Abstract
In Rethinking Prison Reentry: Transforming Humiliation into Humility, Gaskew provides an insightful look into the cultural, social, and intellectual processes and nuances underpinning the transformation of incarcerated Black males into incarcerated students. He argues this process entails a need to own truths pertaining to racism, White supremacy, and White privilege. In writing this book review, as coauthors, we are very aware that racism remains prevalent. How? Because, quite simply, we worry about if we are or will be perceived as qualified to comment on the lived experiences of Black men or if anything we write may be misinterpreted. This concern about being misunderstood means racism runs strong. The concern of not being qualified, perhaps because we are White women, supports it is prevalent. Yet ignoring these concerns would also mean that we continue to ignore or even downplay the power of what Gaskew describes as the “invisible elephant in the room” (p. 11). In doing so we would, unintentionally, only perpetuate—rather than do our part to reduce—racism. It is from this perspective that we review the current book, recognizing, acknowledging, and disappointed in the fact that racism is embedded in societies. Further, Gaskew’s work is timely, Black male experiences need to be written about—there are too many racial ‘realities’ and ‘incidents’ in the American and broader criminal justice systems—as is made only too evident in the news and other media outlets. Racism is a serious problem.
Tony Gaskew is a Black former police officer, now tenured faculty member in the United States. He draws on his lived experiences as a Black man, including his upbringing in Chicago and the teachings of his father, alongside his experiences as a Black practitioner within the criminal justice system and as a Black academic who educates Black incarcerated students. Using the work of Zuberi and Bonilla-Silva (2008, p. 7), Gaskew first explains that race is “not about an individual’s skin color. Race is about the individual’s relationship to other people within society … within this construct, the person of color does not exist outside of his or her otherness” (p. 4). He then unapologetically highlights the inherent flaw in the American criminal justice system: It developed out of and continues to actively reproduce racial disparities. As such the criminal justice system was defective from its conception and continues to be shaped by racially oppressive beliefs that directly and indirectly affect citizens. Any failure to recognize the racism, White supremacy, and White privilege ingrained within the criminal justice system and criminal justice legislation produces not only naivety but also complacency.
To this end, he merges his life experiences, including his otherness, and his knowledge of the criminal justice system to develop the Humiliation to Humility Perspective (HHP). HHP is the process through which incarcerated Black men may find their own truths and choose either to live within or move out of what he refers to as the “black counterculture of crime.” It is a way to address the politics of shaming, self-segregation, and transgenerational learned helplessness and provide a glimmer of hope by helping incarcerated Black men overcome challenges and take ownership over their lives. He boldly writes that “there are no excuses for abandoning your children, family, and community for a prison cell” (p. 50) and instead uses HHP to encourage incarcerated Black male students to view prison, not as an extension of their identities as Black Americans but instead as an inspiration for transforming the prison environment into a place of learning. He suggests that previous evidence-based reentry programs for incarcerated men have largely failed because they define prisoners as ‘offenders’ instead of considering individual characteristics, cultural realities, and, most centrally, race. The prisoner population and the corresponding programming are then homogenized rather than individualized and in this process, Black males appear to fall ‘through the gaps’.
Gaskew, in arguing that Black incarcerated students need more than skills to make the transition from prison to community, highlights how “stay out of prison” programs fail to recognize and adequately address the myriad of truths associated with their lived experiences and the communities they were removed from. He advocates that by owning truths, through understanding their history and the criminal justice system, Black incarcerated students can become fully equipped to choose desistance over the “black counterculture of crime.” In this context, Gaskew presents the history of slavery as a narrative of cruelty and oppression as well as of incredible resistance and resiliency. In doing so, he forces the reader to recognize history in a page turning fashion that is needed and exquisitely done.
Gaskew’s makes powerful assertions in his chapter Jim Crow Jr., where he addresses the impact of racism on children. In a pertinent discussion, he explains the lasting effects incarceration has on families, including perpetual poverty, low levels of education, and the higher propensity for children with incarcerated fathers to end up in prison themselves. He voices concern for kids who witness a parent—specifically their father—being arrested, stressing that children are the future and must not view incarceration as a normal part of the Black American lived experience. He asserts that amid a failing system, the choices of individuals to create and maintain change will have a lasting effect on future generations.
Gaskew suggests that reformation of the lived experiences of Black men requires the actions and accountability of all those involved in the criminal justice system as well as those behind bars. His confrontational approach to truth reconciliation requires that each person in the system face the realities of their position: Black prisoners must understand and appreciate their history; White students in inside–outside programs their White privilege; and White teachers (specifically White women) their limitations when addressing issues tied to race. This also opens the door for future researchers to look at the lived experiences of incarcerated Black women as well as those in the community whose husbands, fathers, sons, and so on are behind bars. The HHP provides a framework to help understand the experiences of Black women.
Overall, this book serves as an incitement to action for those involved in criminal justice and those incarcerated. Gaskew reminds us that our own lived experiences are engulfed within a larger reality that may be influenced by the racism, White supremacy, and White privilege inherent within criminal justice institutions.