in journalism and, on receiving an encouraging response from the journalism department head at Norfolk State University, McCall entered an essay contest and won a year's tuition at the University. He reports his surprise, "it was the second time in months that I'd gone after something--something geared toward self-improvement--and gotten it." With two very positive steps toward his plans for rehabilitation McCall presented himself to the parole board and was granted his conditional release. But, as had happened so many times in his life, he was merely going to come up against the same towering wall of endemic racism and societal lack of interest in his fate.
McCall describes his incredible relief and his strange feelings on his release. His initial feeling was one of pride. As he says, "I was proud that I had survived, and I told myself, then and there, I can do ANYTHING." But, very often, his fears were so strong that they seemed about to override all his plans and heartfelt intentions. He describes incidents such as pulling over in traffic for a police siren when he was illogically but uncontrollably overwhelmed by fear. And he describes the endless, repetitive stream of humiliations that greeted him as he followed the rules and dealt with the criminal justice system and the world of employment. His white parole officer treated him with condescension and repeated rules and regulations of parole in place of showing any conc
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