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Taboo : Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It
Explores the genetic, cultural, and physiological roots of black athletic superiority.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 3, 2008
Observes that blacks appear and excel in competitive sports in disproportionate numbers, and examines why this is so and what inhibits us from discussing it. The author seems convinced that blacks are generally more gifted physically because of genetics, but doesn’t provide as much information to back that up as I would have liked. Discusses “why we’re afraid to talk about it” quite a bit, with annoying digressions into the history of evolution, eugenics, etc. I think it may have been this book that first led to my theory that journalists just shouldn't write serious non-fiction books: a writing style that is okay in newspaper or magazine articles is too choppy, superficial, and vignette-heavy to work well in a full-length book. On the whole, a disappointing book.
July 25, 2019
Nothing better to do
The first thing to note is that this is an excellent book, well-written, well-researched, balanced and fair without even a hint of racism anywhere.
The second thing to note is that a taboo is irrational to the point where it doesn't matter what the evidence is one way or the other. The taboo holds simply because it is a taboo, a combination of instinctive and learned behavior that will not and cannot yield to reason or evidence. Consequently it doesn't matter how well Entine's book is written, how rational his arguments are or how well supported by evidence. The taboo won't change because a taboo is the ultimate expression of the kind of behavior we call politically and socially correct; that is, behavior that is judged from the standpoint of whether it is in agreement with the tribal view. It has nothing to do with objectivity or scientific truth. Taboos are beliefs that the tribe deliberately holds regardless of the evidence. That is the whole point. The political and social truth is so important to the tribe that the "actual" or "objective" or scientific truth is secondary. The only way to change a taboo is to change the learned and instinctive assumptions (usually hidden from the conscious mind) on which it is based. In the case of many taboos, murder, for example, the taboo can be re-directed through the coercive and/or persuasive power of the society. But this relearning process only works on young, unindoctrinated minds. The old people will die with their prejudices intact. In this sense Entine's is a book whose influence will not really be felt until the generation growing up today comes of age.
The third thing to note is that it doesn't matter whether blacks are superior in sports or not. Sport is a social construct with arcane rules and an underlying tribal psychology. The purpose of sport is to keep the young occupied with a socially-acceptable channel for their energies, and to allow the herd instinct of the populace some kind of focus for their aggressions and loyalties. Our nearly worshipful attitude toward athletes is an artifact of this purpose. The fact that somebody runs the 100 meters a tenth of second faster than somebody else is of enormous significance in the social construct of sport. But in the greater world such a difference is trivial. The fact that some athletes can sky so high and have such "hang time" as to be able to take a quarter off the top of the backboard "and leave change" is no more significant that the fact that somebody can hold his breath for five minutes, or can stand on his head for a week, or cry real tears on cue into the eye of the camera. These "accomplishments" are significant only to the extent that the tribe makes them significant.
Jon Entine finds it hard to understand why so many otherwise intelligent people cannot open their eyes to the truth of black superiority in sport. But what I think he is missing is that those intelligent people know there are better ways of spending their time than discerning or not discerning a fine distinction of little import, especially when their work--if they are scientists, or their perception, if they are lay people--is liable to be judged not on intrinsic qualities but on the fit with the political zeitgeist. What I find hard to understand how some people can devote so much of their lives to watching other people run and jump, and/or throw, kick and hit balls or each other. Maybe they have nothing better to do.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
The first thing to note is that this is an excellent book, well-written, well-researched, balanced and fair without even a hint of racism anywhere.
The second thing to note is that a taboo is irrational to the point where it doesn't matter what the evidence is one way or the other. The taboo holds simply because it is a taboo, a combination of instinctive and learned behavior that will not and cannot yield to reason or evidence. Consequently it doesn't matter how well Entine's book is written, how rational his arguments are or how well supported by evidence. The taboo won't change because a taboo is the ultimate expression of the kind of behavior we call politically and socially correct; that is, behavior that is judged from the standpoint of whether it is in agreement with the tribal view. It has nothing to do with objectivity or scientific truth. Taboos are beliefs that the tribe deliberately holds regardless of the evidence. That is the whole point. The political and social truth is so important to the tribe that the "actual" or "objective" or scientific truth is secondary. The only way to change a taboo is to change the learned and instinctive assumptions (usually hidden from the conscious mind) on which it is based. In the case of many taboos, murder, for example, the taboo can be re-directed through the coercive and/or persuasive power of the society. But this relearning process only works on young, unindoctrinated minds. The old people will die with their prejudices intact. In this sense Entine's is a book whose influence will not really be felt until the generation growing up today comes of age.
The third thing to note is that it doesn't matter whether blacks are superior in sports or not. Sport is a social construct with arcane rules and an underlying tribal psychology. The purpose of sport is to keep the young occupied with a socially-acceptable channel for their energies, and to allow the herd instinct of the populace some kind of focus for their aggressions and loyalties. Our nearly worshipful attitude toward athletes is an artifact of this purpose. The fact that somebody runs the 100 meters a tenth of second faster than somebody else is of enormous significance in the social construct of sport. But in the greater world such a difference is trivial. The fact that some athletes can sky so high and have such "hang time" as to be able to take a quarter off the top of the backboard "and leave change" is no more significant that the fact that somebody can hold his breath for five minutes, or can stand on his head for a week, or cry real tears on cue into the eye of the camera. These "accomplishments" are significant only to the extent that the tribe makes them significant.
Jon Entine finds it hard to understand why so many otherwise intelligent people cannot open their eyes to the truth of black superiority in sport. But what I think he is missing is that those intelligent people know there are better ways of spending their time than discerning or not discerning a fine distinction of little import, especially when their work--if they are scientists, or their perception, if they are lay people--is liable to be judged not on intrinsic qualities but on the fit with the political zeitgeist. What I find hard to understand how some people can devote so much of their lives to watching other people run and jump, and/or throw, kick and hit balls or each other. Maybe they have nothing better to do.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
July 12, 2009
Easy book to read. The guy argues that race is a valid biological construct, and the differences between races are clear in the higher ranks of some sports (running is the clearest).
The book is very anecdotal and not very scientific (I don't mean that in a bad way--he simply does not follow through on the differing scientific opinions of race and genetics), but I was not put off by that. He does a fairly good job of discussing why modern folk do not like thinking about race. He jumps around alot, and hits a wide range of topics. But answers the question "Why are we afraid to talk about it?" pretty well.
Interesting experiment:
If you were to ask 1000 Americans to categorize themselves as a certain race (black, asian, white, hispanic, native american), could a geneticist place those people in the same categories by simply looking at the DNA? I think the answere is yes (except hispanic). See the following article for a more scientific investigation (and the reason that race is an important scientific construct--medicine).
see
http://genomebiology.com/2002/3/7/com...
Categorization of humans in biomedical research: genes, race and disease
Neil Risch
The book is very anecdotal and not very scientific (I don't mean that in a bad way--he simply does not follow through on the differing scientific opinions of race and genetics), but I was not put off by that. He does a fairly good job of discussing why modern folk do not like thinking about race. He jumps around alot, and hits a wide range of topics. But answers the question "Why are we afraid to talk about it?" pretty well.
Interesting experiment:
If you were to ask 1000 Americans to categorize themselves as a certain race (black, asian, white, hispanic, native american), could a geneticist place those people in the same categories by simply looking at the DNA? I think the answere is yes (except hispanic). See the following article for a more scientific investigation (and the reason that race is an important scientific construct--medicine).
see
http://genomebiology.com/2002/3/7/com...
Categorization of humans in biomedical research: genes, race and disease
Neil Risch
February 10, 2025
Did not enjoy. Could have been interesting but this guy is definitely not the right person to have written it. Possibly the most annoyingly written book I have ever read. This man has a real problem answering the questions he's set out to. At least half the book is only very loosely related to the topic. He spends at least 100 pages talking about observations that black athletes are better than white ones when he told me in the title he was going to talk about the cause of those observations. Frustrating. Also, if this is supposed to be a book about science, why is there quite literally only one chapter that actually discusses scientific evidence of human variation? Even in that chapter he seems extremely reluctant to actually consider the many valid criticisms people have submitted against the papers he cites. A few times I noticed he said things that are just not true, like Neandertals did not have smaller brains than modern humans. I also hate how he dismisses any dissenting opinions about the value of race as a biological concept and of race science as sacrificing scientific merit for political correctness, which I think is strawmanning (ironically he actually accuses someone else of this when they wanted to see real genetic evidence for racial variation, and I thought that was not actually a straw man).
I feel like this man would explode if he had to make pleasant conversation with a social scientist. I am also pretty sure it's still racist to say the n word even if you put it in quotes and pretend someone else is saying it.
I don't care about sports, so I never would have read this if it wasn't assigned reading. Maybe I have been a little harsh because of that. But I also don't care. I feel like he must have written this because he likes when people are mad at him. You're welcome, Jon!
I feel like this man would explode if he had to make pleasant conversation with a social scientist. I am also pretty sure it's still racist to say the n word even if you put it in quotes and pretend someone else is saying it.
I don't care about sports, so I never would have read this if it wasn't assigned reading. Maybe I have been a little harsh because of that. But I also don't care. I feel like he must have written this because he likes when people are mad at him. You're welcome, Jon!
June 27, 2020
I read this book because I was curious about why there are so many amazing black athletes. I wanted to understand why Black athletes dominate so many sports, such as football, basketball, track and field, and they have a significant showing in baseball as well. It turns out that there are physical differences that have adapted over time that have lent themselves to distinct advantages, depending upon the sport. It also turns out that it is a complicated subject.
The author goes beyond presenting the story of blacks in sports and covers black history, going all the way back to human evolution. He presents a comprehensive picture that includes the opinions and data collected from numerous studies. He presents the case for those who see our differences in a positive light as well as those who opine that pointing out differences equals racism and can only be done with harmful intent.
Putting aside the emotions and politics, it turns out that there are differences. For example, the muscle to fat ratio and fast twitching muscles are two physical features that impact our athletic performance and these features vary in different races, but tend to be more prominent in black athletes. I recognize that it takes a lot of hard work and training to become a professional athlete. There are physical traits that may have an impact but it is ultimately hard work that leads to success.
The author goes beyond presenting the story of blacks in sports and covers black history, going all the way back to human evolution. He presents a comprehensive picture that includes the opinions and data collected from numerous studies. He presents the case for those who see our differences in a positive light as well as those who opine that pointing out differences equals racism and can only be done with harmful intent.
Putting aside the emotions and politics, it turns out that there are differences. For example, the muscle to fat ratio and fast twitching muscles are two physical features that impact our athletic performance and these features vary in different races, but tend to be more prominent in black athletes. I recognize that it takes a lot of hard work and training to become a professional athlete. There are physical traits that may have an impact but it is ultimately hard work that leads to success.
April 2, 2018
Why do black athletes of West African extraction dominate the sprint events and those from East Africa the long distance? And why is discussing this so fraught? An interesting account written before the human genome had been sequenced. Hopefully the new genomics will finally silence all those sociologists who claim the reasons are cultural and not genetic. An interesting read
March 31, 2009
Gives an analysis on why blacks are dominating the current sports scene. Would be controversial to many people.
August 8, 2024
This book gives an interesting overview of the biological differences between the races of mankind through the prism of sports and athletics. The author, a self-identified non-racist, follows the facts through to a conclusion that is race realist and incontrovertible to those who accept biological evolution as fact. Taboo was not published by some far-right publishing house like the New Century Foundation or Institute for Historical Review. It was a mainstream work that seems to have attracted little attention or outcry when it was published in 2000. This would never happen today.
August 20, 2021
The majority of sports athletes are Black because they are genetically more athletic. Ok, I'm fine with that. But likewise, there is more Whites and Asians in college and Asians and Whites show a generally higher I.Q. but that is racist science? Something is not clicking here. Everything in the body is genetically determined EXCEPT the brain (which if you haven't forgotten is an organ).
The elephant in the room is what the writer dares not address... which makes this book political not scientific in nature.
The elephant in the room is what the writer dares not address... which makes this book political not scientific in nature.
March 12, 2020
A journalist stumbles into a literature he doesn't understand and manages to undermine his core hypothesis that the concept of race illuminates the nature of sporting achievement.
June 16, 2009
Very fascinating discussion, but poorly organized and repetitive. Still worth the read, just do some skipping.
March 31, 2017
Interesting and well researched- but not very good at crafting a story
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews