Editing Sociology of sport (section)

===Historical racist theories===
Sport has always been characterized by racial social relationships. The first scientific look at race came at the end of the 19th century, when count [[Arthur de Gobineau]] attempted to prove the physical and intellectual superiority of the white race. Darwin's theory of [[natural selection]] was used in service of racism as well. After the athletic ability of black sportspeople was proven, the theory shifted toward physical ability at the expense of intellect.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Patrick B. |title=The Anatomy of Scientific Racism: Racialist Responses to Black Athletic Achievement |journal=Journal of Sport History |date=1998 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=119–151 |jstor=43606920 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43606920 |access-date=1 February 2021}}</ref>
[[File:Arthur_de_Gobineau.jpg|thumb|Arthur de Gobineau]]

Several racist theories were advanced. Black people were athletically able because animals ate all the slow ones.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Olson |first1=James |last2=Roberts |first2=Randy |title=Winning is the Only Thing: Sports in America since 1945 |url=https://archive.org/details/winningisonlythi0000robe_v0p9 |date=1989 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore, Maryland |pages=[https://archive.org/details/winningisonlythi0000robe_v0p9/page/45 45]|isbn=9780801838309 }}</ref> The myth of "[[middle passage]]" posited only the most athletically able of black people were able to survive the [[Atlantic slave trade|slave trade]] and [[plantation]] work.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hoberman |first1=John Milton |title=Darwin's Athletes: How Sport Has Damaged Black America and Preserved the Myth of Race |date=1997 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |location=Boston, Massachusetts |isbn=9780395822920 |pages=194–195}}</ref> The matriarchal theory suggested that [[Father absence|absent fathers]] made black people channel their anger into sports, with coaches becoming father figures. The mandigo theory assumed that the most physically potent black men were bred with the most physically potent black women. The psychological theory claimed that black athletes did not have the intellectual capacity to assume leadership positions in sports. The "[[Jock (stereotype)|dumb jock theory]]" saw black people enrolling on sport [[scholarships]] as they were unable to find success in academia. Lastly, the genetic theory suggested that black sportspeople had more of certain [[muscle]] fibers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sailes |first1=Gary A. |editor1-last=Sailes |editor1-first=Gary A. |title=African Americans in Sports |date=1998 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon |isbn=9780765804402 |pages=190–196 |chapter=The African American Athlete}}</ref>