[lookout123]

my $.02 is that nature vs nurture is the biggest factor here. it isn't about ability, or even necessarily desire - but about what you grew up with. i have no scientific facts or research on this, it's just an idea.

look at sports, for example, black men traditionally dominate that sport. why? is it really that the black man is genetically superior in the needs for this game? or is it more likely that when black americans were moving into the integrated professional sports world, black americans in large numbers lived in lower income, inner city areas. there are many basketball courts available and that is the game they played with their friends from the time they were small children. as black men started becoming famous basketball players, they were chosen as heroes and role-models to the black youth, who spent even more time on the courts until it became a cultural thing. you play what your friends play, and you want to be the best.

hispanics have traditionally been top notch baseball players. again, is it genetics or is it that they've grown up playing the game that their heroes play.

who is presented as a hero to minority children today? athletes and musicians that came from nothing and made it big. children emulate their heroes. that is what bill cosby has been railing against recently. in an lower income area, the role model isn't generally the person who got good grades, got a good job, and moved to the burbs. the only way for that to change is for the parents to instill education as a greater value than athletics or musical ability.

anyway, like i said, it isn't scientific, but it makes some sense to me.