The Rat that Got Away-Book Review

The Rat That Got Away

Book Review

By Dr. Lori Latrice Martin

Assistant Professor

John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Department of African-American Studies

The Rat That Got Away is much more than a memoir. Sure, within the pages, one can read about a youngster’s transition from boyhood to manhood. One can also read about a sojourn from the hallways of Paterson Houses in the Bronx, to legendary outdoor basketball courts, to the floors of financial institutions in the Europe. Equally significant, are the reflections about a host of issues of interest to scholars and laypersons alike. These issues include: neighborhood change; the influence of various agents of socialization like the family, peers, and religion; the impact of social movements on local communities; variations in the quality of education by race and place; culture shock; the challenges facing student athletes; delinquency; and even identity formation.

As Allen Jones begins his tale, we find the Paterson Houses as a place friendly to families. It began as a multiracial, multiethnic, mixed socioeconomic community with dual-headed households employed in an array of occupations. As time passes, the Paterson Houses becomes a very different place. The change from a stable to a distressed community is attributed to a number of factors, including: white flight, the exodus of middle class blacks, drug use, and drug abuse.

Jones comes of age during some of the most tumultuous times in modern American history, the 1960s and 1970s. Namely, Jones and others lived through the Civil Rights Movement, the black power movement, the antiwar movement, neighborhood blight, drug epidemics, and like many others did not come out unscathed.

As the nation struggled, Allen struggled. His struggles were both internal and external; both personal and communal. Although raised in the Catholic faith, Jones would soon stray from the church’s teachings. He found the sparkle and shine associated with those involved in the underground economy, (i.e. hustlers, drug dealers, drug users, prostitutes, etc.), more attractive. The former church boy would exchange his devotion to the church for “street credibility” which ultimately led to petty theft, a heroin addiction, and a stay in one of New York City’s most notorious penal institutions.

While the nation, the neighborhood and Allen Jones, experienced a lot of changes, one thing that was constant in Allen’s life was his love for basketball. Clearly, Jones was a gifted athlete and like many young people today, he had dreams of becoming a professional athlete. Many young people envision success as a professional athlete as their best chance of escaping a distressed community. Ironically, basketball was not his ticket out of a distressed community; rather, in some ways basketball kept him connected to it.

Among the individuals with the greatest street credibility, a great commodity in the Paterson Houses and other distressed communities, were hustlers, drug dealers, musicians, and athletes. Not only was he treated with the utmost respect by individuals contributing to the decline of the quality of life in the community, but the star treatment he received, left him ill prepared for the “real world,” for the “world” outside of the Paterson Houses.

Because of the special treatment that Allen Jones received as an elite basketball player, he bought into the notion that as long as he excelled in athletics, little else would be expected of him. This clearly conflicted with the expectations that his parents had for him and the expectations he once had for himself. This cost Allen tremendously. Allen was under the mistaken belief, as is the case for far too many student athletes; that they will just get a pass through life. That teachers and/or professors will promote student athletes regardless of their academic performance. Needless to say, Allen Jones did not receive the quality of education that would facilitate admission into the type of college that is part of the professional athletics pipeline. This was partly Allen’s fault as well as a failure on the part of the educational system. Allen, like some other student athletes, forgot that they he was a student first and an athlete second.

Once Jones realizes the importance of excelling on and off the court, his eyes widen, his universe expands. This is evidenced in the culture shock he experiences. Allen Jones does not need to go to Europe before experiencing culture shock, much like students of color on predominately white college campuses today, he experienced culture shock without ever leaving the U.S.

He was surprised by the disparities in wealth he witnessed. The level of wealth that existed among the faculty and the students at the junior college and the people living in and around Paterson Houses was very apparent. Moreover, Allen Jones was shocked at the audacity shown by some white students in their drug use compared to the secrecy, paranoia and covert use in more distressed communities such as the community surrounding the Paterson Houses. Allen was becoming acutely aware of the benefits associated with what some scholars call white privilege.

The life and times of Allen Jones are reflective of the many challenges facing individuals, families, communities, and the nation as whole. Although Allen’s story has a happy ending, it is reflective of a concept that is getting increased attention in the sociological literature, strategic assimilation. Strategic assimilation is generally applied to the black middle class and holds that some members of the black middle class attempt to maintain various social ties in the “black world” while maintaining a foothold in the “white world.” Their ties to the black community often times involves membership in historically black institutions like the black church or organizations like Jack and Jill and their foothold in the “white world” involves taking up residency in predominately white neighborhoods, employment in predominately white professions, and enrollment in predominately white high schools, preparatory schools and colleges.

Allen, like many young people living in distressed communities that are often also racially and ethnically homogeneous, faced the challenge of trying to maintain credibility with those involved in illicit activities, while at the same time reaching for higher heights. The book offers some insight into the struggle that young people face and some explanation as to why some succumb to the pressures while others do not.

For one, it is evident that the amount of pressure placed on young people in distressed communities may vary by gender. Young males may be more likely to succumb to such pressures than young females, which is not to say that young females are immune. Strong family values and the presence of positive adult role models is important too as is the accumulation of not only monetary capital but social capital. Much of Allen’s ultimate success came from the strong foundation laid by his parents and from the social capital and social networks he developed and nurtured due in large part to his status as an elite athlete.

The Rat That Got Away , in many ways, serves as a model for helping a subset of young people that all too often find themselves in the same situation as Allen, torn between the glitter and glamour of illicit activities and legitimate pathways to wealth, status and power. The Rat That Got Away , is a must read for high school and first generation college students who are but one poor decision away from realizing the proverbial American dream.