Beyond the cool pose: Black men and emotion management strategies

Abstract

AbstractThis review presents an overview of research on qualitative work that has documented emotion management strategies among Black men. I emphasize qualitative work here as it gives us insight into the processes that account for particular strategies. Research on Black men and emotions has focused on their class‐based experiences, as either lower SES working‐class or poor Black men in settings concentrated by people of color or higher SES middle‐class Black men in White‐dominated spaces. Within these two class positions, Black men adopt emotion management strategies for both the frontstage and backstage meant to best navigate their surroundings. This research emphasizes that Black men's emotional strategies are often a reaction to larger systems that oppress and discriminate against their race and gender status.