Darden should've been taking off the case imo. He is way to self-conscious and it's allowing himself to fall for some obvious bait. His job is not to get his self-esteem fed by being viewed positively by black people, his job is to win the case.
I feel you, but it's easy for us to sit here and Judge....Darden was prolly thinking "After this trial, I gotta go back and live in the community"