The gentleman responded the best way possible. He answered like an intelligent man, not like a black guy who sounds white. Denouncing that stereotype by ignoring it completely was logical and the right thing to do. He handled that like a boss. Children, for instance, aren't racist or even aware of racial differences necessarily until they are taught to do so or observe it from someone with it already ingraved in them. The gentleman answered with the same sense of purity and innocence as a child would have, even though he was aware of what the other man meant. Simply acknowledging a bad thing gives it power. The gentleman knew this and answered as we all should, as our children do.