2016-02-29, 01:29 PM
Human beings are herd animals. We have a natural instinct to prefer "our people" to "everyone else."
This is further strengthened by society, when we form teams and compete against other teams.
As a little child you're told that you are supposed to have "school spirit" and be happy when your school's team wins something-or-other, even if you have no interest in whatever that team is doing.
Your town's local paper will proudly inform you when someone from the town rises to any kind of prominence.
And don't let me get started on patriotism and national pride.
People are proud when someone from "their team" does good. Even if it's a "team" that isn't identified by a geographic location but by ethnicity, gender, etc.
And, just like little-league teams complaining when the referee seems to give the other team preferential treatment, grown ups complain when their "team" doesn't seem to be doing as well as it deserves to.
TL;DR: Human nature.
Additionally, when talking about specific fields, there is the issue of role models.
If you are a white boy who wants to be a basketball player and are constantly faced with disparaging remarks about how "white men can't jump", it really helps to be able to point out specific white men who did well as basketball players.
This is further strengthened by society, when we form teams and compete against other teams.
As a little child you're told that you are supposed to have "school spirit" and be happy when your school's team wins something-or-other, even if you have no interest in whatever that team is doing.
Your town's local paper will proudly inform you when someone from the town rises to any kind of prominence.
And don't let me get started on patriotism and national pride.
People are proud when someone from "their team" does good. Even if it's a "team" that isn't identified by a geographic location but by ethnicity, gender, etc.
And, just like little-league teams complaining when the referee seems to give the other team preferential treatment, grown ups complain when their "team" doesn't seem to be doing as well as it deserves to.
TL;DR: Human nature.
Additionally, when talking about specific fields, there is the issue of role models.
If you are a white boy who wants to be a basketball player and are constantly faced with disparaging remarks about how "white men can't jump", it really helps to be able to point out specific white men who did well as basketball players.