Question: Stereotypically, why are asian people incredibly smart and black people very good at running? (I don't mean to offend anyone)

Suzi Gage answered on 22 Jun 2011:

Hi @himmsharon
Although these are stereotypes, I don’t think it’s anything to do with being asian or black specifically.

We are all a product of our genes plus our environment. Gene distribution is slightly different in different groups of people, so there may be a small influence of genes, but I think it’s much more likely to be to do with the environment people live in.

In Asian culture, there is sometimes lot of pressure on children to achieve great things at school and with their education (so my Chinese friend told me anyway – she’s written a blog about being a child of pushy Chinese parents but it contains swear words so I probably shouldn’t post it on here!), so this may be why it seems that a lot of asian people are incredibly smart. It’s important to remember though that there are plenty of asian people who aren’t smart, and plenty of non asian people who are really smart!

In a lot of parts of Africa, there is not the same public transport systems or travel infrastructure that we have here, and not the same culture of sitting still a lot in our jobs, so it may be that African people are faster than us (or better at running anyway) because they do a lot more practise than us! Also, when they train they are training in much harder conditions than we have in the UK. It’s a lot hotter and drier in most of Africa, which puts more strain on the body when you run, and means you have to work harder. I run myself (not very well!) and I definitely find it much much harder on a nice sunny day than on an overcast breezy day where the wind helps keep you cool!

I don’t think your question is offensive, and I think it’s a good one, so well done for asking it! People are scared to say anything which may be taken as racist, but different people ARE different, both between and within races.

The important thing to remember is that just because there are these stereotypes, it doesn’t mean that everyone of one race behaves in one way, which is completely different to everyone of another race. This definitely isn’t the case!

I hope this answers your question, I’d love to know what you think about what I’ve said!