"The Sports Taboo"
...e they “lack opportunities elsewhere.” He laments that this seems to be the only acceptable way to talk about the differences in abilities between blacks and whites. After this, he goes on to talk about more concrete explanations than his personal beliefs. He begins talking about the scientific view and he discusses the genetics behind his argument. He switches his argument between personal beliefs and scientific facts so that his idea seems to be backed by some evidence. He presents certain evidence of studies about African’s genetics. These reports state that blacks have advantages like; higher bone density, more blood carrying capillaries and more mitochondria. These differences make them more likely to excel at sports when compared to whites. Gladwell adds to his scientific evidence as he talks about genetic variability. To illustrate genetic variability, he discusses test scores in math for men and women. When one looks at these test scores one would notice that men seem to have more of the higher test scores, and more of the lower test scores. The women, on the other hand, would have scores that fall in the middle. He compares this to blacks and whites and the common results in track races, which shows that black athletes seem to be in the top and bottom percentages while the white athletes fall in the middle. He continues to talk about genetic variability when he discusses DNA. He uses this evidence to talk about how in a single tribe in Africa, there are “nine variants in one strand of DNA.” When you compare that to the rest of the world, “you might find only a total of six variants.” So in other words Gladwell concludes that, “If everyone in the world was wiped out except Africans, almost all the human genetic diversity would be preserved.” By stating this information he gives the scientific side of his argument. After discussing this scientific evidence, he continues his argument by going back and discussing his own beliefs and other non-scientific information. When he looks at recent track races he continues to notice black teams winning over white teams. But he does re-evaluate his findings on a comparison done with Kenyan racers and racers from European descent. When he first talked about it he reported on this study and how it found tha...