European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 13, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A Cool pose camouflages Urban stress by Daniel Goleman the new York times the aloof swagger and studied Unflat ability projected by Young Black men from inner City Urban areas is a Quot Cool pose Quot a bit of posturing that insulates them from an otherwise overwhelming social reality a new report holds. While the Cool pose is often misread by teachers principals and police officers As an attitude of Defiance psychologists who have studied it say it is a Way for Black youths to maintain a sense of integrity and suppress rage at being blocked from usual routes to esteem and Success. Indeed Black inner City youths Are so besieged that they seem Quot an endangered species Quot in the words of or Richard majors a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin at eau Claire who has written on the Cool pose. Majors is at the forefront of a movement of Black social scientists who Are seeking ways to understand inner City youths better and to marshal the strengths of the Black Middle class to help these troubled Young people survive. To be sure the problems of Young Black men Are not new nor is the interest of social scientists. But in the last year or so there has been a quickening of interest with the founding of two academic research centers and a National group of social scientists and policy makers focusing on the predicament of Black men. The evidence for the danger to Young Black men especially those from Urban areas is mounting a about one in four Black men aged 20 to 29 is in prison on probation or on parole a More than the total number of Black men in College a the unemployment rate for Black men is More than twice that for Whites. A the leading cause of death among Black youth is homicide. A 1991 report from the National Center for health statistics found that 40 percent of Black males Between 15 and 19 who died were shot while the figure for White males was just 18 percent. A for Black men in Harlem life expectancy is Shorter than that for men in Bangladesh nationally Black men aged 15 to 29 die at a higher rate than any other age group except those 85 and older. Quot it s a sort of genocide targeting Young Black males Quot said or. Robert Staples a professor of sociology at the University of californians medical school in san Francisco. Quot there s not a systematic conspiracy but the figures show that Over the last decade Black men Are the Only group of americans to have an average decrease of two months in life expectancy. Every other group including Black women gained from three to six  Staples added Quot what s especially disturbing about the death rate among Young Black mates is that most of it is preventable. Homicide is the leading cause accidents Are second and suicide is third with aids climbing  while the figures for Black men As a whole Are grim they Are most dire for Urban Black youth. A study made Public recently by the National Center on institutions and readers action Lin new procedures for Transfer preferences i have a question that i believe will be of interest to most of your readers when the army did away with its enlisted preference statement several years ago. Enlisted soldiers were advised to make their preferences known by direct communication with their Branch. Here in Usa eur however soldiers Are forbidden from using the Auto on Dan system to Call their Branch managers. I know several soldiers who have run up considerable phone Bills trying to coordinate with their Branch managers. Why can to soldiers use the Auto on system to Call their Branch sgt 1st last Suzanne m. Eckhardt Wurzburg Germany to anal Tom Tom a or by uffing Wii exports Oay the posturing and Styll Zad Baha for of Urban Mtnor Atlas is not meant to Thristan. Alternatives found that a far higher proportion of Young Black men in Washington were involved with the criminal Justice system than the National proportion of one in four. Of the Black men aged 18 through 35 in the nation s capital the study found that 42 percent were in prison out on Bond on probation or parole or being sought by the police. Tha study did not consider the figures for Whites said the Institute s president Jerome g. Miller because the number Quot would have been negligible less than 10  a similar situation of greater disparity for inner City youth prevails in education. Or. Alvin Poussaint a psychiatrist at Harvard medical school said Quot the picture is not As bad if you include All Black males but if you focus on inner City youth the problems Are overwhelming. For example in 1965, about 25 percent of Black families nationally were headed by women while now the figure is at 50 percent. But it s More like 90 percent in Many housing projects. Quot Black women seem to be outpacing Black men in making gains in education and the Job Market. Quot most Progress among Blacks is due to advances among women which masks the problems of Black men Quot Staples said. Quot in Medicine fewer than 15 percent of Black medical students were women in the 1970s.&Quot said Poussaint Quot last year 56 percent of Black medical school graduates were women i hear the same Story in other areas of  Quot even on Black College campuses women out achieve in maj. P. Proffitt off Ca of tha Deputy chief of staff personnel Usa eur replies you Are Correct in that the enlisted preference statement is no longer used by soldiers to express their preferences for conus Continental United states and overseas assignments. However soldiers do not have to Call their Branch in order to indicate their area of assignment preference. A Soldier s area of assignment preference is now a sippers Standard installation division personnel system data item and is reflected in items 19 overseas preference a or sap and 20 conus preference a Conan on the a form 2a, personnel qualification record a part i soldiers desiring to change their assignment preferences May do so by going to their supporting the men with women students at about 80 percent of the Honor role. By contrast in special education classes in Urban grammar schools close to 80 percent of students Are Black males Quot possibly because they Are shunted into the classes More readily than White boys Are Poussaint said. Quot you see the disadvantage from the very  much of the notable work on the problems of inner City Black youth has been done by Black sociologists like William Julius Wilson at the University of Chicago and Elijah Anderson at the University of Pennsylvania part of a Long tradition that extends Back to the work e. Franklin Frazier a Black social scientist in the 1940s. Majors s Book coot pose the dilemmas of Black manhood in America written with or. Janet Mancini Bilston an executive officer at the american sociological association in Washington is part of the most recent wave of research on Black Urban youth. The Book published this month by Lexington press is based largely on interviews by majors and on a six year study of 60 Black teen agers in Boston conducted by researchers including Billson at the Harvard school of education. The Cool pose is a set of language mannerisms gestures and movements that Quot exaggerate or ritualized masculinity Quot majors said. Quot the essence of Cool is to appear in control whether through a fearless style of walking an aloof facial expression the clothes you Wear a haircut your gestures or the Way you talk. The Cool pose shows the dominant culture that you Are Strong and proud despite your status in american society Quot personnel administration Center Pac and requesting a change to their or sap or Conan to write us readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort Quot striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers a action line co the stars and stripes unit 29480, Apo a 09211. All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers. Page 16 a the stars and stripes wednesday May 13, 1992