The Book of James

September 18, 2023
This thought-provoking study from Babb (A History of the African American Novel), an African American studies professor at Emory University, examines how race has shaped public perceptions of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. Babb contends that “white grievance” has made James the subject of racist attacks from the press and the public, who have caricatured him as a “Black jock out of his depth in political activism.” She recounts how photos of James reading The Godfather were greeted with derogatory tweets accusing him of being illiterate, which Babb suggests was part of a larger tendency to view “Black athletes as physical but not cerebral.” The author also traces how James found his political voice, noting that he declined to sit out games in protest of 12-year-old Tamir Rice’s killing at the hands of Cleveland police in 2012, but grew more outspoken over time about his support for liberal policies and founded the More Than a Vote organization in 2020 to advance ballot access for Black Americans. The prose can be overwrought at times (“The symbolism of Obama and James became its own version of a pick and roll, as politician and player set defensive screens only to shift and go for the basket”), but Babb’s astute analysis enlightens. This is a valuable contribution to the growing literature examining the intersection of professional sports and race in America.

October 15, 2023
A study of basketball great LeBron James as an exemplar of unapologetic Blackness. Some NBA players, such as Patrick Ewing, have been worn to the bone by fan racism; others, such as Michael Jordan, have tried to place themselves above questions of race entirely, adopting a "non-Black Blackness." According to African American studies scholar Babb's account, James has positioned himself as a "race man," intent on self-expression while disproving racist tropes. It helps that he is phenomenally wealthy--though that fact does little to calm white racial resentments. "Rather than using celebrity to transcend Blackness, he uses it to give Blackness a place of prominence in American narrative-making," writes Babb, "leaving a cultural record of how much Blackness is loved, hated, misunderstood, and just plain cool in an America that has changed and yet not changed." However, no matter what good James does with his celebrity and wealth--e.g., funding competitive public schools, building homes for needy families--the fact remains that Black culture is valued more than Black lives in too many quarters. Babb capably traces narratives that have been employed for and against James, one the almost trite story of a poor young Black child being raised by a single mother and elevating himself out of poverty through sheer talent--which also serves to "reinforce the notion that sexual deviance, broken families, and failed communities are typical of Black life." In the case of basketball, Babb shows, poverty, broken homes, and all the rest are actually outliers in the NBA: James' story is atypical, bent to reinforce racist assumptions for whatever reason. James defies that description, and Babb emphasizes his accomplishments both on and off the court, closing with one of his mantras: "Celebrate Black excellence every single day." A provocative, illuminating blend of social criticism, cultural history, and athletics.

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