This summer, Howard University's Dr. Edward Jones fielded a lot of phone calls and e-mails. People wanted to discuss why black people run faster than white people, and why white people swim better than black people. One particularly strange caller, he says, wanted to talk about this subject in connection with bellybuttons, as he had a theory that the majority of black people have outies, and that the protruding flesh helps them run faster.

"It was obviously quite a bit of attention," says Jones.

The attention came after Jones published a paper with fellow academic Adrian Bejan, a teacher of mechanical engineering at Duke University. The paper, called "The Evolution of Speed in Athletics: Why the Fastest Runners are Black and Swimmers are White," inspired numerous articles and an NPR story.

It seeks to explain why there's such a high concentration of successful Olympic sprinters of West African descent, and Olympic swimmers of European descent. The answer, in the paper's opinion, is due to body differences that allow the two groups to excel in their respective categories. "Body differences [are] related to structural density," says Jones.  Many black runners, for instance, have a higher center of balance.

The hypothesis is both interesting and problematic. Theories that suggest racial determinism have almost always been a way to legitimize racist beliefs; it doesn't take much to imagine Jones' paper being used to justify skull measurements. But Jones says there are nuances to his work that put it in a completely different category than bigoted pseudo-science. For one thing, he offers that it's possible that his paper isn't actually, well, true: "It presents a logical explanation. But there could be alternative explanations."

Jones also makes clear that the taxonomy of race is inherently flawed. Not all black people, or even all Africans, for that matter, have the build to be excellent sprinters. The body type he and his colleague believe may provide an advantage for short distance running is found in West Africa, specifically. "The risk  in over-interpreting the results is that there are so many factors," he says. Which could lead to inaccurate stereotyping. Jones himself, who is African American, is an excellent swimmer and former lifeguard.

But nuanced or not, some are bound to have problems with his assertions. And Jones would seem to be in a position to learn firsthand what some of those problems are. He's a relatively new teacher on a historically black campus that was once considered an epicenter of the black power movement. Decades ago, the election of a homecoming queen with an Afro inspired Howard students to break into the spontaneous chant: "Ungawa, Black Power," and there have been plenty of rallies, sit-ins and building take-overs since then.

Jones isn't worried, however, so far his colleagues have done nothing but congratulate him for writing something noteworthy. He knows he isn't out of the woods yet, though. Once the students hear about the paper, "I anticipate there will be some future discussion."

*Photo courtesy of Edward Jones

Author Barbara Ehrenreich and Dedrick Muhammad of the Institute for Policy Studies, in a Saturday Times article on the recession's racial divide: "What do you get when you combine the worst economic downturn since the Depression with the first black president? A surge of white racial resentment, loosely disguised as a populist revolt. An article on the Fox News Web site has put forth the theory that health reform is a stealth version of reparations for slavery: whites will foot the bill and, by some undisclosed mechanism, blacks will get all the care."

A sign spotted at the weekend "Tea Party" event, where protesters – carrying pictures of Obama defaced to look like Hitler or the devil – insist there are no racial undertones to their vitriol: "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THIS SIGN SAYS YOU'LL CALL IT RACISM ANYWAY!"

Washington Post readers, responding to columnist Michael Wilbon, who said yesterday's Serena Williams foot fault call was a really bad one (even if her reaction was too): "Youtube clearly shows Serena stepping on the baseline. Is that a foot fault? Or are rules determined by race. Is Serena allowed to break the rules of tennis because she is African American, a woman, a champion and American or whatever?"

And: "Wilbon, you lie or don't know the rules. Don't play the race card! Find another job!"

Keli Goff, weighing in on the same subject at the Huffington Post, saying one "can't simply blame race." Throw class in there too.

With the Williams sisters it has always been less about what color they are and more about who they are: from Compton, not from Connecticut; wearing wildly colored fashion combos, instead of pristine tennis whites; talking loud and proud of their roots, instead of quietly trying to blend in; rocking braids and cornrows in the early days, instead of joining the ranks of Beyonce and (some of the rest of us) by getting a more socially acceptable, "lady-like" weave....

Yes Serena was wrong.

But so was the lineswoman.

And so is every tennis fan who isn't willing to honestly admit that Saturday's call never would have happened, nor been deemed acceptable for any other player under those circumstances.

But other players are not named Williams.

Who wants to go there on Kanye West and Taylor Swift?

Image via brinux on Twitpic