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Afro-caribbean men tend to be tall and muscular, hence this group isn’t a fertile source of jockeys; but is a fertile source of sprint athletes and heavyweight boxers, in which disciplines white men are pro-rata under-represented: so what?
Irish men tend to be small and wiry, hence this group isn’t a fertile source of sprint athletes and heavyweight boxers; but is a fertile source of jockeys, in which discipline English men are pro-rata under-represented: so what?
Point taken Drone but there are plenty other ethnic groups in the UK apart from Afro-caribbean under-represented. Also, although using Levey’s discussion as my prompt, I wasn’t just talking about jockeys. How many black trainers are there? Owners? Administrators?
I wouldn’t say racism Strawbear, but I would say racing struggles to either appeal to or engage wide sections of society.
For what reason, I am not sure. Maybe a cultural one. Maybe barriers, real or perceived. Maybe there is a kind of institutional racism, unintended but there in any case. Lack of role models may be another problem.
Good to see it being tackled though.Afro-caribbean men tend to be tall and muscular, hence this group isn’t a fertile source of jockeys; but is a fertile source of sprint athletes and heavyweight boxers, in which disciplines white men are pro-rata under-represented: so what?
Funny you should say that, as there have been multiple successful Afro-Caribbean jockeys in the US and Canada, including Patrick Husbands (Barbadian), Jono Jones (Barbadian), and Shaun Bridgmohan (Jamaican). Also Rajiv Maragh who is Indo-Jamaican.
This topic is kind of interesting to me considering the majority of (flat) jockeys in America are of Hispanic origin (we import our jumps jockeys from Ireland, of course
). But up until the early 20th century the star jockeys were in fact mostly black – and until 1865, mostly slaves. The reasons for their near-disappearance from the sport here are complicated and directly related to the history of race and class relations in this country. I highly recommend reading The Great Black Jockeys by Edward Hotaling. http://a.co/6IEiWwR
Also Race Horse Men: How Slavery and Freedom Were Made at the Racetrack http://a.co/57XPZpII would say racing struggles to either appeal to or engage wide sections of society.
Racing is a sport beloved of Dukes and Dustmen with the demographic betwixt those extremes largely ambivalent towards it, uninterested in it or wholly mystified by its atavistic appeal: ’twas ever the case
One might as well be as concerned about the lack of the metropolitan white middle-class elite in racing as one is the lack of (some) BAME
Attempts to ‘market’ our strange old game will never work: you either get it or you don’t: smitten without any prompting or indifferent after having the marketeer thrust his adverts down your throat
‘A day at the races’ remains a popular leisure pursuit but it has little to do with affection towards the sport: a social event rather than a sporting one, and none the worse for that
Interesting books Miss Woodford, thanks
“Afro-caribbean men tend to be tall and muscular …. Irish men tend to be small and wiry”
Perhaps these notions might appear at the front of your thoughts, but many of the world’s best distance runners are of African origin or descent and are small guys – like Mo Farah. I think the short slim Africans outnumber the tall muscular ones, even in the most mixed-race metropolis of the 21st century, London. Maybe it is because many famous men of African descent have been 100 metre sprinters, Heavyweight boxing champions and NFL linebackers. As for the small wiry Irishmen, what about all those Hurlers, Gaelic Footballers, and Rugby men, never mind the the millions of big strong Irishmen who built half the British Empire, and a sizeable amount of the transport structure and impressively huge buildings of the USA. If a body type of greater size, strength and muscularity was an ethnic/geographical attribute surely the women would exhibit the same attribute, which I do not think they do. For every Serena Williams there is a Heather Watson, for every Justin Gatlin there is a Mo Farah.
According to the Washington Post, recent USA government data has the average weight of black and white adult men to be the same, exactly to the pound. The average adult white man is taller than the average black man by one centimetre. Around the world, as better nutrition and health care are becoming more widespread, the average body measurements of the different ethnic and geographical groupings within homo sapiens are converging.
Come on Drone
Come on then Cormack, firstly give me some examples – or perhaps an example – of a marketing initiative that’s proved successful in attracting the uninitiated to the sport; and secondly some sound, concrete ideas of your own
nb. attracting people to the sport, not the racecourse: tankers full of John Smiths and Fosters have proven a fabulous marketing success there, haven’t they?
many of the world’s best distance runners are of African origin or descent and are small guys – like Mo Farah. I think the short slim Africans outnumber the tall muscular ones
Africans might share a black/brown skin but the genetic diversity on that continent is huge: one cannot really correlate those of Somali/Kenyan descent with West Indians (Afro-Caribbeans) most of whom are descended from west-equatorial Africans and have undergone significant admixture with native Caribs, Europeans and Asians
I’m a Quadroon: my 6’4″ muscular grandfather was from Trinidad and his father a freed slave, so I do know a little bit about this
That said, my remarks about ‘big’ West Indians and ‘small’ Irishmen was a trite generalisation emphasised to make a point
Too many hours admiring huge West Indian fast bowlers and tiny Irish jockeys
Fin.
I can never figure out the motivation for posts like this.
Approximately 87% of the population of the UK is white, and that particular demographic has a prolonged and enduring association with racing the thoroughbred around a field in that particular part of the world. Consequently isn’t it entirely reasonable to expect the vast majority of people who participate in that at any level, to be from that demographic as well?
I can say with absolute certainty that if bullock, buffalo or camel racing is ever introduced en-mass into the UK, ethnic groups with stronger cultural ties to these animals will be over represented.
Its also probably fair to say that DESI people considering their percentage of the entire UK population are over-represented in terms of employment in the UK horse racing industry, as are people of Middle Eastern origin in terms of ownership.
Take the point about “black” jockeys being underrepresented, but how many “black” parents raise their kids to be a Seany Leavy over a Raheem Sterling, not many I’d imagine. UK born “black” footballers are massively over represented in the squads of the “big six” Premier League teams i.e the elite level, if you go to any UK professional basketball match I’m sure in terms of participation and spectators, “black” people are over represented too. And why?….simply because as a demographic they have more interest in it.
Of course its absolutely essential that any individual with the right to work in the UK be given the equal right to a fair chance at whatever they choose to do, but after that its best man/woman for the job imo.
But couldn’t racing benefit from fostering an interest in the sport within that demographic Cav?
Maybe it would be an uphill struggle, cost vs benefit and all that.
Given that such a large proportion of successful jockeys & trainers come from established “racing families”, I’m afraid I can’t see this changing anytime soon
But couldn’t racing benefit from fostering an interest in the sport within that demographic Cav?
So selfish Cormack: fk racing benefiting from that demographic, I’d rather ‘that demographic’ you refer to benefited from racing: as it is now, in all its glorious muddled flawed weird laughable inconsequential other-worldly escapist and unassailable splendour
We who get it can’t explain it and don’t worry about it: you who will never get it worry about it because you think you can explain it
At least ATR made some sort of effort by getting Melissa Jones on yesterday’s Sunday Forum. She is far better than Kelleway, although that’s not an especially high bar to clear.
Still awaiting a non-white face, though.
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