by Kenny Anderson*This article is an excerpt from Mr. Anderson’s book, ‘Targets of Oppression: Speech Essays On The Crisis of Black Men in America’.
In his book, “The Myth of Male Power”, popular male issues author, Warren Farrell states: “The Black man is sometimes called an endangered species but receives little of the protection an endangered species is normally accorded.”
As Black males, we need to seriously reflect on the words endangered species’ that many social analysts are using to describe our peril in America. When I think of the words ‘endangered species’, I immediately think of a life form that is facing extinction. When I think of an endangered species, the spotted owl comes to mind.
Many social analysts have looked at the quality of life data on Black men, concluding our future looks bleak. Many economists refer to Black men as becoming economically obsolete in America due to domestic immigrant workers and international cheap labor.
The two words ‘endangered’ and ‘obsolete’ are powerful, grim terms describing our fate. According to a report of the National Criminal Justice Commission on Imprisonment and Race; if current incarceration rates continue, by the year 2020 - 63.3% of all Black men in the U.S. ages 18-34 will be behind bars.
The fact that so many Black men end up jobless or in prison is not surprising to scholars like Jewelle Taylor-Gibbs; for her, Black males in America are ‘at-risk’ from inception:
“Black males are endangered even before they are born, since male fetuses are more likely to spontaneously abort; this vulnerability characterizes their health and mental health for the rest of their lives, particularly during adolescence and young adulthood. If Black males survive the high infant mortality rates, which are nearly double the rates for white infants, they are more likely to experience problems associated with low birth weight and lack of preventative health care. They are less likely to be immunized against infectious childhood diseases such as diphtheria, polio, measles, rubella, and mumps. They are more likely to have chronic illnesses and higher rates of psychological or behavioral problems. They are less likely to have access to regular medical and dental care. They are more likely to suffer from poor nutrition and related health problems. And most tragic of all statistics, they are more likely to die before age 20 than any other sex-age group.”
Indeed, from birth too many Black males lives are in jeopardy. From my perspective, psychologically speaking, most Black males are socialized with endangering traits, which results in self-defeating and self-destructive behaviors that compounds the external racial oppression that jeopardizes their lives.
As a social work psychotherapist, who has provided behavioral prevention and intervention services to at-risk Black male youth for over 20 years, I’ve witnessed first hand the negative consequences of these jeopardizing traits. I’ve seen too many young Black males become teen fathers, under-achieve, drop out of school, use drugs, engage in criminal activities, end up dead, or incarcerated.
Based on the ‘psychological insights’ from my own socialization as a Black man and from my counseling experiences with young Black males, I’ve identified several jeopardizing traits that I define as the ‘S-Traits Syndrome’ (STS); words beginning with the letter S which provide psycho-analytical insights.
The S-Traits Syndrome is a group of socialized symptoms, self-limiting character traits that make up most Black males’ personalities. For time’s sake, there are nine S-Traits Syndrome terms, I will mention all of them, but I’ll only address three in some detail; the terms are:
1.Slickness (manipulation)
2.Stud (womanizing, sexual conquests)
3.Substance Abusing (using and selling drugs)
4.Sportsmen (jock mentality)
5.Styling (preoccupation with obtaining expensive vehicles, clothes, shoes, and jewelry)
6.Smoothness (cool pose; masking and posturing)
7.Silliness (comedian attitude)
8.Sensationalizing (fantasy thinking, exaggeration)
From this list and from my experience and perspective, sportsmen, silliness, and sensationalizing have the greatest detrimental effects on adolescent Black males.
