In Taboo , Entine wades boldly into these forbidden waters. Entine, who is white, recalls talking with the late Arthur Ashe, the great African-American tennis player, who wrote A Hard Road To Glory, a history of the black athlete. Still, Ashe did not find that explanation totally convincing. I have to believe that we blacks have something that gives us an edge. Taboo is a response to Arthur's challenge.
Athletic competition offers a definitiveness that eludes most other aspects of life.
The decisive variable cannot be found in modern culture but in our genes - the inherent difference between populations shaped by thousands of years of evolution. . . . This is, of course, dangerous territory. Fascination about black physicality, and black anger about being caricatured as a lesser human being, have been part of the dark side of the American dialogue on race for more than a century. Taboo respects these justifiable concerns. Yet, pretending there are no slippery questions does not prevent them from being asked, if only under one's breath. . . .