world-cl
crazed, hype-powered global sporting milieu? We
tempted to reply along the lines of: drugs, drug
or two, plus an unscrupulous coach, a few dozen h
of good luck. That's why, impressive as David E
you can't help feeling tbat there's a gaping hole a
Coaching. Dovetailing with the importanc
environmentally based racial athletic outc
called attention to coaching. Describing w
ming, The Sunday Times [England] point
porary stratification:
British swimming certainly recognises the need t
supported grassroots initiatives. Jo Melchior, th
sentative for Lewisham, says: "The statement tha
For the ethnic minorities there has been a lack
teachers and a lack of decision-makers in impo
2008)
Pride and ethic. A number (n = 40) of newspaper articles pointed to the
importance of pride and ethic as environmental variables. This category includes
(1) national pride and reputation alongside (2) a hard work ethic.
National reputation. A number of newspapers (n = 34) moved away from
specific environmental components as explanations and pointed to the larger and
more abstract idea of national reputation as an environmental cause for racial
athletic success. For example, The Ottawa Citizen [Canada] stated,
Visitors to the Jamaican Amateur Athletic Association website are greeted with a reggae
song featuring the lyrics, "We've been running ever since we came here, many years ago.
Now the whole world wanna know how we running so. They say there must be something
in the air, down there in Jamaica, that Jamaicans run like the wind." Sprinting is to
Jamaicans what hockey is to Canadians and what football is to Americans. (21 August 2008)
In this explanation of athletic difference, national pride is seen as an essential
motivating factor that is able to push some racialized athletes toward success.
This assumption is shared by The New Times [Rwanda]:
The moral support from the home crowd is definitely a decisive factor in the brilliant
performance of the host countries. We saw it in China's Beijing performance; and we are
seeing Britain post her best performance yet in London. Let the psychologists decipher
the details but the motivation that comes with home ground advantage is enormous. (10
August 2012)
Hard work. Although national pride was seen as important, some newspaper
articles (n = 33) placed this feeling of national superiority into a narrative of hard
work and perseverance that allows some athletes to excel. For example, The
Pioneer [India] explained,
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A
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203
The 26-year-old policeman howe
play a major part in the success
country can attain
required. "No, it is
success if they
nothing genet
and train. That is
November 2011)
the
only
sec
No genetic evidence. A num
evidence and pointed general
tors into account when tryin
example, The Times [London
Finding
genetic
variation
between
Small populations have distinct t
their natural environments. Suc
lump together all the diverse po
tion? (11 August 2008)
Similarly,
The
Sydney
Morn
Kathryn North, of the Institute
at Westmead and the University o
in the fast-twitch muscle gene a
cent of European populations an
form of this single "sprint gene
ground and almost all Africans.
Exploitation. Finally, newsp
reasons that underlie athleti
imposed on athletes. For exa
"Whenever we talk of India's spo
ber of boys who actually go on to
boxing, it is even smaller than a
participation in sports is volunt
China. The boys are trained from
similar system of training." (8 O
Race
is
a
social
construct
The final frame (n = 51) esc
tions for differences in rac
social construct. Yet the soc
edged and understood by som
Race is imaginary, but soci
articles (n = 24) utilized a soc
social consequences that unde
cles came closest to a sociolo
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204 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
they embodied the "Thomas theorem": "If
real in their consequences" (Thomas and T
The Herald [Scotland] penned that
results of ongoing research could revolutionise
absolutely confounds the notion that African en
have genetic advantage. It suggests environm
these regions can be used by Caucasians who hav
2009)
In this overview, the scientific accounts were highlighted to emphasize that
Welsh (and white) associations with rugby propel that country (and other "rugby
nations") to succeed, alongside African endurance runners and Jamaican sprint
ers. Put another way, the San Jose Mercury News [U.S.] wrote, "I remain con
vinced that most good white athletes are conditioned to believe at an early age
they'll have a much better chance of becoming a pro football or pro baseball
player, or going far in golf or tennis, than of rising to NBA stardom. As the movie
title said, 'White Men Can't Jump'" (11 June 2004).
Race is imaginary. A second subset of articles (n = 8) denied the prevalent
biological and environmental explanations outlined in the previous two frames.
These articles did more than just supply alternative explanations to genetic dif
ferences; they also challenged popular and taken-for-granted notions of race and
racial identity. The New Straits Tunes [Malaysia] explained,
We simply cannot go around saying that any race is destined by God or nature to be
violent, lazy or backward, no matter what the evidence says. We must believe that eve
ryone has the ability to be peaceful, to be workaholics and to advance in life. . . . Race
is thus a constructed social and political reality. (10 March 2003)
Similarly, The Australian stated,
When we say "blacks" are better at sprinting, we are indulging in an unstated generalisa
tion. "Black" is a term that contains all sorts of variety. To watch a tiny subset of dark
skinned people succeed in a particular event and to infer that this superiority is shared
by all dark-skinned people is to go beyond the available evidence. Even if we were to
redefine sprinting supremacy as a West African trait, we will still confront obvious prob
lems. Not a single sprinting medal has been won at the Olympic Games or the world
championships by Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, the Republic of Guinea,
Liberia, Ivory Coast, Togo, Niger, Benin, Mali, Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana,
Gabon, Senegal, Congo and Angola. Yet these are all West African states. . . . What is
certain is that the very notion of "black" athletic superiority is deeply misguided. (10
August 2012)
Discussion and Conclusion
We demonstrate how mainstream media narratives construct and reinforce var
ied understandings of race, racial essentialism, genomics, and racialist, if not
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205
racist,
understandings
study
is
limited
by
of
a
t
rel
research could reveal how,
tives about race and sport a
grounds. Also, future exam
the search terms and news
Moreover,
the
we
did
discussion
not
of
take
race
ot
tow
include terminological and
nicity, race, and nation; us
both
fears
ciplinary
tinue
of
sporting
fields
along
this
event
such
line
as
of
ep
inqui
The aforementioned limit
vide a unique space for rac
"color-blind," and supposed
these global media account
dominated the discussion.
newspapers for instances o
drastically add frequency t
ing of the newspapers fou
"Lexis Nexis News," and "N
hailing from England and
half (55.14 percent) of the
discussion stemmed from
(n = 25), and Australia (n =
Newspapers of the Unit
Australia clearly dominat
Table 6). However, many o
of
racial
outcomes
ter. Many
as homage
the
as
envir
of the U.S.- and
to being "fair an
interplay
of
genetic
dive
cultural pride are reduced
equal attention to appear e
Additionally, media covera
set up the "racial outcomes
struct" frame, which illum
normism" phenomenon in
against one another (every
does-not-exist-genetically)
status quo—which for mos
ture" (recall Tables and Fig
In terms of the qualitative
nate amount of mainstream
frames (14.5 percent in com
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206 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
TABLE 5
National Origin Newspaper Article Frequency
Country
n
85
USA
England
76
South Africa
28
Canada
25
Australia
24
Ireland
16
Scotland
14
India
5
New Zealand
5
China
3
Malaysia
3
Japan
2
Cayman Islands
1
Kenya
1
Nigeria
1
Pakistan
1
Rwanda
1
1
Singapore
Total
292
that racially unequal sporting outcomes are biologically derived. The claim that
races exist biologically is based mainly on genetic sampling of geographically
distant populations. This technique demonstrates genomic clustering into spe
cific groups by gene variants known as alleles. If we sample geographically distant
parts of a continuum and ignore areas between the samples, we will find only the
alleles in the groups for which we searched—which is more of an artifact of the
groups we construct in our methodological technique than proof of the existence
of discrete racial groups. When this mistake is coupled with outmoded beliefs
and assumptions about natural selection and the primordial construction of
"African" bodies, it promotes a seductive and easy explanation for contemporary
black success in sports, such as sprinting, or even Dutch-descended Afrikaners'
domination of rugby in South Africa. With these assumptions, the causal mecha
nism of such racial difference is hidden away in the genes. Protection of this
narrative then is evidenced in a media tone whereby journalists are the defenders
of inconvenient, scientific truths against a cabal of Left-leaning academics who
obfuscate reality with their political and ideological desires for the social con
struction of race. Unfortunately, the aforementioned media themes that con
struct race as biological are either ignorant of the actual data and diversity of
research, or engage in willful avoidance.
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TABLE 6
Frame Coding Frequency by National Origin Newspaper
Racial
Racial Outcomes
Are Biological
Race Is a Social
Outcomes Are
n
USA
54
England
63
Environmental
Construct
n
n
USA
33
USA
21
England
19
England
10
South Africa
19
South Africa
6
South Africa
3
Canada
17
Canada
2
Canada
3
Australia
20
Australia
2
Australia
4
Ireland
8
Ireland
2
Ireland
4
Scotland
9
Scotland
2
Scotland
5
India
2
India
1
India
New Zealand
2
New Zealand
1
New Zealand
China
2
China
Malaysia
2
Malaysia
Japan
1
Japan
Cayman Islands
1
Cayman Islands
1
Nigeria
Pakistan
Kenya
Pakistan
1
Pakistan
1
Rwanda
1
Rwanda
Singapore
1
Singapore
203
Japan
Cayman Islands
Nigeria
Nigeria
Rwanda
Total
Malaysia
1
1
Kenya
Kenya
China
Singapore
72
The second frame showcases the positioning of mainstream media accounts
away from biological explanations for racially stratified athletic outcomes. As
biological accounts for athletic difference have failed to be supported by evi
dence, particularly in the post-human genome era, environmental factors have
become supported as the new deterministic answer—the articles that rail against
the genetic explanations for sporting differences certainly evidence this shift.
Within these environmental explanations, however, the mechanisms of race are
recoded as cultural traits. Regrettably, the aforementioned media themes that
construct racial differences as environmental in nature often failed to recognize
either the social underpinnings of the environment or the social construction of
race itself. Accordingly, this absence enabled an overreach of the environmental
explanation for racialized sporting outcomes, which often recreated and reified
"race" as either a biologically or culturally essentialist group.
The final frame utilizes a social constructionist understanding to interrogate
biological and environmental explanations for racial sporting success. While this
frame was most in line with both sociological and biological evidence, it was by
far in the minority in that the frame appeared in only fifty-one articles, and often
appeared in only a line or two that offered up as a counterpoint to race as a
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1
51
208 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY
biologically extant category whose genetic t
and failure.
These findings indicate that we cannot isola
"race" concept as only an issue of nonwhite
of "black brawn and white brains" indicates
posedly high-functioning white cognitive abi
would only invite and enable more symbolic
we rationalize and reproduce inequality in a
Notes
1. The title borrows from Herbert Spencers phrase "surviv
2. It is important to note that after Johnson lost the heav
1915, another black boxer was not allowed to fight for the t
3. Jimmy "The Greek" Synder's comments received acc
ologies across the spectrum. For example, on the San Fr
Talking on January 15, 1988, Huey P. Newton (cofounder o
"reeling on the comments of Jimmy the Greek last Friday,"
I thought the comments were pretty accurate. I think th
reproductive survival success, you have to reproduce in or
four hundred years of slavery, given the worst food, the
would select out the weaker gene lines. And that's why we
just about every area we are given an opportunity to part
4. Scholars estimate a range of 350 to 600 slaves per ship, r
Americas, thus ranging from 25,000 to over 42,000 voyag
among all demographic categories, young adults experienc
males died at about twice the rate of females (Graves 200
behavior, of both slaves and slaveholders (rather than the
of slaves), is a much better explanation for morality rates.
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A
LEVEL
Bucher,
PLAYING
Charles
FIELD?
A,
1957.
209
Sports
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