WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s debate performances are reigniting a conversation that African-Americans talk frequently about among themselves and with other people of color — namely, the extent to which race-based perceptions influence how blacks behave in racially integrated environments.
Debate watchers who wanted to see Obama deliver his equivalent of a President Bill Clinton smack-down on Gov. Mitt Romney during Tuesday’s presidential debate might’ve been dismayed.
But those looking for the president to deliver his ideas in an intellectual but passionate manner got what they wanted.
They got vintage Obama. a fierce Obama.
Striking the appropriate tone involved a delicate balance that members in the African-American community wrestle with — even the one who is president.
“He can’t be too aggressive because there’s so many stereotypes about black male aggression that it’ll just feed into people’s imaginations about what black men are,” said Carolyn Rouse, a professor of anthropology at Princeton University.
Blacks across the nation have avoided falling into the “angry black man” category long before Democratic supporters suggested that Obama should have been more aggressive during the first presidential debate.
Rouse says employing comedy is a historic strategy that has allowed blacks to move in and out of racially integrated environments with ease.
But doing so comes at a risk.
“If you have a presence and you’re not a clown, you’re only one non-smile away from being angry,” said Michael Hopson, 44, who works in the nonprofit industry.
In order to be taken seriously, Hopson said he steers clear of presenting himself as the “Chris Rock” type of black, the type who you hear from around the corner before actually seeing.
Still, mixing the right doses of comedy and general professionalism is more of an art than a science. Presenting information often involves being informed and knowledgeable, but not too uppity or too straightforward.
Obama seemed to strike those chords during the second presidential debate when he looked into the audience and said:
“When Gov. Romney stands here after a year of campaigning [in the Republican primary] said on stage that I’m going to give tax cuts to everyone, including the top 1 percent, you should believe him because that’s been his history.”
Polls indicating whether or not the president’s more-aggressive debate strategy bodes well to the American public will be out soon.
Time will tell which Obama shows up during the third and final debate scheduled for Monday.