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What does 鈥渁 real black President" mean?

When media mogul Rupert Murdoch tweeted about his fondness for Dr. Ben Carson 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 early-on comment 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聽too black, or not black enough?聽

And now Mr. Murdoch鈥檚 comment, for which he later apologized, 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 tweeted scornfully.聽

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 black activists鈥� disappointment 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,

Nevertheless, Obama still pulls overwhelming support from African-American communities: 84 percent, 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 speeches on race, few but powerful, have made history.

鈥淭rayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago,鈥� the President told Americans after George Zimmerman鈥檚 acquittal. 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 favorable impression of him, but another 18 percent say the opposite, while 40 percent simply say the name's "familiar."聽

He has written passionately about the problems facing black communities, 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, from poorly-performing schools to the entertainment industry:

But his聽specific advice tends to be individualistic.聽鈥淚f a police officer stops you, don鈥檛 give him a bunch of lip,鈥� he told Michigan college students. In the USA Today op-ed, he praised his mother for saving her children from a life on the streets 鈥渨ith nothing but a library card.鈥澛�

Carson鈥檚 individualistic focus provides 鈥渧alidation鈥� for conservatives who resist acknowledging structural racism, American University professor David Lublin told US News & World Report.聽

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 burden of representation鈥�: 鈥渢he homely notion that you represent your race, thus that your actions can betray your race or honor it.鈥�