Race structured all of the relationships within the New York City jails. For example, a few months after the uprisings in 1970, the Board of Correction, the public oversight body responsible for providing guidance and advice to the Department of Correction, implemented a plan to hire more non-white Correctional Aides.[26]  These Aides would work to bridge the gap between the guards and the prisoners — specifically Black and Puerto Rican prisoners. President of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, Leo Zeferitte responded to the city’s efforts to hire Black and Puerto Rican Aides as “just more bodies from the ghettos” in his jails.[27] One year later, in the aftermath of the 1971 Attica Prison rebellion, New York City Deputy Warden John Cunningham told assembled guards at Roll-Call that “A bunch of no-good rotten, black radical bastards were the cause of this situation [Attica Uprising].  The only brothers that you guys have are your fellow officers, and you better believe it.  If it happens here there would be no negotiations, we would go straight in to get the men out.”[28] It should be noted that during the Attica uprising, all the prison guards and hostages were white and many openly praised the prisoners about their treatment and supported their demands. Despite this, there was no question about who was on whose side.[29]  Unlike what happened to Warren and Whitaker, the Attica guards experienced no retribution for defending the prisoners. The only thing that separated the Attica guards from Warren and Whitaker was their skin color.

Whitaker was acquitted of conspiracy charges in 1973 and successfully sued to get his job back.[30]  Warren was also cleared of any wrongdoing. Warren and Whitaker, while not prisoners, are a telling part of the narrative around the uprising at the Tombs and its reflection of New York City society at this time.  Both of them were condemned because of their Blackness.  They were under increased scrutinization because they were Black. Their Blackness made them targets that placed them under constant supervision, even though they were law enforcement officers. Any non-white guard or employee working within the New York City jails, from the day they were hired, found that their skin color differentiated them from their peers. They were strangers among friends who were under constant surveillance by their white peers. It wasn’t enough that they were guards or employees, they had to prove their allegiance and differentiate themselves from the prisoners who were their racial peers.  They were condemned, as historian Khalil Gibran Muhammad would argue, because of their Blackness.[31]  

Willie Mack is a PhD student at SUNY-Stony Brook and a contributing editor for Gotham.  His research interests include 20th century U.S. history, race, capitalism, and carceral studies.

[1] David Burnham, “Legal Aid Plans to Sue On Conditions at Tombs,” August 13, 1970 in New York Times, NYTimes.com

[2] David Burnham, “The Tombs Called ‘Dungeon of Fear,’” April 8, 1970, in New York Times, NYTimes.com.

[3] ‘The Tombs Called ‘Dungeon of Fear,’” New York Times.

[4] George J. Rios, “Changes in the New York City Houses of Detention: riots and reactions, August–October 1970 – March 1974”, MPA Thesis, John Jay College, New York, 197.

[5] Laurie Johnston, “Guard Says He Was Warned For Reporting Tombs Beating,” April 24, 1972, NY Times, NYTimes.com; “A Willing Hostage: Alfred Earl Warren,” in NY Times October 5, 1970, NYTimes.com.

[6] “Faster Uppings Sought In Correction Dept.,” New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); May 28, 1966; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News.

[7] “3 New Captains in Corrections Dept.”  New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993) October 21, 1967; The decrease could be because of temporary assignments that had expired.  Needs more research.

[8] "2 Charge Bias in Prison Appointments." New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993),Aug 04, 1973. http://ezproxy.nypl.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/docview/226667087?accountid=35635.

[9] “Faster Uppings Sought In Correction Dept.,” New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993); May 28, 1966; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News.

[10] “Prisoner Grievances,” Aug 11, 1970, New York Times.

[11] Robert D. McFadden, “Prisoners Rebel in 2 More Jails; 23 Held Hostage,” October 3, 1970, in New York Times, NYTimes.com.

[12] “Prisoners Rebel in 2 More Jails; 23 Held Hostage,” New York Times.

[13] “A Willing Hostage: Alfred Earl Warren,” in New York Times October 5, 1970, NYTimes.com.

[14] “A Willing Hostage: Alfred Earl Warren,” New York Times.

[15] Thomas A. Johnson, “Tombs Dismisses Guard Trainee Who Carried Inmates’ Note to the Mayor,” December 18, 1970, New York Times, NYTimes.com.

[16] Johnson, “Tombs Dismisses Guard.”

[17] For more on police recruitment efforts in black communities see Fortner, Black Silent Majority; James Forman Jr., Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America; Dulaney, Black Police; and Bolden, A Study of the Black Guardian Organization. On economic pressures in the black community during this period see Wilhelm, Who Needs the Negro?

[18] Juan M. Vasquez, “Guard is Indicted With 8 Prisoners In Riot at Tombs,” New York Times, January 26, 1971, NYTimes.com. 

[19] Vasquez, “Guard is Indicted.”

[20] Laurie Johnston, “Guard Says He Was Warned For Reporting Tombs Beating,” April 24, 1972, New York Times, NYTimes.com.

[21]  “Guards At Tombs Accused In Rising,” January 11, 1973 NYTimes, NYTimes.com. Barry Gottehrer, an aide to Lindsay at the time of the uprising, also notes that during the uprising, a white prisoner mentioned that for weeks two guards had been encouraging the prisoners to riot, but he acknowledges that he has no proof to support this accusation.

[22] “Two Tombs Guards Testify Co-Worker Encouraged Rioters,” January 9, 1973, New York Times, NYTimes.com.

[23] Johnston, “Guard Says He Was Warned For Reporting Tombs Beating,” New York Times.

[24] C. Gerald Fraser, “Guard Explains Motive In Riot,” January 13, 1973, New York Times, NYTimes.com.

[25] C. Gerald Fraser, “Inmate Testifies In Trial of Guard,” January 12, 1972, New York Times, NYTimes.com; Mack, “Silent Knowledge.”

[26] Crisis in the prisons: New York City responds: a commitment to change. (New York: New York (N.Y.). Department of Correction) 1972.

[27] "Insulting Many," New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993), Oct 16, 1971, NYPL.org.

[28] Paris L. Davis, "Correction Officers Complain," October 2, 1971 in New York Amsterdam News (1962-1993), http://ezproxy.nypl.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/docview/226716651?accountid=35635.

[29] Heather Ann Thompson, Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy,” (New York: Pantheon, 2016): 148.

[30] C. Gerald Fraser, “Guard At Tombs Cleared in Rising,” January 19, 1973, New York Times, NYTimes.com; “Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Correction,” March 4, 1974.

[31] Khalil Gibran Muhammad, The Condemnation of Blackness,” (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010).