A staple of inner city survival is what psychologist Richard Majors calls ‘Cool Pose’. Basically, developing notions of ‘street cool’ masks the deeper issues bubbling below the surface for many young black men in Baltimore. The swagger, attitude, and intimidating presence of these young street warriors distorts the underlying fears, anxieties, and challenges they face on a daily basis. The all too familiar individual stories of social neglect, lack of educational opportunities and different life chances has created a fatalistic generation. These young men are not borne into privilege, awaiting inheritances, or in some cases have a guaranteed future. They are part of a generation struggling to do what society asks of them.
Their assertive postures, brashness, and lively personalities, makes you realise how strong they are, contrasted with the vulnerability of uncertainty. Listening to them it’s easy to forget that they live in a restricted environment, face oppressive forces such as gang culture, and are constantly exposed to a crumbling inner city infrastructure, all neatly wrapped around a public service agenda whose vested interests compete for the valuable data they provide for policy makers and practitioners alike. Anger has become a central focus based on the cumulative deficits and negative encounters they have experienced throughout their lives. In has become evident that the word ‘Rage’ has now replaced ‘Anger’ and has become part of their current vocabulary. The cumulative impact of social problems, identity concerns, combined with a general sense of hopelessness & despair has pushed many young people to limits of anger that is harmful to them, their peers, their families, as well as the community.
It is true that there are many books, programmes, workshops, and activities designed to discharge and eject anger from our lives, but in order to access those resources, one first has to be accessed. Another feature of the responses from some young people I have met here in Baltimore is that of ‘Silent anger’. The sort of anger that bubbles just below the surface and hides in the shadows of their sub-conscious. At times this type of anger goes unnoticed, unchecked, and is not detectable. If triggered or released the outcome is detrimental to friends and family who have to pick up the pieces once the bomb has exploded. A frightening aspect and by product of young men’s anger and rage is the restrictions it places on their learning. Many young men are struggling to find a sense of purpose within their families, schools, and community, and believe that peers provide them with what they need. The continuing desire to join a gang, engage in anti-social behaviour and risky lifestyles, combined with the need to carry a weapon as a form of protection has become the norm for many of these young men, who are not big, bad, and dangerous, but scared, frightened, and lost in a world that increasingly is rendering many of their aspirations obsolete.
The vast majority of these young men are functioning, positive, and healthy. However, at the tail end there is chaos, mayhem, and turmoil. The need for a father and to experience positive fathering is on an epidemic scale, and should be treated as a public health issue. All of the young men spoken to had absent fathers who were not around for a whole series of reasons. The impact of this area of young men’s lives cannot be underestimated or ignored. Once again there are many books, research reports, programmes, activities, workshops, conferences, and seminars designed to improve and address this situation, but research would suggest that many of those young men have ‘opted out’ from wanting to address their feelings on this issue, and find solace in their crew and extended peer group. For some young men the issue of ‘being a man’ is a continued problem. It is evident that many of their fathers left the relationship and handed over the responsibility for being ‘the man of the house’ to the son, who is ill equipped to deal with such a role. However, the need to protect mum and show family leadership has placed many young men in a role that at times brings them into conflict with mum’s new partner. This makes matters worse as it compounds the isolation of some young men who cannot actualise their own sense of masculine identity. The young man, who loves his absent father, may choose to defend his father’s honour. The result is more chaos, confusion, and possible conflict. If we don’t address this deficit then the implications will have devastating consequences.
Peace
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