Racist Symbolism in Sports

Ok this may seem far fetched to some but interesting none-the-less!

This was presented to me in the form of a 'joke' however some symbolism stuck out to me when hearing this.

Firstly...8 ball or Pool

The game of eight-ball is derived from an earlier game invented around 1900 (first recorded in 1908) in the United States and initially popularized under the name "B.B.C. Co. Pool" (a name that was still in use as late as 1925) by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company. This forerunner game was played with seven yellow and seven red balls, a black ball, and the cue ball. Today, numbered stripes and solids are preferred in most of the world, though the British-style offshoot, blackball, uses the traditional colors (as did early televised "casino" tournaments in the U.S.). The game had relatively simple rules compared to today and was not added (under any name) to an official rule book (i.e., one published by a national or international sport governing body) until 1940.

Eight-ball is played with sixteen balls: a cue ball, and fifteen object balls consisting of seven striped balls, seven solid-colored balls and the black 8 ball. After the balls are scattered with a break shot, the players are assigned either the group of solid balls or the stripes once a ball from a particular group is legally pocketed. The ultimate object of the game is to legally pocket the eight ball in a called pocket, which can only be done after all of the balls from a player's assigned group have been cleared from the table.

So basically, the objective of the game is for 'The White Ball to knock all of the Coloured Balls off the table'.

If the Black Ball is sunk the game is Immediatly OVER.

Yet the White Ball returns again and again.

Now to a closed mind this seems normal, however to me (and this IS just MY opinion) this seems racist.



Now lets take a look at Ten Pin Bowling.

Ten-pin bowling (commonly just "bowling" in the United States) is a competitive sport in which a player (the "bowler") rolls a bowling ball down a wooden or synthetic (polyurethane) lane with the objective of scoring points by knocking down as many pins as possible.

It appears the ancient Egyptians invented the sport of tossing a ball down an alley and listening to the oddly satisfying crash of pins. Archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie discovered bowling balls and pins in the grave of an Egyptian child from 5200 BC. This seems to be the oldest evidence of the sport and a likely origin, although German historian William Pehle claims the sport originated in his country around 300 AD.

The game flourished in various forms throughout Europe and was particularly popular in England during the reign of King Edward III. It was so popular, in fact, that the king outlawed the game so it wouldn't distract his troops from practicing their swordfighting skills.

When America was settled, the Dutch, English, and German all brought their own versions of the game to the new world, where it enjoyed continued popularity, although not without some controversy. In 1870, nine-pin bowling, then the standard, was banned due to its close connection with gambling and other crimes. According to some sources, this led to the invention of ten-pin bowling in an ingenious effort to circumvent the law.

Now this all sounds normal, and most probably contradicts what im about to say about bowling...however...

The objective of the game is for 'the Black Ball to knock down as many White Balls as possible...

And heres the Most Racist part...



They All have Red Necks!!!

Make of it what you will, But I personally will be looking into other symbolism in sports, and if there are any others who wish to point out something they have notcied please, feel free!!

Darn, I must have a closed mind, since I don't see anything racist here. Just a bunch of games utilizing color to separate elements.

Is this a joke?

Not only the utilization of colors but just so you know, the 8 ball is black because its the hardest color to judge and aim correctly on.... nothing about race, just about making the last shot the most challenging.

reply to post by grindhouzer


You have way too much time on your hands,

Perfect example of looking for what isn't there.

I wish I could give you negative S&F.

Originally posted by Razmijix
Is this a joke?

Initially it was presented to me as a joke...yes

But this thread was intended to look a bit deeper.

well the green of the pool table represents the earth and the white ball goes around taking out all of the colored balls. sounds a lil like supremacy to me

Hm, doesn't work on all levels. My son's bowling ball is green with scales and a giant lizard eye on it (He loves Godzilla). Doesn't mean that reptilians are bowling whites over in a race for domination.

reply to post by Mountainmeg


that could be debated....

Colors can be used for programming the mind with different belief systems. These type of things are also heavily used in movies. Our world is made of colors, everyone associates a certain type of feelings with different colors. But our mind can be easily programmed to associate any type of feelings or belief systems with colors.

in2worlds.net...

Numbers, colors and music are also heavily used for additional programming and accessing specific compartments of the brain, as well as the use of word play and puns.

“Eyes Wide Shut” was meticulously arranged and filmed in a hypnotic and engaging way, with use of bright color playing a heavy role in each and every scene. (A point that I’ll reference again in a short bit.) There are several layers happening: The first two, same as the novel it was based on, involves fidelity/sexual relations, and dream vs. reality. And it’s in my personal opinion that Stanley Kubrick saw the opportunity to use the “dream vs. reality” theme to create the third layer – concerning the lives of the rich elite, and their sexually exploited, (read: programmed/mind controlled?) disposable pawns.

Mind works in mysterious ways, and a person can associate racism or superiority over other people by playing such games without he himself knowing about it. He might get surprised when someday out of nowhere racist feelings comes in his mind. For your info, I would also like to tell you that such programming techniques are also used in various secret societies like freemasonry, without the knowledge of its members. For ex. black and white floors in masonic lodges etc. It is all about association of any type of belief system with colors.

That's too funny