Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sport and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It
             Taboo, was written by John Entine. It was published by PublicAffairs in the year 2000 in New York, New York. The version of the book that I had read was the paperback edition, which consisted of 387 pages. The author John Entine is a journalist and Emmy award-winning producer, formerly with NBS and ABC News. Entine also writes on business ethics and brand marketing for newspapers and magazines around the world. His Television Special, "Black Athletes: Fact or Fiction," written with Tom Brokaw, was named the International Sports Film of the Year.
             The purpose of Entine's book was to answer the age-old question, "are those of African heritage naturally better athletes?" Entine wrote this book because in a society in which sport is an obsession, and in which it is obvious sport and race are linked, people have been afraid of approaching the subject of race and sport due to the suspicion they would be labeled a racist. But is there another reason why the percentage of blacks represented in sport out number that of their percentage of society? Entine explores this question as well as many others in a professional and scientific fashion, looking at "both sides of the coin," and uses many scientific references to support his findings.
             Taboo, is tackles the subject of race and sport from many angles. The book covers the scientific evidence of black superiority in sport, a brief lesson in evolution and genetics, as well as, the history of race and sport, to go beyond that of black and white. In my opinion this was the only way to write this book without the wrath of racial criticism. The book begins by explaining why the subject of race and sport has been such a taboo subject through the years. This short sections gives examples of how innocent racial comments said by white commentators are taken out of contex...