It’s the Same Old Song

• Author: Vernetta Young
• DOI: 10.1177/21533687211015953
• Published date: 01 July 2021
• Date: 01 July 2021
• Subject Matter: Afterword

Afterword

It’s the Same Old Song

Vernetta Young

1

I must begin by saying that I have never written an afterword. I didn’t even know

what an afterword was. But of course I looked it up and mused about it for a while, so

here it goes.

I have read the experiences of my eight colleagues as graduate students and faculty

members. My initial response, which is specific to the shared comments of those who

elected to share their stories with the readers, was “The more things change the more

things stay the same.” But as I reviewed the experiences of my colleagues it is as

though the more things stay the same the more they stay the same. My next query was:

Can you have ground hog day with different actors experiencing the same thing over

and over again? That is how this same old song feels.

A number of the same old songs kept repeating themselves: tokenism; isolation;

and the “angry Black.” Let’s start with tokenism. Dr. Ojmarrh Mitchell focused

specifically on tokenism in criminology and criminal justice departments. He

reviewed the works of Greene, Gabbidon, and Wilson (2018) which indicated that

there were few or no Black professors in tenure or tenure track positions at the 41 PhD

graduate Criminology and Criminal Justice Departments. Reflecting on the past Dr.

Mitchell reported that as a graduate student at the University of Maryland there were

two Black professors on faculty. Unfortunately he had not taken a course from either

of them before they left the department. Dr. Mitchell reports that as of October 2020

things remained pretty much the same which means either one or none.

Dr. Richardson and others also focused on the lack of Black professors. Dr.

Richardson who was on faculty at the same University reported that the number of

Black faculty went from 10%when he began his tenure in 2006 to 5%in 2021. It is

important to note that these observations cover the last twenty plus years.

1

Howard University, Washington, DC, USA

Corresponding Author:

Vernetta Young, Howard University, 2300 6th Street NW | Suite 1124, Washington, DC 20059, USA.

Email: vyoung@howard.edu

Race and Justice

2021, Vol. 11(3) 355–357

ªThe Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/21533687211015953

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