Black Man Go Zoom

Sometimes writers are sneaky. We’ll write a story about one thing, but we’re really getting at something else entirely. If our readers disagree with us, this is called “dog-whistling.” But if they agree, it’s usually just called good writing.

In my article, What If Black People Are Just Stupid?, I debunked some common themes from arguments about racial IQ differences, but my real point was that the way most people think about race is incredibly (and really quite obviously) simplistic.

For example, I pointed out that while the dominance of Kenyan distance runners is often held up as evidence of genetic differences between black people and white people, it’s far better explained by environmental and cultural factors.

M seemed torn on whether or not this was a dog-whistle.

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M:

What you said about Kenyan athletes coming from particular high altitude tribes is interesting.

Still black people do seem to be physically faster and stronger on average. While asians are weaker and slower on average.

If there are physical differences between races, it’s not much of a stretch to consider there may be genetic differences in intelligence too. After all, the brain is simply the part of the body, just like the arms or legs.

Having said all that, obsessing over it is unproductive and honestly, kind of pointless. If we found genetic differences in the intelligence of different races, what do we gain from this knowledge? Nothing. Only fuel for racists.

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“If there are physical differences between races, it’s not much of a stretch to consider there may be genetic differences in intelligence too. After all, the brain is simply the part of the body, just like the arms or legs.”

It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to consider there may be genetic differences in food preferences. After all, the taste buds are simply a part of the body, just like the arms or legs.

But does anybody suspect that while there certainly may be genetic factors, our food preferences are overwhelmingly more likely to be environmental and cultural?

We understand next to nothing about intelligence and cognition, never mind how genetics influence them. But the function of the brain (aka, the most sophisticated computer on Earth), is so much more intricate than the function of a muscle (aka, a system of levers and pulleys) that assuming that they’re comparable is a pretty big stretch.

Still, let’s stick with muscles for now.

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Steve QJ:

Still black people do seem to be physically faster and stronger on average. While asians are weaker and slower on average.

The fifth fasted 110m hurdle sprint of all time is a Chinese sprinter. The fastest 60m split over 100 metres in history is a Chinese sprinter. Black people are largely absent from most strength and weightlifting sports. Where, you guessed it, Chinese athletes often dominate.

You need to stop thinking in stereotypes and actually look at the world.

But as for the fact that there are lots of big, strong, black people about, especially in America, can you think of anything that happened, say in the last few hundred years, that might explain why black people in particular were prized for their size and strength?

Can you think of any people who might have been motivated to specifically breed black people to be big and strong so that they could, oh, I don't know, work harder in a field or pick up heavy loads? Or just so that they might fetch more money at a market?

"Black people" is a huge, enormously diverse slice of humanity. There are small black people and big black people and all sizes in between. But black people who don't have a recent slavery lineage, surprisingly enough, aren't unusually big or strong.

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M:

Fastest runners in the world throughout history:

Usain Bolt - Black
Justin Gatlin - Black
Yohan Blake - Black
Asafa Powell - Black
Nesta Carter - Black
Mayrice Greene - Black
Steve Mullings - Black
Richard Thompson - Black

You’re saying this isn’t genetic? That it was caused by.. discrimination? Or slavery?

Seems like evidence of genetic differences to me. I can’t imagine environmental could cause such a consistent result.

Of course there is variation amongst racial groups, but we’re talking about averages.

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“You’re saying this isn’t genetic? That it was caused by.. discrimination? Or slavery?”

Two important things here: 

First, slavery/racism gets the blame for so many ridiculous things in 2022, that some people’s default has become to treat any suggestion that slavery has an impact on black people today with incredulity.

But yes, for obvious reasons, black people were bred to be big and strong during slavery. Big and strong black people were worth more money and could do more work and were more likely to survive and procreate, and that has led to more big and strong black people today. This isn’t an oppression narrative, it’s just a fact.

Secondly, and more importantly, M’s response perfectly sums up the weaknesses of what I will henceforth call the “Black man go zoom,” theory of race. 

5 of the 8 athletes M lists (Bolt, Blake, Powell, Carter and Mullings) are Jamaican. Richard Thompson is also from the Caribbean (Trinidad & Tobago). If M were claiming that Caribbean athletes tend to be faster than other athletes, including other black athletes, we’d have agreed long ago. 

Is this correlation partly genetic? I’d bet a lot of money that it is. Although I suspect it also has something to do with Jamaica’s world-class sprinting programs and their disproportionate spending on finding and nurturing young talent and the fact that Jamaican sprinters are treated like rockstars. 

But the point is, extrapolating this out to all black people makes no more sense than going to Germany and saying, “Gee, white people sure do like to wear lederhosen.” Or better yet, going to Switzerland and saying, “Look! What more evidence could you need that white people are genetically better at skiing?!”

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Steve QJ:

Fastest runners in the world throughout history:

Great. Now do tennis players. Or swimmers. Or weightlifters. Or javelin thowers. Or skiers. Or speed skaters. Or cyclists. Why are "black people" genetically better at sports, but only a few sports? Is it possible that there are other factors at play than "black man go zoom"? How does this fit into your theories about IQ?

I could just as easily replace "black" on your list with "tall" or "right-handed" or "brown-eyed." I'm so tired of this inability to see past a simple causation/correlation fallacy. But let me put it very simply for you:

People with brown skin are not all the same genetically. Some people with brown skin are more genetically similar to you than they are to other people with brown skin.

Genes determine atheltic ability in particular sports. Of course. They also determine skin colour. They also determine which is your dominant hand. They also determine your height. They also determine a million other things. You only think one of those things is meaningful in this context. Why is that?

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Human beings are always going to find something to divide themselves over. People tell me this all the time. If not skin, it would be eye colour or height or the position of the bumps on our skulls. 

I don’t believe this is true. 

We used to torture left-handed people into writing with their non-dominant hand. We grew out of it. We used to think gay people would tarnish the sanctity of marriage. We grew out of it. We used to kill each other over our conflicting religious beliefs. We…okay, that one’s still a work in progress…

My point is, that even if we can’t grow out of our tribalism, we can at least choose meaningful tribes. Skin colour is not meaningful. Sexuality is not meaningful. Gender expression is not meaningful. Too many people fail to understand this point simply because they’ve never really thought about it. Which is why I try to sneak it in whenever I can.