20/20 Hindsight

In Thomas Kida's "20/20 Hindsight" portion of the Framing and Other Decision Snags chapter in his book, Don't Believe Everything You Think, this paragraph struck me for several reasons. The Paul Gallico revelation was stunning, and "the oppressed ethnic group of that time" reminded me of some conversations I'd had with a friend.

At one time, Jews dominated the game. Basketball was primarily an east-coast, inner-city game from the 1920s to the 1940s, and it was played, for the most part, by the oppressed ethnic group of that time--the Jews. Investigative journalist Jon Entine noted that when Jews dominated basketball, sports writers developed many reasons for their superior play. As he states, "Writers opined that Jews were genetically and culturally built to stand up under the strain and stamina of the hoop game. It was suggested that they had an advantage because short men have better balance and more foot speed. They were also thought to have sharper eyes . . . and it was said they were clever" (Entine Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We Are Afraid to Talk About ItNew York: Public Affairs, 2000 pp 202-203). Paul Gallico, one of the premier sports writers of the 1930s, said the reason basketball appealed to Jews was that "the game places a premium on an alert, scheming mind, flashy trickiness, artful dodging and general amart aleckness" (Shermer,"Blood Sweat and Fears," Skeptic8, no. 1 p 47). Notwithstanding the insulting stereotype, I'm amazed how we think we know the cause for something after the fact--even if that presumed cause is quite absurd.

I discovered Paul Gallico's Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris in one of my used bookstore jaunts cutting high school and really enjoyed it. Later on, I picked up Mrs. 'Arris' New York adventures as well. Since I so thoroughly enjoyed these novels, I was caught off guard to learn about his sports writing on Jewish basketball players.

In the discussion with my friend, we were wondering about the stereotype of gay flight attendants. We thought of the long distance pullman trains in earlier america with black porters. There is an exhibit about them--the discrimination, their camaraderie, etc. in Boston's Back Bay Station. At the time, when there was so much discrimination, being a pullman porter was one of the "allowed" jobs for black men, and they gained prestige in their own communities because they could travel and earned a relatively high income with tips etc. Do gay flight attendants have prestige in the gay world as well? I know this might now be the same as Kida's basketball discussion but this is what came to mind.