January 2002 - July 2006 - The Jerry Quarry Foundation

sloppy) were about the same for all groups. Why do blacks resent these
implications that they are naturally better athletes? It's because historically
they have been categorized as beasts of burden, slaves who were not the same as
humans, and because this implication also suggests they are good athletes (or
dancers or fornicators or construction workers or ditch diggers) and nothing
else, without the brains to do any other kind of work. Even today, there is a
stereotype in the USA of the black male slave being Big Buck and the female a
strapping big girl, with the two of them producing huge, brawny, strong
children. This can happen just as often when any large male and female pair have
a child. The implication is also that blacks do not accomplish much as
athletes because they are good anyway, while whites (or Hispanics or Asians)
have to work hard to achieve what they do. We know this characterization is
untrue. Look at it this way. Massimo, do you agree that Italians are
born strong, athletic, powerful, competitive and determined, any more than
Poles, Germans, English, Australians, Americans, Canadaians or Japanese? That
would be an absurd argument and for it to be true, there would have to be
something in the bodies of Italians that made them superior -- something not
there in anyone else. But we know that is not true. Even the concept of "race"
is no longer accepted among experts because it cannot be defined. As I said,
there is no significant difference among the various "races", but only very
minor variations in hair, facial shapes, colors of skin, etc. Besides, most
American blacks have extensive Caucasian ancestry, like Ali. Let's put
this argument of black superiority to bed, gang. |
|11/25/03 12:32:19
AM|Roadscholarette|Chicago||roadscholarette@hotmail.com||||10|There are less
whites going into competitive sports such as boxing than there used to
be.>Especially boxing, in fact, ~only~ boxing. Boxing is dominated by
blacks, with Mexicans filling in the lighter divisions on the west cost, Puerto
Ricans on the east, and a few Asians in the really light categories. In the
~real~ old days, you're right, lots of Europeans fit into the scraping to get by
category, hence lots of Irish, Italians, Brits, and even some Jewish fighters.
It used to be that boxing was the chance the down and out had to make it big.
It's still that, but it isn't the only kid on the block. Babe Ruth made fifty
thousand a year, while Dempsey and Tunney could have gotten a million for a 3rd
fight. This difference is no longer there. Maybe Holyfield is worth one or two
hundred million, but big time multi-million dollar contracts are routine in the
big four now. Only football compares to boxing in terms of shortness of careers,
and there are a lot more slots to be filled. A guy can get beaten to a pulp and
never score big in boxing, while all pro football players do. Besides, lots of
people just plain don't like to be hit. These fighters mentioned all
had skill to compete at the highest levels and they would sitll be competitive
if they fought today.>True. Most of the would be Basilios,
Klitschkos, Fullmers, Walkers, and LaMottas, have better educations than their
couterparts from yesteryear and less incentive to take up boxing.>Right.
Funny though. Back then, most people didn't go to college, while today, there
isn't much difference between opportunities for a high school grad and someone
who doesn't finish. So, boxing is drawing from people who see even less of a
chance to make it. Sean O'Grady is a doctor, and I think there might be another
grad, but that's it. These are guys who might have gone if they could have,
because they aren't stupid people. Many weren't victims of the School of Hard
Knocks. In many cases, it seemed to go ~after~ them.Muscle definition
and skill don't go hand and hand so just because a black athelete is "cut", so
to speak, this would not make him a better fighter if he didn't have the skill
to go with it.>Oh, totally true. You're seeing a lot of cut fighters
because they're training and eating better, but just boxing per se isn't doing
it, nor do big show-offy muscles have anything to do with punching. My husband
told me about a former Olympic weightlifter, Ray Ellson who fought Victor