Beyond Access: Advancing Racial Equity and Inclusion in Prison Education Programs

By Allan Wachendorfer, Kayla James, Eurielle Kiki, Niloufer Taber January 2024

Foreword

Shaping educational institutions to serve those most marginalized
in our society is a critical element of racial and social justice. That is
why this report’s focus on overcoming inequities in postsecondary
education in prison is such a shining example of the Vera Institute of
Justice’s (Vera’s) Race, Equity, and Inclusion (REI) efforts.
At Vera, we hold dearly our antiracist and equity principles. For
more than three years, Vera’s REI department—preceded by a staffed REI initiative—has been dedicated to supporting Vera staff in
applying an intersectional, antiracist, anti-oppressive focus and
approach to the work we do internally and externally. We name our
focus and approach as addressing race first because of its outsized
effects on workplaces and the criminal legal and immigration
systems that we aim to transform. However, we do not limit our
REI focus to race; we are also deeply dedicated to gender equity,
queer liberation, disability justice, equity for people who have been
system-impacted, and other forms of equity and justice.
This focus and dedication, and the action that results from them,
are especially important at this critical juncture in the country’s
history. During the past decade, we’ve seen a surge of racial justice
organizing, activating, advocating, and protesting, particularly in
reaction to the police killings of Black people in the United States.
In response to every major, Black-led movement for racial justice
in the United States, white-led backlash has always been fierce.
The current spate of lawmaking and book-banning aimed at
whitewashing this country’s racist history and present shows us
again the force of this fierceness. As critical race theory, ‘wokeness’,
and even diversity, equity, and inclusion have been vilified and
attacked, the U.S. Supreme Court has jumped in to join these efforts
by eliminating affirmative action in higher education and abortion
rights, decisions whose far-reaching negative effects fall uniquely on
Black, Indigenous, and other people of color.

Now, as much as ever, we need to counteract the racial and social
miseducation that poisons so much of our mainstream media and
public discourse, misguides our institutions, and gravely damages
us all. And arguably, the most equitable place to start undoing
miseducation of all sorts is behind carceral walls, where our society
tragically sends so many people to be dehumanized and forgotten.
In 1964, Malcolm X said, “Education is our passport to the future,
for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” We are so
proud that our colleagues on Vera’s Unlocking Potential Initiative
have worked diligently to ensure that more people in prison have
their passport to an enriched, dignified future. This report is
testament to those years of work, and we hope it inspires you to
invest in bright futures for people who are in prison or otherwise
impacted by the criminal legal system.

To read the full report click here.

This report was originally published by the Vera Institute of Justice.