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Cool has been around for a while now, this is why there are so many definitions of cool. There are different types of cool created in each society; for some a certain thing may be cool for others it may not be considered cool at all. Just like there are different ethnicities, there are different ways to be cool. Some are considered to be cooler than others while others are striving to be just like them. Many of us have maps drawn out for us, we have certain spaces for what matters the most and what doesn’t matter so much to us. For example a typical young black boy living in the projects may have some space for his family, and school but most of this space will be filled with his interest in friends and the media. This all impacts how the child will become when they mature. Most of the kids that this young black boy is friends with may not be doing so well in school; they will be slacking and taking on the roles of what they see in society. They will not be getting very far in life; most of them will be high school dropouts or not go to college. This is what research shows, and this is what most of us think in our minds as well. Society has already created this “cool” role for them and in order to be considered “cool” they have to do what ever the others in their ethnic group are doing. If they don’t then they would be considered the opposite of “cool” and be known as a “wimp”.

Playing the role of “cool” is a big responsibility; there are many that may think that you are cool, but there are always those other individuals that look through another set of eyes. People create different maps of themselves which show what they pay attention to the most. Usually for us teenagers the maps consist of four main components, family and school which are only the small parts and there are friends and school. This all impacts how this individual grows up and how he/she will end up later on in life. For example, research shows that young black kids are more likely not to care about their education and end up doing drugs and dropout of school. Why is this? This is because it all depends on how all these 4 components of this so called map impact the individual; since the role of friends and the media are much more overpowering than the role of family and school the young individual starts to do what the others want them to do. For a white kid this may not be very common, society has already made their “cool” role to have a good education and succeed in life. Is it possible to reverse these roles and put ourselves in another box?

There are many stereotypical things that are said about individuals in different races, and many times they are true. It seems to me that many of these different ethnic groups do not want to be grouped in to these stereotypes. They want to prove that they aren’t what everyone thinks they are; the Asian girl isn’t the one that goes home right after school to read her comic book filled with Chinese characters speaking in Chinese. We all want to break out of this shell and go as far as we can from what people have already labeled us as. Yet, all these ethnicities will be looked under a label that is very hard to change. The white kid will usually be the one that turns out successful, the Asian kid will usually try to find some way to be cool but be brought back down to do what his parents want him to do, and the black kid will be the one out on the streets having trouble with his life. Now these things can be turned around; it all depends on the impact of the society and people they are surrounded with. If the black kid has friends that are aiming to be successful in life then there are higher chances that he will be a part of that as well.

Race has a lot to do with what is considered “cool” and how it has impacted the individual. What’s “cool” for one race may not be that cool for the other yet they still want to fit in and make the “cool” aspect their own. Usually back in the day (and in the present) you see the Black and Hispanic boys with their jeans coming down, underwear showing, and wearing baseball hats. Now, you will be on a subway and see the same idea on a white guy, I’m not saying that it doesn’t work on him but this idea was not really formed by him; he stole it and made it his own. He is fit into the “box” of that certain type of dress ware.

Cool can be a contributive factor to individuals getting worse job opportunities, earlier death, and higher suffering. It all depends on the society and what “everyone” else is doing. For example in an area in Flatbush, Brooklyn the most popular restaurant is the Fried Chicken place. “You will see obese black people feeding themselves this unhealthy food, and their kids as well.” (Andy S.) There is a stereotype saying that a black individual’s favorite food is fried chicken. This is true in some cases, it may not be every single black individual’s favorite type of food but many black people do love their fried chicken. Even simple things like food can become “cool” like. Just because of someone’s skin color they are automatically assumed to like a certain type of food? Since this is true for the Black population, coolness can contribute to earlier death. Same goes for all these other factors that contribute to “cool”. There are other reasons for why coolness can cause higher suffering for different types of people. It’s all about their status and how they are placed through other peoples eyes. For example people can just take a glance at someone’s name on a resume and consider on giving them the job or not. For instance, after the9/11 attacks, many Muslim people had a hard time finding jobs just because of their names. Coolness between ethnicities is pretty hard because it can change through everyday events. Just because some people from a certain group caused something; all of the sudden everyone in the group is being targeted. This causes the higher suffering a certain group gets because their coolness is based on events that don’t have much to do with being cool at all.

Cool is only a 4 letter word, yet it has so many meanings and impacts on different societies. There are so many different types of cools out there and so many people trying to fit into a certain box to be a certain type of cool. We draw our cultural maps based on cool, and this is what takes us to where we end up in life. What will look achievable in our cultural maps is always based on the society the individual lives in because it all depends on what everyone else is doing. There are so many prizes that are given out to be cool: a better status, having people looking at you for an example of cool; yet there are so many things that have a negative impact as well. It’s all about taking risks and what YOU want to do about it. How willing are you to be “cool” because it doesn’t come easy if you don’t have it naturally.