Cool Pose: An African American Male Coping Strategy

The purpose of this paper is to describe a tactic that African American men use

as a matter of survival called by Richard Majors and Janet Mancine Billson “cool pose.”

This strategy is prevalent not only in our communities but on our college campuses.

This strategy is in effect for the most part where ever you find African American men

who are more than just a few men on any college campus. I will first describe what this

cool pose is and how it might manifest itself on the college campus. I will also describe

how counter-productive this strategy is, when employed by African American men on

these campuses, if it is used all of the time. I will also describe the impact of this

strategy if it is used in the work place. I will offer some of my ideas of how this strategy

might be arrested. I do not mean to suggest that there is no time or place where this

strategy might not be used effectively. What I am suggesting however, is that if this

strategy is used most of the time it can be counter-productive.

It is worth noting that African American males have had a huge impact on

American society and American culture in many ways. For example, this past summer I

spent part of my sabbatical in India and I was privileged to witness a performance of

some of the students at Christ University in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. These

students did a performance which combined traditional Indian routines with obvious hip-

hop moves. This is extra-ordinary. The pervasiveness of hip-hop is evident practically

everywhere you go. Much of hip-hop has been heavily influenced by African American

men, not only as performers and artists but also as promoters. Even the lack of African

American men on a college campus has a noticeable effect on the population of college

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students especially. This is but one example of the impact that African American men

have in particular areas.

Some of you deal with black men on college campuses on a regular basis and

some of you deal with black men only occasionally. In some of your interactions you feel

that you might not be reaching the black male. You may even be at a loss as to how to

effectively deal with some of these men because you just cannot figure them out. It

seems that no matter what you try these young men are not getting the message. It

appears that they have little regard for their education; some of them take two steps

forward and three steps back. You set up a conference where a student can meet with

one of his professors in class where the student has had difficulty and the student

decides not to show up. You do everything possible it seems to insure the student’s

success. You wonder what it will take to bring the student around. It seems that the

student does not care; he is very blasé and unresponsive to any of your suggestions.

He seems to believe that he can pass this class even though he has failed practically

every test or has not turned in any work. Or you see some of these students on campus

and they barely acknowledge your presence. It seems that you reach out and they do

not want anything to do with your office—but when one of these students gets in trouble

to where does the student turn? In your interactions with the students outside of the

classroom he seems to be quite confident in his abilities. He seems almost oblivious to

his academic standing and unconcerned, per se, of how others perceive his behavior.

He has and “cockiness” that belies his academic standing and his social position.

There are some dynamics internally that you should be aware of that will shed

some light on the student’s actions and attitude. Black male students come to campus

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with a history of being in the academy. Some have had bad experiences in school.

Some had been put in special education classes despite the fact that they really were

not special ed. students. As a result they come with some preconceived ideas and

some preformed thinking about what college is and should be. They have developed a

coping mechanism that in their mind works to their advantage. They do come with some

baggage but it was not something that they planned. These students are different from

other students in profound ways. One of the ways that they are different is due to the

fact that for them life is about survival in world that is hostile to them.

According to Majors and Billson many black men come from circumstances

where there are problems of "Poverty, unemployment, educational problems, alcohol

and drug abuse, homicide, suicide, incarceration, poor health, low life expectancy, and

high mortality” and all of these are “intricately interrelated." These circumstances have

forced the black male into a survival mode of existence in that they are part of the

oppressive system that black men have had to endure.

Black men have an image problem. Very often African American males are

portrayed in the media as problematic, prone to violence, irresponsible and

unmanageable. They make up a large segment of the inmates in the prison population

and are often associated with gangs. Therefore, the question becomes why are African

American males perceived in that way, why are so many of us in jail, why are people so

quick to label us trouble makers and violent. Our swagger and demeanor put a lot of

people on edge; our presence can be unnerving; our speech threatening and our

mannerisms provocative. Why is that? Cool pose can provide part of the answer for the

actions and attitudes of many African American males.

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Richard Majors and Janet Mancini Billson in their book, Cool Pose: The

Dilemmas of Black Manhood in America define Cool Pose as "a ritualized form of

masculinity that entails behaviors, scripts, physical posturing, impression management,

and carefully crafted performances that deliver a single, critical message: pride,

strength, and control." (Majors and Billson, 4) It is a coping mechanism to deal with the

many demeaning circumstances that many African American men face in American

society. It is a way that black men empower themselves to have some control over their

situation. It is only one of several techniques that blacks have used to survive in a white

patriarchal world. These authors describe cool pose as a front that "counters the low

sense of inner control, lack of inner strength, absence of stability, damaged pride,

shattered confidence, and fragile social competence that come from living on the edge

of society." (Majors and Billson, 8) However, I must add that it is not necessarily uniform

for all black men.

Cool pose is part of a growth process that heightens the coolness factor. Major

and Billson use Glasgow to point out the functionality of cool "cool is critical to the black

male's emerging identity as he develops a distinctive style. This style is highly

individualized and is expressed through variations in walk, talk, choice of clothes

(threads), and natural or processed hair (‘do’)." (Majors and Billson, 4) It is about image

and style. One can have control over how one looks and therefore one puts a lot of

effort into what people see and therefore, everything is judged by the black man in

terms of its performative value.

The reason for the cool pose persona is that many African American men have to

combat several negative images portrayed in the dominant culture. Some of these

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images such as Sambo, Zip Coon, Uncle Tom and Buck are ever present in the lives of

most African American males. According to Marlon Riggs’ documentary Ethnic Notions

the Sambo is simple, docile, carefree, laughing African American male who cares only

about food, dance and song; he is irresponsible and quick to avoid work. Zip Coon is a

buffoon whose attempts at imitating white demonstrate his uncouthness, his ignorance

and intellectual feebleness. Uncle Tom, from the popular 19th century novel Uncle Tom’s

Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, is an African American male who is servile, self

denigrating and eager to please whites. Donald Bogle in his book Toms, Coons,

Mulattoes, Mammies and Bucks offers a definition for Buck. He subdivides the black

brutal bucks into two categories with little difference between them: the black brutes and

the black bucks. He argues that DW Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation, portrayed black

males as the black brute who was a "barbaric black out to raise havoc" and "subhuman,

feral" and for audiences in the film they could assume that "his physical violence serves

as an outlet for a man who was sexually repressed." The black bucks are shown

"always big, baadddd niggers, oversexed and savage, violent and frenzied as they lust

for white flesh." (Bogle, 13-14). These images and other stereotypes held by the people

of the dominant culture make it difficult for black men to assert their manhood and so

many of these men use various stratagems to fight these negative images and cool

pose is one of those strategies.

Several factors impact cool pose and the lack of success in these areas are part

of the oppression that black men experience: education, unemployment, and poverty.

There are more but I mention these because on a college campus these are the ones

that will probably play out more and perhaps will be most evident. Most of us are all too

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aware of the severe limitations that black boys face in our school system. They "are

suspended, expelled, pushed out, and take themselves out of school . . . Dropout rates

are high, failure is common, performance below grade level is pervasive, and alienation

is epidemic." (Majors and Billson, 13) Those who make it to college are all too aware of

these limitations and have masterfully avoided many of the traps that awaited them in

middle school and high school. I say traps because it appears that most of the black

males have been targeted by teachers and administrators as being problematic and

troublesome and therefore are tracked by the system. College is part of the educational

system that many African American boys are used to and familiar with. It is important for

those of us who work at the collegiate level to realize what our task is in order to reach

these young men. Many African American males have experienced the sting of rejection

in terms of their inability to get a job. The unemployment rate for black men is at least

twice that of white men and even worse is that a white male with a felony conviction

stands a better chance in landing a job than a black male with no felony conviction. The

poverty rate for African Americans is higher and the net worth of the black family is less

than one tenth that of a white family. (Wise, 37)

Majors and Billson note that some men have a more pronounced outward

self control, while others may posture themselves as having more power and

toughness. In cool pose the black male is much more aware of what to say and when to

say it. He learns how to adapt to the environment and he takes cues from this

environment on what to do in order to reduce stress. Majors and Billson write that "Cool

pose furnishes the black male with a sense of control, inner strength, balance, stability,

confidence, and security. It also reflects these qualities. Cool helps him deal with the

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closed doors and negative images of himself that he must confront on a daily basis."

(Majors and Billson, 9)

There are some positive and negative aspects of cool pose. This persona helps

the African American male to cope with the many problems that he is faced with on a

daily basis in a world where he has very limited control and his actions are deemed

suspect by many. This world very often denies him the status of being a “real man” not

only by the way society portrays black men even as the black man tries to live up to the

standards of what society says a man is supposed to do, namely to provide for his

family and to contribute to society. On the positive side cool pose helps with "dignity,

respect, self control, self-esteem, and social competence. It helps protect the African-

American male's self-image and enables him to cope with assaults on his manhood."

On the negative side it strains many personal relationships as the Black man hides his

true feelings from himself and from those around him who would help him.

This paper will now expound on the positive aspects of this persona. Majors and

Billson describe three positive aspects of cool pose: Being cool as a form of social

competence, pride and the search for meaning, cool as protection. Cool pose enables a

Black man to deal with his environment on his terms. The world is seen as cold, harsh

and cruel. Social competence requires that a man negotiate this world. One writer,

Washington, argues that a "black man must accurately read his place in the social

structure. He must be able to clearly see where he stands. And he must also

understand which behaviors are appropriate to his place." (Majors and Billson, 38) They

add that he "must be able to figure out which behaviors are going to place him at risk,

even though he may choose to engage in them in order to break out of his place and

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achieve higher levels of social competence." (Majors and Billson, 38) Cool pose also

enables the black man to have pride and give his life meaning. Pride is the driving force

behind cool pose. Black men move toward pride; it is very important and many black

men will risk anything for pride. Cool pose also serves to protect the black man from

white authority (dominant society) and I would add from other blacks. In this instance

the black man does not let on how he really feels. He masks his feelings and his

intentions from those in authority as a way of keeping them off guard. I also submit that

cool pose helps the black man to mask his intentions and true feelings from other black

men. A black man does not let anyone inside to know what he is really thinking. He

does not want to appear to be weak or even easily figured out.

These authors also note the negative side of cool. They describe several of

them: Confounding of therapy and other social services; distorted and damaged

relationships; increase in suicide; the denigration of education; and the desire to be

tough at all costs and the promotion of gang activity. Cool pose inhibits therapy and

other programs aimed at helping the individual because African Americans men are

very reluctant to let anyone know what they are thinking or to share their true feelings.

Many black men refuse to open up to professionals who seek to help them. For those in

higher education this translates to African American men refusing help in their academic

programs and in adjustments that these men have to make on college campuses. Cool

pose also inhibits relationships in that it leads to a distortion of relationships. An

individual masks his true feelings even from those close to him, who want to really help

him. This leads to pent up emotions and frustrations which can explode and have tragic

consequences. The authors describe three relationship that cool pose makes

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problematic: black male and white male; black males and black females; black males

and black males. Black men become very used to putting up their guards in the

presence of whites so much so that it becomes second nature. The conditioning

however, prevents healthy relationship building with white men. Black men view white

men with suspicion and will never let their guard down or even let the white man know

how they really feel at any and all costs.

Cool pose also complicates relationships with black women. This tactic may

prevent black men from having "authentic relationships with women.” (Majors and

Billson, 43) The behavior in cool pose inhibits or prevents a person from revealing who

they are and their deepest desires. So while black men have "control" of their

environment it shuts them off from others and does not let them know who they really

are and promotes an unemotional attachment to those who are closest to them. This is

complicated by the fact that some women may be attracted to the cool pose persona.

When a relationship occurs the man does not express his true feelings, he will remain

aloof and he is hard to figure out much less to understand.

The relationship with other black men is also complicated because the cool pose

becomes part of an individual personality. A man expresses toughness, coolness,

strength and discipline. Individuals who do not display such are not respected and are

considered weak. He also often fronts for others and he gives off an air of confidence.

He dare not show his vulnerability. When a person does not act cool he is ostracized,

criticized, made fun of, degraded and one is labeled as "corny, lame, or square" (Majors

and Billson, 48)

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The black male also wants to be cool in order to be accepted by his peers and so

black adolescents are pressured to conform to particular behavior patterns. When he

does not conform he risks being socially isolated which may lead to a sense of loss of

self-esteem which may lead to suicide.

For someone who is gainfully employed such a tactic might make one untenable

for promotion or at least not well understood and therefore a black male might be

perceived as one who would be least likely to succeed in various positions on the work

force. Furthermore, black men who engage in cool pose as a strategy to mask their real

feelings and intentions rarely give people the opportunity to understand who they really

are. People are left to their own imaginations and ideas with regard to the actions and

intentions of black men. Given some of the stereotypes previously mentioned this can

be very dangerous. In short people categorize black men into various stereotypes that

people have been exposed to because these people feel that they have little choice. So

the black male may feel comfortable about the persona that he lives because it makes

his world more manageable. However, such a world limits his prospects for a more

fulfilling life and does nothing to help him to move beyond this persona.

In higher education, the cool pose persona can enable the black male some

measure of control over his environment. Black men like many students face a huge

transition as they move from home to campus life. Cool pose can enable the black male

a “proven” way to handle this transition which does not differ from the way that the black

male has handled changes in the past. However, cool pose can inhibit the black male

from making adjustments or changes in how he has handled problems in the past. Cool

pose can also mask some real anxiety experienced by the black male. This persona

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may seem to others as uncaring. Sometimes, when offered assistance the black male

may say that he is okay. He feels that he can handle his “business” and therefore he

does not need help. Those who would seek to help need to understand what is going on

in the lives of black men who adopt cool pose persona and continue to offer assistance.

Those who would help should offer assistance, however, in ways that do not impinge on

the perception of manhood of the black men.

A critique I would like to offer on the definition given by Majors and Billson is that

it seems the authors make statements about black men that I would like to challenge.

They write that black men use cool pose because they are fragile, have little inner

strength and no real personal power. I would argue that although some black men may

be limited in the way that these authors describe, many black men have quite a few

inner resources upon which they can draw. The real problem is that many black men

are afraid and therefore rely on the cool pose persona in their many interactions. Fear is

the real problem. Many, unfortunately, have bought into the stereotypes about

themselves and this is what many would call internalization or Amos Wilson calls in his

work Black-on-Black Violence, introjection. (Wilson, 65) The constant assault on black

men's image renders our understanding of African American men incomplete and

distorted. For example, authors say that cool pose is a front that “counters the low

sense of inner . . .” However, I believe that many black men as a matter of survival

exhibit quite a bit of self control, have a lot of inner strength, are quite stable, have much

pride, have a bolstered confidence and show quite a bit of social poise in the face of

some very harsh realities. The problem with the cool pose persona is that it obfuscates

these strengths for something that works in the short run but cool pose cannot be a way

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that a person manages his life in the long run. One must also consider that perhaps a

person uses the cool pose persona in a very conscious way in situations that is really

fraught with all kinds of danger.

I would like to suggest steps you can take or a program you can develop that will

help you to be more effective in interacting with African American males. I realize that

this is a rather large endeavor and fraught with problems mainly because of our own

preconceived ideas about African American males. Before I proceed, let me tell you a

personal story with regard to my own ideas about African American men. Granted as

you can tell, if you have not noticed already I am a black man (I hope that does not

surprise you). I grew up in Boston, Mass and more particularly I was born in Roxbury

my family also lived in Dorchester, Jamaica Plain and Mattapan (for those of you who

are familiar with Boston know that parts of these areas are heavily populated with black

and brown people and poor people). Although my father was a college professor he and

my mother divorced and so I was essentially raised by my mother who had a host of

family members and friends that assisted her. Both of my parents were from Durham,

NC and my mother would "ship" me and my brother to visit my grandmother and

grandfather every summer to Durham. (Note: the part of town they lived in . . . ) I am so

glad she did. I have a lot of southern ways, mannerisms, expectations and values

instilled in me by my mother, grandmother, grandfather, uncles, aunts, cousins and

others. Where I grew up in Boston I saw the good and the bad. We played basketball,

listened to music, played in the park, played street hockey, stick ball, ba, hide and seek,

built go carts, repaired bicycles from old bicycles, biked everywhere, shot pool at the

local pool hall, bowled, skated; we did a lot of things and had some fun. There was the

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other side -- I witnessed drug use/abuse, heard domestic violence, observed people

getting pockets picked, purses snatched; I witnessed police officers taking bribes and a

host of other things that I am not going to name. But I had been exposed to the best of

black folk. Not only because I had the opportunity to visit my dad in his office when he

taught at Northeastern University and other colleges but many of his friends were also

professionals, they were doctors lawyers, bankers, etc. My mother was a supervising

nurse so I was around professional people. I attended Morehouse College and was

exposed to everything from the Black Muslims to Dick Gregory to Eartha Kitt. In the mid

'80's I had gotten a job in San Diego and I was an engineer for General Dynamics.

During this time I was also a member of the NSBE and they had a conference in this

very city. One of speakers at one of the programs was encouraging blacks to help one

another more. He believed that if we networked more we could get further ahead. He

also mentioned that we needed to trust each other and admitted that he himself like

many others were suspicious of other black men especially when we are in groups.

WOW!! That resonated with me. I felt the same way. I had been exposed to the best

(and the worst) of black folk and yet I still harbored negative and deep rooted suspicions

of those who looked like me. Those of you who work with African American males must

begin to purge your thought process in regard to black men. You will have to see them

as real people who have the potential to grow and who can be responsible.

The following steps have more to do with attitude and readjustment in thinking

than in anything else. What I am recommending is that you rethink and challenge some

of your basic premises. Some of these aspects only surface when you are actually

confronted with a body, or otherwise or when you have to make a decision about them.

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In other words your real attitude/thinking about African American males may only come

to the surface under pressure either when you have to make a decision or when an

African American male is in front of you. Often times under these conditions it is almost

impossible for us to realize how "negative" or "unproductive" the attitude/thought

because it is not something that we reflect on regularly. All of us like to think of

ourselves as positive and helpful. We believe that we want the best for our students and

therefore assume that on a cognitive level our actions are guided by those desires.

However, most of us have received subliminal messages about African American men

that are negative and often go unchallenged in a constructive way. Therefore, it is

incumbent upon us to rethink at the deepest level possible what we really think about

black men.

The first step I would like to suggest is that you understand that these students

are here to stay for the most part. They are not going anywhere even when they

graduate it is very likely that there will be others (although the numbers in some areas

may seem to be dwindling) and you need to develop a way to handle them. These men

are not going to instantly dematerialize into some unknown galaxy. Chances are at

some point you are going to encounter them either physically or even on paper. In other

words you cannot wish them away. Therefore it is incumbent that you develop a

strategy in dealing with African American men and this strategy should work toward

their betterment.

The next step is to believe that they can succeed. You must realize that they

have potential to be of service to the community. With this belief you have to realize that

what they succeed at is largely up to them but we all play a role. Their success may be

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out of the realm of what we think that black men can. In other words their success may

be out of our purview. Few of us in this room ten years ago could have predicted that a

black man would be president of the US. Few of us knew what was really going on in

this nation that would move it to vote for a black man to be the head of one of the most

powerful democracies in the world. We were riding high on an economic boom; our

corporations were intact; our place in the world was assured. . . but things changed.

Due to the unpredictability in life many of us do not really know what is in store for the

person in front of us. We can say with some certainty what might be in store for a

person given his or her background but we cannot be certain. That is the key to a life

that can have a profound impact. We need to stand committed to the success of our

students--that means we have to believe that every student whether black, brown or

white can make a valuable contribution to the community within which that person

resides.

Your programming at the deepest level must be committed to the success of all

of your students regardless of their background. You must put your best forward and

you must empower them to work toward their own betterment/liberation.

Bogle, Donald. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. 4th ed. New York: Continuum, 2001.

Majors, Richard and Janet Mancini Billson. Cool Pose: The Dilemmas of BlackManhood in America. New York: Touchstone, 1992.

Wilson, Amos. Black-on-Black Violence: The Psychodynamics of Black Self-Annihilation in Service of White Dominion. New York: Afrikan World Infosystems, 1990.

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