海角大神

What does 鈥渁 real black President" mean?

When media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his wife Candy Wednesday night, musing 鈥淲hat about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide?鈥� he reignited a remarkably complicated, difficult question that might speak volumes about progress Americans have or haven鈥檛 made in the past eight years 鈥� and possibly the next four.

Since Barack Obama鈥檚 first days as a senator, debates swirled about whether he was 鈥渂lack enough鈥�: For what? To attract African-American voters? To attract white voters? To advance civil rights?

Vice President Joe Biden鈥檚 that Mr. Obama was the 鈥渇irst mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy鈥� scandalized voters who saw it as proof of some Americans鈥� racist assumptions. Was the biracial, Harvard-educated, half-Kenyan politician鈥檚 problem being听听

And now Mr. Murdoch鈥檚 comment, , seems to set up a two-man contest between Dr. Carson and Obama: who can get the "black enough" equation just right?

If Murdoch wanted to wade into identity politics, he certainly got his wish. 鈥淚 only listen to authoritative voices on black identity, like Rupert Murdoch,鈥� writer and former White House adviser Ronan Farrow .听

But casting doubts on Obama鈥檚 bona fides as a 鈥渂lack president,鈥� and wrestling with what exactly that means, is nothing new.

In 鈥淭he Paradox of the First Black President鈥� The New Yorker鈥檚 Jennifer Senior records some with Obama鈥檚 record on contentious race-related issues, from the campaign trail to Ferguson, Mo.

According to Fredrick Harris, a Columbia University political scientist interviewed by Ms. Senior, the timing of the Black Lives Matter movement seems to be 鈥渙ne of the fundamental paradoxes of Obama鈥檚 presidency.鈥�

But as Ms. Senior notes,

In a country whose basic genetic blueprint includes the same crooked mutations that听made slavery and Jim Crow possible, it is not possible to have a black president surrounded by black aides on Marine One without paying a price. And the price that Obama has had to pay 鈥� and, more important, that African-Americans have had to pay 鈥� is one of caution, moderation, and at times compromised policies.

Nevertheless, Obama still pulls overwhelming support from African-American communities: , according to a 2014 Gallup poll. In his last year in office, he seems determined to push through prison and criminal justice reforms, which disproportionately affect men of color, and some suggest that his , few but powerful, .

鈥淭rayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago,鈥� the President told Americans . If nothing else, the remarks confirmed that Obama is indubitably 鈥渂lack enough鈥� to have experienced discrimination himself, from being followed by store clerks to watching strangers tense up as they see a young black man cross to their side of the street.

And Carson? How black voters view him is somewhat unclear: Gallup finds that 22 percent of black voters hold a of him, but another 18 percent say the opposite, while 40 percent simply say the name's "familiar."听

He has written passionately about , but cautions his listeners 鈥淲e鈥檙e right to be angry, but we have to stay smart.鈥�

In a USA Today opinion piece, Carson decries some institutions undermining equality, :

The actions of rogue police officers take black lives one at a time. Our public school system has destroyed black lives not in the ones and twos, but in whole generations.

But his听specific advice tends to be individualistic.听鈥淚f a police officer stops you, don鈥檛 give him a bunch of lip,鈥� . In the USA Today , he praised his mother for saving her children from a life on the streets 鈥渨ith nothing but a library card.鈥澨�

Carson鈥檚 individualistic focus for conservatives who resist acknowledging structural racism, American University professor David Lublin told US News & World Report.听

No matter their politics, however, it seems both Obama and Carson are 鈥渂lack enough鈥� to bear what Harvard鈥檚 Henry Louis Gates Jr. calls : 鈥渢he homely notion that you represent your race, thus that your actions can betray your race or honor it.鈥�