1. I think that the connection between whiteness and racism rely on the idea that whites don’t limit racism to race. She declares how capitalism is a way of racism as well. Whiteness uses capitalism to maintain their statues by having the working class under their control. 

2.I totally agree with Gilmore’s argument. I believe that the system is built in a way so a particular group of the society are the target to be seen as “criminals” by the justice system in our nation. Gilmore explained how in the state of California, the construction of prisons started 23 years ago. She pointed out the interrogation of why they decided to build prisons when they could have constructed houses, parks or schools. It is a way to maintain a particular group controlled by the mass incarceration policy that exists in our county. Now, if we think about the group that is the victim from the mass incarceration, the answer is very easy and clear: black and brown folks. It’s not a secret that prisons are overcrowded of black inmates that are behind bars under the tag of “criminal”. Most of the time serving an unjust sentencing. However, that is right there in how the category of criminals is perpetuated. 

3. I believe that what she calls the “liberation struggle” is the fight that exists for minority communities that are often pressed by the upper class to leave their communities. She explained the case of the members of the community of Almora. They were asked to leave their community with the promise that they were going to be replaced in another community. However, they stick together as a group to fight for what they called “their home” To me, a way to not fail under the upper class desires of taking their community down to build another complex.

1. What did the Supreme Court decide in the Wal-Mart case? And more importantly, how did it justify its decision? 

In a 5-4 decision, The Supreme Court dismissed the case in Walmart’s favor. They justified their decision by saying that they could not base their decision because not all of the 1.5 million female Walmart employees were denied the opportunities that their male’s coworkers had. The members of the court used the word “commonality” to base their decision. Commonality means to share the same interests. In this case, the Supreme Court alleged that not all the female co workers suffered the same discrimination as Mrs. Duke. That just made me very upset because there is no way that 1.5 million of employees were going to report the same racist act against them. At the end of the day, there were employees from all over the nation who didn’t have the same manager. To me, it’s obvious that they could; have the same gender discrimination treatment as Mrs. Dukes. However, I believe that this is not a valid argument from the Supreme Court to fail this specific case. Or at least, that is my opinion. 

1. What did the Supreme Court decide in the Wal-Mart case? And more importantly, how did it justify its decision? 

In a 5-4 decision, The Supreme Court dismissed the case in Walmart’s favor. They justified their decision by saying that they could not base their decision because not all of the 1.5 million female Walmart employees were denied the opportunities that their male’s coworkers had. The members of the court used the word “commonality” to base their decision. Commonality means to share the same interest. In this case, the Supreme Court alleged that not all the female co workers suffered the same discrimination as Mrs. Duke. That just made me very upset because there is no way that 1.5 million of employees were going to report the same racist act against them. At the end of the day, there were employees from all over the nation who didn’t have the same manager. To me, it’s obvious that they could; have the same gender discrimination treatment as Mrs. Dukes. However, I believe that this is not a valid argument from the Supreme Court to fail this specific case. Or at least, that is my opinion. 

1. I believe that having a dual court system provides us all as citizens more ways to be protected by the law. I think that this system is built in a way  that guarantees the protection of the individual’s rights. When I was reading through this module’s lectures I noticed how the separation of the courts on federal and state level is a form in which, depending on the type of case, it’s going to be assigned to the right court level. I noticed that the state level is where most of the cases are heard and solved. Despite other branches of the government such as the President himself or the Mayor of the city, to me, courts play a more important role because they work first hand with people. The president or the Mayor are less likely to hear from citizens. However, courts guarantee people that they are going to have a secure trial and also that their rights are going to be protected.

2.Totally agree. In my opinion, the “election” of judges is just one more example of  how ideology, class, and power work together in order to become a force of authority in this country. The Supreme Court is a very good example of this. The most important court of our nation is formed by 9 judges. Each judge whose appointment is nominated by the president. Very convenient right? To me, the fact that the president is the one who nominates their judges is a form of establishing his/her ideologies in the most important court of the country. It’s like electing one of their friends to be their vice-president, but more important than that. If we notice the fact that Supreme Court’s judges stay in their position forever (it’s a lifetime job), to me, what the president does is securing himself by having an ally inside of the Supreme Court. I mean, If I were the President I would do the same lol. All of this just makes me go back to the fact that class again plays a huge role in order to become some sort of authority in our government system.

1. Patricia Williams states in her essay that “A war against terrorism is a war of the mind”. She explained how a war on terror is different from traditional wars  because war on terror  is based on emotionalism  rather than “a war against specific bodies, specific land, specific resources” which are the elements of a traditional war. The war on terror attacks peoples’ minds by making whoever becomes the enemy afraid.

2. I believe that the “Roving Wiretaps” seems to violate the Bill of Rights, the Fourth Amendment to be specific. I believe that the “roving Wiretaps” seems to violate the FOurth Amendment because this amendment is intended to protect citizens against “overzealous efforts by law enforcement to root out crime by ensuring that police have good reason before they intrude on people’s lives with criminal investigations.” 
3. The “Sneak and Peek” Warrants are also a form of violation of the fourth amendment. In my opinion, the sneak and peek is a contradiction of this amendment because under the protection of this clause it states that “government officials are required to apply for and receive a search warrant prior to a search or seizure; this warrant is a legal document, signed by a judge, allowing police to search and/or seize persons or property”. In the case of the “Sneak and Peek”, I believe that is directly violating this right, because it allows investigators to search the houses of certain criminals without a search warrant, which is precisely what the Fourth Amendment is trying to protect.

1. The Establishment Clause is a part of the First Amendment that ensures the protection of religious freedom. This clause also protects the people by having a set of religions imposed by the government or other authorities. 

The Lemon test is an exclusion to the Establishment Clause. Under the Lemon test, the government can decide about your religion if it meets a criteria of three parts. 

2. Burning the US flag protection by the First Amendment is a result of the Texas v. Johnson case. In this case, the Supreme Court claimed “that burning the flag was a form of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment and found the law, as applied to flag desecration, to be unconstitutional.” 

3. When someone says “I’m taking the Fifth” means that that person is taking his/her right of remaining silent which is protected by the Fifth Amendment. The right of remaining silent is also known as right against “self-incrimination”

1. In the Federal system, the authority is divided between states and the national government. The federal system is the one followed by our nation, where citizens vote for their leaders, are intended to participate in a jury, etc. Citizens vote for their senators, their presidents according to this type of system. 

In a Confederation system citizens have most power because this type of system the authority is under the States and the National Government. The primary objective of citizens within this type of system is the right to vote for their representatives.

In a Unitary system, citizens are in most of the cases not involved in decisions, that means that the central government is in charge of the decisions that are made. An unitary type of system the national government is the authority, followed by the states. 

2. I think that the division of power is a way that in my opinion helps to organize a nation’s structure. It is a form to divide the variations of branches and institutions that a country is conformed by. In our case, the United State’s division of power is divided in 3 branches as it was explained in the video for this module. We have the Legislative power, the Executive power, and the Judicial power. I believe that this organization helps our country to divide by institutions the different matters of our government. 

3. The federal government often shapes the actions of the state and the local government in certain ways. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government shaped the actions of both local and state by taking grants to help citizens to go through the confinement. In 2020 the Bureau of the Fiscal Service and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) sent out three rounds of direct checks payments to Americans to get through the pandemic. According to the U.S Department of treasury, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 “provided Economic Impact Payments of up to $1,400 for eligible individuals or $2,800 for married couples filing jointly, plus $1,400 for each qualifying dependent, including adult dependents”. This is a perfect example of how the federal government influenced actions not only of the NY but all across our nation during the COVID-19/

1. By both readings, I can surely say that the social class who wrote the Constitution was the upper class. A class formed by white men which is a little bit ironic for me considering the fact that the Constitution says that “[We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal].” However, they were leaving certain groups outside of this claim. They wrote that we are all equal but left out people from the lower class as we see in the next quote from reading 6.2 [“our groups whose economic status had a definite legal expression: the slaves, the indentured servants, the mass of men who could not qualify for voting].” Another point that made me concluded that the responsible to wrote the Constitution were white folks from the upper class is pointed out in the next quote from reading 6.1 “In 1787, just such wealthy and powerful “gentlemen,” our “Founding Fathers,” congregated in Philadelphia for the professed purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation and strengthening the central government.” 

2. Of course yes, a hundred percent sure. I would say that until this day, the United States society is following the same structure when it comes to class position as the one followed back in the time of the Constitution’s writing.  Today we still have the upper class dominating almost the entire wealth of the country, the lower class drawing in debts, and we still see how the working class are still making company’s owners jobs for a minimum salary. That is why I believe that we are still following that social class structure as the early United States Society.

3. Because a government of total democracy doesn’t benefit private property which was exactly what the people who wrote the Constitution were trying to protect. The people who wrote the Constitution were rich trying to save their interest which were their goods and everything that they had.

1. The concept of faction reminds me of when we went over the concept of “ideology.” 

2. I believe that James Madison pointed out the fact that some people rely on their beliefs when it comes to getting private property or not . That means that some people hold themselves from acquiring private property because they don’t have the same opportunity as others to try to get private property. When he uses the word “faculties” I think that he is referring to the different ways of how people’s think, their beliefs and their point of view. 

3. I agree. I think that this explanation actually describes why the rich are getting richer by benefiting from the working class’s effort. I do believe that of course, wealthy people are more likely to have a more open mindset in business, why is why they are not afraid of investing their money and keep getting profit out of that. 

4. The core mission of the US government is to protect the faculties discussed in the article by James Madison. It surprised me because I thought that the core mission of the government was related to citizen;s safety or something like that, but apparently that is not the case lol.

5. No, I’m not surprised. That doesn’t surprise me because it is not a secret that a democratic government doesn’t benefit private property. When I say private property I’m not only talking about the upper class, I’m also referring to company’s owners, or people that own little businesses but that still have their own employees. I also believe that a republic form of government is the one that maintains the social class structure that we all live in the United States today. A system where the benefits are just a few ones who are the same ones who basically own almost the whole nation’s fortune.