1. Whiteness and racism are related because many societies have always embraced whiteness as a symbol of privilege, power, and superiority. Racial hierarchies where people of color are treated poorly and white people are at the top have resulted from this. Whiteness has been a major factor in the formation of racial disparities in income and opportunity within capitalism, as well as the structure of economic systems. The term “racial capitalism” describes the relationship between capitalism and racism, because oppression and abuse of people of color is necessary for capitalist economies to function. Within capitalist systems, racism will endure as long as whiteness is maintained as the norm and given advantages. According to Gilmore, real freedom from racial capitalism can only come about through the overthrow of the systems and power relationships that support whiteness and feed racism. A fundamental change in society’s norms and beliefs would be necessary to achieve a more equal and just system for all people, regardless of race.
2. The jail system makes an ongoing flow of people who meet the criteria to be classified as criminals, which leads to creating the concept of the “criminal person”. This may be done by lengthening the sentences of those already incarcerated or by expanding the number of people classified as criminals. Also, the system increases the number of actions that are deemed illegal, which results in more people being locked up by the law. I do agree with Gilmore’s view because it’s a lot of people who served 15+ years for having only a gram of weed on them, so now when those people come out they already have less opportunity to get a job or home because of their record.
3. Based on Gilmore’s last part in the video, how I understand “liberation struggle” is in these struggles, the power structures that are in place are challenged and social change is effected through organizing, researching, and discussing a variety of topics, such as racism, colonialism, and citizenship. People join together to establish and rebuild unity in the hope of living together in more just and equitable ways, and this is how “liberation struggle” is portrayed as a type of radical dependence and solidarity.

1. The Supreme Court dismissed the Walmart class action lawsuit due to a lack of “commonality” among the plaintiffs. Commonality means the legal issues that peers have in common. The Court decided that the female employees’ cases could not be tried together since they did not experience the same kinds of discrimination. Justice Scalia stated that it would be impossible to address every claim with a single response without the presence of a common factor. The Court mainly used its focus on “commonality” as support for its decision to dismiss the case.

1. People are more protected by the court system, especially the Supreme Court than by elected branches of government like the President or Congress. This is because the court can look at laws and government actions to ensure they follow the Constitution. For example, the Supreme Court supported people’s right to equal treatment under the law in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), ruling that racial school segregation was unconstitutional. Although popular opinion can influence the decisions made by elected officials, the courts choose to uphold the Constitution and defend the rights of all people, regardless of their minority status.  The court system ensures that people’s rights are protected and serves as a check on the government’s authority.
2. Federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, are selected rather than elected, which has been criticized as anti-democratic. However, it is acceptable with the republican ideals presented in Federalist Paper #10. James Madison believed that it is essential for a democratic society to restrict the negative consequences of division. By selecting judges, it is possible to choose them based on their skills and abilities rather than allegiance or popular opinion. This procedure guarantees a judicial system that follows minority rights and the Constitution. The selection of federal judges helps to strike an agreement between the requirement for judicial independence and democratic ideals, while the opinion of some that it is anti-democratic.

1. The First Amendment’s Establishment Clause prevents the government from choosing a state religion or favoring one over another. It supports the separation of church and state and guarantees religious freedom. The Lemon Test created by the Supreme Court is divided into three sections: First, there should be no excessive religious influence on government policy. Second, it should be neutral and neither help nor restrict religious activity. Finally, the activity needs to reach an independent objective, which means it can’t be religious. This standard serves as an example to review policies and regulations to make sure they maintain the separation of church and state and religious freedom.
2. Based on the ruling in the Supreme Court decision Texas v. Johnson (1989), burning the American flag is protected by the First Amendment. The Court ruled that burning the flag counts as symbolic speech in this case and is protected by the freedom of expression section of the Constitution. This ruling confirmed that, by the First Amendment, even controversial acts like burning flags are protected forms of expression
3. When people say, “I’m taking the Fifth,” they are referring to the US Constitution’s Fifth Amendment. This amendment allows people to refuse to answer questions or provide evidence that could lead to their conviction in a criminal case. Because of this, someone can claim they’re “taking the Fifth” to protect themselves if they don’t want to say something that could land them in legal trouble.

1. P. Williams discusses how the war on terror is different from traditional wars in her essay. First, she claims that the enemy isn’t a nation like in World War II, but rather a mysterious organization of terrorists who don’t follow the laws. They are difficult to stop since they can attack at any time or place. Their ways of fighting are also different. Terrorists use strategies like chemical weapons and suicide bombs instead of tanks and soldiers. It’s hard for regular troops to handle, and the battle is unfair. The best course of action from a legal and ethical point of view is another highly debated topic. Some of the actions governments take, such as watching citizens and arresting them without charge or trial, lead to serious concerns about justice and rights. Also, war messes with people’s minds. It’s about spreading fear and uncertainty in everyone, not just about battles and bombs. That has an effect on society as a whole, changing people’s behavior and way of life

2. Based off “Roving Wiretaps” in the Patriot Act , this act break the Fourth Amendment, which says the government can’t search or seize someone’s stuff without a good reason. This law doesn’t state who or what they’re looking for so innocent people might get spied on. Also, it seems it can mess with the Fifth Amendment, which protects us from saying things that could make us look guilty. If someone’s under surveillance without a clear reason, they might accidentally say something that makes them look bad.
3. The “Sneak & Peek” warrants in the Patriot Act could also violate the Fourth Amendment. This amendment usually requires law enforcement to get a warrant based on probable cause and to tell the person being searched about it. But with sneak and peek warrants, the FBI can search without telling the person right away. This could be unfair because it doesn’t allow the person to dispute the search.

1. The primary differences in the role of the citizen in a government among the federal, confederation, and unitary systems are that in federal systems, citizens interact with both the state and national government, in confederation systems the citizens interact with the state government, and in unitary systems, citizens interact with an central government.
2. How I understand the division of power is that there often fount in Federalist government and they share responsibilities between the two governments, federal and state.
3. Based on how the federal government influenced the actions of NYS and local governments they implemented mask and vaccine guidelines, financial aid, and health guidelines.

1. Reading 6.1 shows the economic status of the Constitution’s framers, describing them as elites. Typically, they were wealthy businessmen, lawyers, slave owners, and landowners. James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington are a few examples of these people. Reading 6.2 shows the framers were mainly apart of the real property holding class, which included small farmers, manorial lords, and plantations that kept slaves. To protect their advantages in politics and the economy, these people had a stake in the Constitution’s development. As in reading 6.2, the classes excluded from the Constitutional process were women, indentured servants, slaves, and those who were ineligible to vote.

2. In the readings, the social class structure of early American society is different from society as of today. Neglected communities were left out, and the framers of the Constitution belonged to an exclusive class of landowners. The social and economic status is now determined by a wider variety of details, such as education, and occupation.

3. The framers were afraid of democracy because they feared the working may have an impact on laws that would go against the wealthy class’s financial interests. In reading 6.2, Madison advised against the industrial masses from having an excessive amount of influence in politics because it could jeopardize public liberty and property rights.

1. The concept of “faction” in Federalist #10 relates to the idea of diverse social groups or classes with different goals, as explained in Reading 6.2. Similar to the social groups Beard stated as a result of economic interests, Madison’s “faction” refers to groups brought together by shared interests.
2. In Federalist No. 10, James Madison states that the diversity of human skills is the origin of private property. This variety, which relates to personal abilities and skills gives way to different kinds and levels of property ownership. The different skill levels of people decide who is wealthy through private property.
3. In my opinion, I agree to a degree. The reason is that in today’s day and age various jobs and skills are required, such as being a surgeon or lawyer, you can’t just wake up and decide one day you want to pursue that. Even if you read or watch videos you’re still not qualified as you still need schooling, mentoring, and internships to prove your worth to become that which is why those jobs are some of the highest paying jobs. Now, on the other hand, people can obtain wealth easily through social media which makes it hard to agree or disagree with his statement as people question whether or not people who obtain wealth through social media are skillful or not.
4. The core mission aka the first object of the US government is to protect the diverse and unequal rights to acquire property, to maintain social order, and to prevent factional conflicts. It sounds different to me given the standards society has of the government today, which involves more responsibilities such as social welfare, justice, and equality.
5. It doesn’t surprise me knowing they prefer a Republican representative knowing that they still have the power and put more money into their pockets, while making the people think they have the power.

1. The most shocking statistic of wealth inequality on page 29 is that the top 1% owns 40-50% of the nation’s wealth. It’s shocking to me because the US is one of the most powerful nations in the world and with that would come money but to think almost half the wealth is from the top 1% is wild.
2. The biggest implication of a society that has huge wealth inequalities is unequal wages. I don’t see this being played out because the big corporations in the world today help fund campaigns for Congress as I learned in my sociology class. So if that’s the case and they help contribute to the nation’s wealth, why would anything change if it’s a win-win for the nations powerful and wealthiest figures