Angry Black Man

CNN.com recently published an article entitled “Why Obama doesn’t dare become the ‘angry black man’.”   The article illustrates the fine emotional  line President Obama walks because of the color of his skin.  Voice displeasure with someone or something and he’s “angry black man” (i.e. referring to actions of the police officer in the Henry Louis Gates incident as “stupidity”) .  Show no emotion and attempt to make rational decisions and he’s “passive, indecisive black man” (see BP oil spill.)

It’s unfair, but it’s a battle I think most, if not all, African American men fight daily.  What other group of people are asked to suppress their emotions and opinions more?  We celebrate in the end zone after scoring a touchdown and it’s showboating.  Voice  displeasure with poor service at the restaurant and you’re  an unruly customer.  Disagree with decisions made at work and now you’re a disgruntled employee.

In his memoir “Days of Grace” , Arthur Ashe described it as the “burden of race.”  Mr. Ashe, after being asked by a reporter if AIDS was the heaviest burden he ever had to bear replied “No, it isn’t……… You’re not going to believe this but being black is the greatest burden I’ve had to bear.”  Just think about that for a minute.  Here is a man battling AIDS and recovering from a heart attack and the biggest burden he has ever had to bear is his race?

As African-American men how do we handle it?  How should the President handle it?   It seems that no amount of tact is enough to ease the fear,  suspicion and lack of trust that some people have of African-American men.  Maybe President Obama doesn’t openly display anger because that’s just not who he is as a human being.  Maybe it has nothing to do with race or ethnicity.  On the other hand maybe it has everything to do with race and ethnicity.  Maybe African American men have learned to suppress outward displays of emotion and minimize outspoken opinions  in order to acquiesce.

The sad thing is that racism is at the root of it all.   Arthur Ashe went on to say in his book,  “My potential is more than can be expressed within the bounds of my race or ethnic identity.  My humanity, in common with all of God’s children, gives the greatest flight to the full range of my possibilities.  If I had one last wish, I would ask that all Americans could see themselves that way, past the barbed-wire fences of race and color.”   What makes this black man angry is how far removed we are from that ideal.