Non-Verbal cues are the signs and signals that a sender unconsciously displays. The message, which can convey status, as well as a plethora of other interpersonal relations, received depends on the receiver’s interpretation. In today’s society, overt displays of dominance or leadership are often interpreted as aggressive or threatening among bystanders of other races, instances of African-American male dominance are often misconstrued. This is due to the common misconception that African-American men hold low status socially and professionally. Therefore, expectation violations occur when dominant behavior is perceived, which may lead to jail or death for many young men. After doing an extensive literature review and realizing there is little direct observational studies, I designed a study that would identify dominance displays among African American males. I observed groups of African-American males interacting in downtown Iowa City in July of 2012. I recorded the subjects’ behavior in three categories: proxemics - how people space themselves is relation to others, paralinguistics - characteristics of speech patterns, and gestures- body movements occurring in clusters. I then considered the factors that influenced the interactions, such as competition, age, location and bystanders, before identifying the alpha male of each group. "