Why can't black people swim?

Question

Last week all the seniors in our class went to Myrtle Beach. We are about half white and half black, all in all about 40 of us. When we got to the pool, not a single black person would get in. We were there for a week, and during that whole time, I never saw a single one of them get wet. When we were all horsing around throwing each other in the water, they all left, and one black girl almost had a fit when my friend pretended like he would throw her in. I didn't want to ask them, because they take it the wrong way. I asked my mom and she says they are missing a bone in their ankle that helps with swimming. I don't think that is true, but there must be some explanation.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

I am not too sure.

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

TRU

Answer 2

our do, silly

Source(s):

Tell your mom they said we could not be president either; something about our ankles!!!

Answer 3

yes they can swim, sorry to inform you

Answer 4

because their hair gets messed up.. thats why they wear shower caps.. well atleast i think thats why they didnt get in..

Answer 5

this makes me laugh,, people on here are gonna say ur rascists but its a legimate question. hah

Answer 6

there isn't one explanation for a whole 'people.' that's racist to think that black people don't swim. obviously they can.

Answer 7

wtf

Answer 8

I can. But our hair is easily to get messed up, sometimes we use "I cant swim" for an excuse.

Answer 9

ive seen black people swim maybe they just didnt want to swim or didnt know how

Answer 10

perhaps thats just a strange happening that they all didnt want to, doesnt mean all black people cant swim, by the way i bet you you'll get a comment about labelling them as a colour, personally i see nothing wrong with it lol

Answer 11

like we go get our hair WET. oh please you can forget that

Answer 12

i can swim learned when i was 14

Answer 13

there hair gets messed up, if they straighten their hair and they get it messed up too many times, they will have to get it straightened again, and it is expensive.

Answer 14

I really don't know, but my mom (she's 58) said that a lot of black people can't. I do think it may have something to do with their hair and messing it up, I don't think the ankle bone thing is true though.

Historically, people of African descent had no need to swim, as most lived in the desert (thought not all), so their bodies may have adapted but i dunno.

Answer 15

they have really week ankles so its harder to swim, they dont have a bone missing. Thats why you dont see to many of them in hockey cuz the ankles cant stand on the skates for too long

Answer 16

dont believe your mom or anyone whos says your racist. your not being racist, your being observitive. they probably just dont want to get in and their friends would get in with them and they feel loserish and akward. like this one time, i was walking home from the park in flip flops, short shorts, and a tank top, and i passed this HUGE black group of people all dressed in formal clothes. the looks they were giving me were like 'what is SHE doing here?' and i bet the kids dont want that awkwardness

Answer 17

im black and i swim fast noone in my class can beat me wanna race

Answer 18

Funny.IM black and I can swim.

Source(s):

Took Lessons for 4 years.

Answer 19

majority of black people can't just get their hair wet and smack some mousee on it an be good to go, like many white people can. i'm black, and i can swim extremely well, but i'd never mess up a hairdo i had just payed money for, for a few seconds to get in a pool that random strangers have swam in all day.

Answer 20

If you spend allll day once a month gettting your hair done perfectly, you would say "I can't swim" too!

Answer 21

because most black people dont know anyone with a pool and dont take lessons because they dont have the money.

Answer 22

Lol ive never been into swimming, used to take lessons in primary school but i was crap at it.

but yeah there are some good swimmers out there who happen to be black, Move on!!

Answer 23

LMAO to what your mom said tell your mother that's not true.The black people you met never took the time for swimming lessons or didn't find it important. I must say that most Africans now how to swim and teach theme selves to do so. I'm African black and once a week I go to a pool to take laps.

edit: user Knightinburntamor you made a very good point, very funny.

Answer 24

Black people have enough sense not to climb in pools full of other people's sweat and urine. Just a guess but it seems the wisest choice.

Answer 25

LOL! Your mother is hilarious!! Anyway the black kids at your school probably didn't swim just to fit in with each other. Maybe they thought it was a "black thing" and just gave in to the stereotype. Stupid, but it's possible. I'm sure some of them could swim. I can swim too btw, even though I'm not a fan of getting my hair wet. (It takes a lot of effort to keep it straight and water doesn't help). Oh and Tim Duncan, a black baskeball player, used to swim professionally... WE CAN SWIM.

Source(s):

<--Black person.

Answer 26

i swim really good and i'm black.

Answer 27

One black lady once answered this. I will quote her here.

"It's a matter of interest. I don't know if you know many black people, but if you did you would probaly find that many black woment spend a lot of time making sure their hair looks nice which can cost up into the hundreds. Swimming is for the most part a social activity at first. Meaning people don't usually swim alone especially when learnining. So, if the black women aren't in the water, you probaly won't see a whole lot black men in the water. This is not by any means the only reason... only one of the reasons you don't see black people in the water and the one I'm most familiar with.

It's a matter of health and beauty. Generally speaking too much water especially clorinated is not good for black hair. It tends to dry it out and cause breakage. It also tends to dry out the skin which means we have lotion up more.

There are tons of other reasons too. It's a matter of time and money.There a black single mothers who have to work who don't have the time or the money teach or pay for the swim lessons. Children can't go near water by themselves especially if they can't swim so....

It's a matter of cultural and exposure. Many blacks who are willing to take extra care of hair and skin, who have the money and time, generally aren't exposed to how much fun swimming is until later in life because of the above reasons.

Finally, many black children grow up with more singing, dancing, football, cheerleading, church groups and other activities that aren't so good i.e. drugs etc instead of being exposed to tennis, swimming, golf (until recently), and other expensive lessons.

It has little or nothing to do with genetics.

I hope this helps."



As you can see it is mostly societal influences with very little if any medical influences. Vast majority of people who own pools are Caucasian. This doesn't mean that Blacks are oppressed from owning pools but it is greatly a societal influence.

It is no secrete the the clicks in society plays a major upbringing. Most blacks are neighbors with Blacks, most Hispanics are neighbors with Hispanics, most Asians are neighbors with Asians and most Caucasians are neighbors with Caucasians. We each have unique cultures and lives that influence us. We are different and I am thankful for that. If everyone was the same life would be dull beyond imagination.

As for medical I can see skin and hair color being an issue. People with darker complexions tend to suffer drier skin in many situations. Sunlight, heat and most forms of radiation can burst, burn or dry out cellular structures faster on those with a dark complexion. Testing with nuclear radiation has revealed that skin samples of darker complexion tends to burn at significantly lower doses than that of lighter skin.

Source(s):

It was part of a training class for dealing with a radioactive catastrophe. The charts even had an outward scale stating what the survival possibilities for people caught in the blast. This was the first time I heard of darker complexion skin having this susceptibility.

Answer 28

It's not that black people cannot swim, we can but there are some considerations that as a white person you may not know about:
1. Most black girls have naturally curly hair (like Afros) but wear straight styles, as is the fashion nowadays. When the hair gets wet it frizzes up and you lose your hair style. It takes a lot of effort to get it looking the way it was. Most white people don't now this and would act really ignorant if Shaniqua's hair turned to an afro in the pool!
2. Unlike in white neighborhoods, historically and even now there are few swimming pools in black neighborhoods. So black children did not grow up learning to swim, their parents did not grow up in swim teams. The swimming culture was denied black people. Black people up until recently (1970s) were BANNED from public pools.
3. HOWEVER in African villages, black people swim and frolic in rivers and streams without a care. There are no white people there to ban them from the water and they don't mind the frizzy afros.

Source(s):

personal knowledge of subject matter.