For decades, sports have been known as the great unifier. The most racist white men crowd around the TV to gladly cheer on their favorite Black running back on Sundays. After every major league desegregated, the idea of winning had begun to trump something as pedestrian as color. But what happens when a Black athlete does something a white fan believes they shouldn't? Are they immediately filed back into the category as other, or does the quest toward winning continue to drive that fan toward unity?
Through the lens of "King James," a play at Manhattan Theater Club, actor Chris Perfetti (known as the loveably woke Jacob "Mr. C" Hill on the hit ABC show "Abbott Elementary") explores the complex dynamics of race and sports in his lead role as an obsessed Lebron fan. I talked to Perfetti on "Salon Talks" about playing Matt, a privileged, white, somewhat progressive Cleveland Cavaliers season ticket holder, who plays opposite Shawn, an upcoming Black writer, played by Glenn Davis.
