Why?

[Brett A]

Originally Posted by noonereal

Many sports have been closed to blacks for both socioeconomic reasons and racism over the years. (...)

Not to mention the process of self-segregating. What we white people generally fail to notice is that people-of-color live in a white world. And in this country, they always have. I'm sure there are some white folks reading this that feel uncomfortable when they realize they are the only caucasian on a full subway car, or a busy street or crowded market. This is the closest personal experience I can think of that opens some empathy for the experience of living as a minority. But it goes w/o saying that I don't have 400 years of being enslaved to further inform the experience.

One way I can relate this to sports is in cycling. That's a very white sport IMO (and one that I do myself). I meet very few African American road riders, and I've never ridden a mountain bike with a person of color. I wonder if showing up at a group ride as a person of color might elicit the kind of "visitor in a white world" experience I'm talking about.

(---and no, simply having a discussion about race, and asking these questions does not qualify a person as a racist. In order to truly get past it, it's time to talk more about race, not less IMO)