STEREOTYPE THREAT IN SPORT: AN EXPLANATION OF BLACK AND WHITE DIFFERENCES

A common observation is that there are clear differences between Black and White athletes. For example, Blacks are overrepresented in basketball, football, and Track and field, whereas White athletes dominate the sports of golf, hockey, and swimming. One explanation for this phenomenon is the field of physiology, which posits that Black athletes have unique genetic characteristics that allow them to consistently outperform White athletes. Sociology and Psychology are two fields that combat the physiological hypothesis, offering their own hypotheses to explain the Black and White differences in sport. Of these three fields, the role of psychology is relatively new and has received little attention. The current paper addresses the differences among these fields using the literature on stereotyping and stereotype threat to raise new explanations for the Black and White differences in sport, along with suggestions for future research. 2 Stereotype Threat in Sport Stereotype Threat in Sport: An explanation of Black and White Differnces The media, scholars, and public observe clear differences between Black and White athletes. According to Wiggins (1997), theories explaining the perceived differences between Black and White athletes began in 1800s by social scientists, biologists, and the media. They attempted to explain why Black athletes, such as boxer Peter Jackson, dominate sports previously dominated by Whites. Their general conclusion was that “Blacks were physically different from Whites and possessed an accompanying character and temperament that was unique to their species” (Wiggins, 1997, p. 313). This theory persisted throughout the 20 century, via media articles (Kane, 1971) and biological studies (Jordan, 1969, Meredith & Spurgeon, 1976; Metheny, 1939, Tanner, 1964), and continues into the 21 century (Entine, 2000). Today, a simple scan of the Racial and Gender Report Card (Lapchick, 2007) reveals clear discrepancies among the racial composition of American sports. In 2006 the National Basketball Association was made up of 21% White and 75% Black athletes, the National Football Association was 31 % White and 67% Black athletes, and Major League Baseball was 59.5% White and 8.4% Black athletes. Division I male college athletics have similar numbers; in 2005 basketball was comprised of 31.9% White and 57.8% Black athletes, football was 47.7% White and 45.5% Black, and baseball was 83.7% White and 6.5% Black athletes (Lapchick, 2007). In addition, in the last four Olympic Games, all 32 finalists in the 100-meter races are of West African descent (Entine, 2000). These numbers reveal a large overrepresentation of Black athletes in basketball, football, and track and field, but an underrepresentation of Black athletes in baseball. Scientists, journalists, and a large portion of the public accept the physiological hypothesis that Black athletes possess certain genetic characteristics that allow them to excel 3 Stereotype Threat in Sport over White athletes, leading to the overrepresentation of Black athletes in athletics. They contend that Black athletes possess a higher level of athleticism, which consists of speed, reaction time, power, and leaping ability, than White athletes do. Physiologists believe that by possessing a higher level of athleticism, Black athletes are better suited for sports such as basketball and football, even though these sports require high levels of strategy, training, and dependence on teammates to excel. This paper will review the physiological viewpoint and challenge it on several different levels, highlighting the literature on stereotyping and stereotype threat to raise new explanations for the Black and White differences in sport, along with suggestions for future research. Physiological Explanations The biological approach explaining the disproportionate representation of Black athletes in collegiate and professional sports is simple: the Black population has unique biologic and genetic characteristics when compared to the White population. These characteristics enable the Black athlete to surpass the White athlete on the playing field (Kane, 1971; Entine, 2000). In a Sports Illustrated article, journalist Martin Kane reviewed several scientific studies analyzing the dominance of the Black athlete. Kane (1971) drew his arguments from the field of anthropology. He cites J. M. Tanner (1964), who attributes the apparent Black athletic superiority to racially linked physical characteristics, race related psychological factors, and racially specific historical contexts. Tanner (1964) measured 137 track and field athletes, weight lifters, and wrestlers from the 1960 Olympics and 1958 British Empire and commonwealth Games. His findings revealed that Black athletes have longer leg lengths, narrower hips, wider calf bones, and greater arm circumference than their White competitors. For his article, Kane interviewed Dr. Edward E. Hunt Jr., a professor of anthropology at Pennsylvania State University, who noted that Black 4 Stereotype Threat in Sport athletes had a greater ratio of tendon to muscle and a relatively denser bone structure. Kane also interviewed Dr. Robert M. Malina, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Texas, who claimed the elongated body structure among Black athletes enabled them to function as more efficient heat dissipaters relative to Whites. Finally, Kane argued the institution of American slavery weeded out the genetically weak Black population, resulting in the current physically dominant Black population. Based on the research of others, Kane is convinced that there are significant physical differences between Blacks and Whites and these differences are the main contributor for Blacks’ domination in nearly every sport. Within Kane’s arguments is the field of anthropometry, the science of measuring different segments of the body to asses an individual’s athletic potential. Scientists conclude that Black males have heavier bone masses and a more developed musculature than White males. Black males also have larger skulls, heels, and appendages. In addition, Black males have longer arms and legs, while also having a denser and shallower chest. Finally, Black males possess far less body fat than their White counterparts (Jordan 1969; Meredith & Spurgeon 1976; Metheny 1939; Petty & Steggerda 1940). Metheny (1939) suggested that the heavier skeletal structure and developed musculature enabled Black males to excel over Whites in contact sports, such as football, while their longer legs and narrow hips would aided them in running activities. Their long arms also allowed them to outperform Whites in throwing activities. While this data analyzes the adult body composition of Blacks and Whites, Pasamanick (1946) compared the gross motor skills between Black and White infants. The study consisted of 53 Black infants and 99 White infants from New Haven. Every participant completes an examination based on the methodology set forth by “Developmental Diagnosis,” by Gesell and Amatruda in 1941. Pasamanick then used the Gesell Developmental Schedules to analyze the 5 Stereotype Threat in Sport gross motor behavior the infants display. His results showed that Black infants had a significantly higher score than White infants, leading Pasamanick to conclude that Black infants have a definite acceleration in gross motor behavior over White infants. Entine (2000) extends the beliefs of Kane and their predecessors. He argued that because of new scientific technology, researchers understand the biology of the Black athlete better now than ever before. According to Entine, new research indicates that Black athletes have a phenotypic advantage. Through evolution, people of African ancestry developed a distinctive skeletal system and musculature, metabolic structures, and other beneficial physical characteristics. While acknowledging that athletic success is a bio-social phenomenon, Entine asserts the slight genetic differences, no matter how minuscule, play the determining role in elite athletic achievement. He concludes by offering this explanation: social constructs and psychological attributes play a role in athletic success, but racial physical differences create a larger pool of potential athletic stars among the Black population. This larger gene pool creates a higher likelihood that a Black athlete will raise to an elite status, thus explaining Black dominance in the realm of athletics. His evidence is comprised of mainly demographic figures among mainstream sports, specifically the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), and Track and Field (Entine, 2000). Black athletes make up nearly 80 percent of the NBA, while the NFL is 65 percent Black. Contemporary Black athletes dominate track and field, believed by some to be the true test of athleticism. Entine created several tables displaying the dominance of runners from African descent. These tables showed that every commonly run track distance record belongs to a runner from African descent. It has been over 40 years since a non-black runner broke the world record in the 100-meter sprint, and all of the 32 finalists of the ’84, ’88, 6 Stereotype Threat in Sport ’92, and ’96 were from African descent, an impossible coincidence. In addition, there have been dozens of Black sprinters to break the ten-second barrier, but no White sprinter has achieved this feat. Black runners also dominate the middle and long distance events. Entine uses world rankings of the 10K to display Black dominance (p. 37). This table shows that men from nonAfrican descent cannot even crack the top 20 times for this event. Citing this evidence, Entine, along with several others cited above, believe the differing physiological construction of Blacks and Whites lead to the dominance of Black athletes in American mainstream sports. Their evidence suggests there are racial differences in body composition and d