Black males have denser bones. This helps in athletic activities, but makes them less buoyant when trying to swim.
I heard a military trainer say once that a higher proportion of black recruits, when sent into deep water, sank. That would indicate a physiological difference, perhaps body fat or muscle density.
The last time I brought this up I was deluged with protests which went along the lines of “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m black, and I swim and so do my sisters.”
So I’m just reporting what some guy said. Please don’t hurt me.
Black males have denser bones. This helps in athletic activities, but makes them less buoyant when trying to swim.
When I was a kid I’d sink in deep water, too, when I didn’t move. Oddly, it wasn’t an issue.
As far as swimming lessons costing $$, it’s not that inner city blacks can’t afford it: It’s a question of priorities all ‘round. Not teaching your child to swim because of $$ is total BS.
I will NOT sit idly by and be told that I have to pay for swimming lessons for ‘affirmative action survival lessons’. THAT’s where this sounds like it’s going...
Notice also that the CDC report discusses ‘rates’ and never mentions how many blacks have drowned, plus minimizes the fact that American Indians/Alaskan Natives (AI/AN) had the highest rates, NOT blacks.
The AP piece is a horrible piece of journalism (go figure).
So, for the sake of stating it, the number of blacks <29 cited to have been killed by drowning in 1999-2010 was 4130 (total all races was 20912). Never mind that the <29 statistic is totally useless.
Total number of children of all races killed by guns in 2009 was 503...
Just sayin.
I’ve been told by those who know that they just DON’T swim, don’t like to swim, don’t ever learn, that it’s a cultural thing. It would be a perfect opportunity for a black swimmer to start a public awareness program of getting black kids to take swim lessons every spring. I think lots of people would chip in a few bucks for kids to learn to swim.