Beware of the Black Guy

A Washington Post writer opened a can of racial worms about two weeks back when he theorized that President Barack Obama couldn’t show what some consider “enough rage” over the BP oil spill _ or over anything, for that matter _ lest he conjure the image of the “Angry Black Man.”

See columnist Jonathon Capeheart’s article here:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postpartisan/2010/06/rage_why_obama_wont_and_cant_g.html

With all this petro in our oceans and washing onto our shores, this was the LAST story line I was thinking about, but now that it’s out there, let’s consider the question: Do black men have to be careful _ maybe even more careful _ than the rest of society when it comes to expressing anger?

As a black man, I am obviously biased, but I would say yes. I feel many black men today can be revered but are still feared, especially by non-blacks. This isn’t to suggest that all non-blacks fear black men, but I do think this is probably the group of which they are most likely afraid.

I have also had some experience with the issue. From a young age, I recognized my distinction from non-blacks and even from black girls in terms of how I was treated by members of the majority race.

When I was about 11 years old, I was riding my bike with four of my boys (who happened to be black) and we stopped in a neighbor’s driveway. The police were called and came to our homes. As an intern at a major newspaper, I can remember standing up too quickly from my cubicle and drawing a startled, anxious response from my non-black co-workers.

For those of you reading this post who aren’t black men, this might seem a silly topic to you, and I’d hardly expect you to understand. Capehart’s point, however, is not unique to black men. All kinds of people draw looks of discrimination and cause a chain reaction of bad body language simply in this country for being who they are: the disabled, interracial couples, homosexuals, Arab-Americans.

Clearly, not all people feel the same way about these folks and others. But there is enough prejudice and stereotyping to go around. Black men face their challenges and will probably always be the target of certain misconceptions. But in 2010, that is a minor challenge considering from whence we have come. Still, it is worth understanding, mentioning and discussing.

So let’s do that here, and then move on.