Comments

1

I've always been curious about the "marketing" of careers to BIPOC kids. Since they only see successful Athletes and Entertainers, that's the only thing they aspire too? (HUGE generalization but stick with the point)

Kids need more role models. Not just wealthy ones, but citizens working to help others.

Just my 2 cents

2

"Why do black Americans dominate the NBA and the NFL?"

Why are there so few black hockey players? How come the U. S. Olympic team has so few black swimmers? Why are there so few black country singers or more white rappers?

Come on Charles, it is obviously cultural. Of course there are exceptions, but that's it.

It is also worth noting that the quarterback position in the NFL is mostly white. The numbers are growing, but when Kaepernick was growing up, there were relatively few black quarterbacks. Thus his playing as a white quarterback, from a white neighborhood, would have been perfectly normal.

Baseball is the most integrated of the U. S. sports. Again, he would have fit in quite well there regardless of his race.

3

Colin did not become a doctor because he was the 36th player drafted in the 2011 NFL draft. and signed a contract that guaranteed him 3.8 million dollars even if he was cut before his 1st game. 3.8 million or or start taking classes that had nothing to do with his major in Business Management to prep for Med School?

4

@1 -- It is actually the opposite. "Contrary to popular perception, poverty and broken homes are underrepresented in the NBA, not overrepresented." https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/6777581/importance-athlete-background-making-nba

It is possible that the numbers are different for college, but that would still imply the opposite of your theory. Maybe lots of poor black kids are getting scholarships to play basketball, and winding up with college degrees, and no NBA contract. They might aspire to be a basketball player when they entered college, but at some point they will find an alternative. Or, like the NBA, those that come from a wealthier background are more likely to get a scholarship, just like those playing in the NBA.

I don't know about the NFL, but I assume it is similar. Maybe not as much (basketball is just a better sport for those playing it) but similar.

5

@3 -- Yeah, no shit. Of course it was Kaepernick's dream to play in the NFL. It is the dream of a lot of people.

Jeremy Lin played in the NBA for eight years. He went to Harvard. Why didn't he become a surgeon? Or a lawyer? Or a professor of history? Uh, because he had the opportunity to become a professional basketball player. Duh.


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