1. The connection between whiteness and racism is deeply rooted in the social and political construct that it means to be white. Whiteness automatically comes with privilege and advantages and resources and power meanwhile for people who are other skin colors these things are limited or sometimes just not available. Ruth Gilmore is saying this problem won’t stop being about race because as long as white people exist the system will always be set up for them to be at an advantage.
2. According to Gilmore, the prison system creates new criminals or even more by defunding public services offered to help people such as schools, healthcare, and proper housing and chooses to fund even more prison systems. This system causes harm by isolating those who fit the category of “criminals” denying their chances of better opportunities, making it hard for past criminals to re-enter society  and to integrate themselves in the community is almost impossible. I agree with her view on this because in a lot of unfair cases where people are framed simply because they fit the description of what society deems to be a criminal aka anyone that isn’t white.  A big example of this is the Central Park 5 case where 5 kids both black and latino were wrongfully convicted in a brutal rape and murder of white female jogger. They were coerced and pressured into confessing despite their several attempts at telling the police they had no involvement. They even served several years of prison time before they were finally released.
3. Professor Gilmore defines liberation struggle as place-based struggles that are happening within a community and can differ based on different communities. This also aims to get rid of racial capitalism and helps build a world full of more equality. A big way they can begin to achieve this would be abolition such as the tearing down of several prison institutes to instead build something that could help better the community or encourage the people to do better.
   
   
   
   
   

Name: Kyaw Thu Win
CUNY ID: 24602397

1. Connection between “whiteness” and racism

I think Ruth Gilmore is saying that whiteness is treated as normal and powerful in society. Because of this, racism can continue without people always noticing it. Whiteness often decides who gets more chances and who does not, so racism becomes part of the system, not only about personal hate.

2. How the prison system creates new “criminals” and my opinion

According to Gilmore, the prison system creates criminals by labeling people and keeping them stuck in that role. After prison, it is very hard to find jobs or live a normal life, so many people are pushed back into crime again. I agree with her view because the system focuses more on punishment than helping people change.

3. What I understand by “liberation struggle”

I understand liberation struggle as people working together to change unfair systems. It is not only about one group, but about freedom for everyone. It takes time, effort, and people refusing to accept injustice as something normal.

1)The connection between “whiteness” and racism is that “whiteness” usually operates by shaping laws, economic systems and social opportunities that benefit white people not any people of color. Racism is something people do that sometimes they don’t even realize they are doing. In a way “whiteness” kind of helps normalize inequality.

2)I agree with Gilmore the prison system does create new criminals because of the limited access to education, unemployment, the bad sentencing laws and the targeting certain neighborhoods.

3)”Liberation Struggle” to Gilmore is the efforts people make to create systems that values the human life and not the value of punishment and control. In Gilmore eyes liberation is freedom for people to live safely with education, healthcare and housing.

DB 14.1

1.Ruth Gilmore says that capitalism will stop being racial capitalism, when all the white people disappear from the story. What’s the connection between “whiteness” and racism, do you think?

Ruth Gilmore doesn’t talk about white people as actual individuals, but actually about the social class that the “white people” is composed by. Currently our social classes are divided in a way that the elite and people in power is white, as well as every conotation around that, for example, when someone talks about anything being white, it is automatically associated as something being safe, better and legal, but if you make the exact same comment with a different race, like Black for example, then the conotation perceived by a lot of people is that it’s bad, unsafe and ilegal. The connection between whiteness and racism is clear because in our current society the white social class is the thermomether and “ideal” that we use and makes so that every other race is immediately inferior and a minority.

2.Gilmore makes the point that criminals are actually being created by the criminal justice and prison system (she says “the category of ‘criminal person’ can be perpetuated”). According to Gilmore, how does that happen, how does the prison system create new “criminals“? Do you agree with her view?

Gilmore states that our criminal justice system doesn’t just reply to crime, it actually produces a different category for people that commit crimes, as she describes it: a “criminal person”, and that brings different issues in a community, a person that has ever been condenmed as a criminal by our criminal justice system will forever carry that in her name, making it extremelly difficult for that person to reabilitate in society, find jobs, provide for families etc. That makes it so one crime makes them commit other crimes as they can’t rejoin society.

And also, this system being the way it is also enables the criminal justice system to target minorities groups specially people of color.

I agree with Gilmore’s point of view, as our criminal justice system works on punishing and creating fear, stating that being a criminal is “bad” and that if you do it, you will end up like them. But on an ideal world, the criminal justice system should, instead, work on providing equal access to everyone in society, equal and fair pay to all, so that no one would need to commit crimes to get something that the otherwise would never be able to.

3. Describe how your understand what Prof. Gilmore – in the last part of her video – calls “liberation struggle”?

I understand the liberation struggle as trying to disconnect from system that currently removes people from society, and instead of punishing and labeling someone, we should all provide education, healthcare, reliable housing and etc, not only for the so called criminal, but for all.

When writing about this week’s topic, I started thinking, isn’t crime and the way he punish people just another way that the elite has to control us? Isn’t it just another way to show that they’re the good guys, and we’re the bad ones, while they have all the access and money that they need, while we all struggle to make a living, leading to crime.

1. What’s the connection between “whiteness” and racism, do you think?
   Ruth Gilmore says racism isn’t just about personal prejudice it’s built into how society works. Capitalism depends on inequality, and racism is a way to keep that inequality in place. Whiteness isn’t just about being white, it’s about having advantages that the system gives. That’s why she says capitalism would still be racial even if white people weren’t part of it. As long as the system needs inequality, it will keep creating racial divides.

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2. According to Gilmore, how does that happen, how does the prison system create new “criminals“? Do you agree with her view? 
Gilmore argues that prisons actually help create criminals instead of just punishing crime. The system needs people to label as criminals, so it keeps expanding laws, giving longer sentences, and making it hard for people to return to a normal life after imprisonment. Barriers to jobs, housing, and community support push people back into the system. I agree with her because the system focuses on punishment instead of solving the problems that lead to crime to begin with.

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3. Describe how you understand what Prof. Gilmore calls “liberation struggle.
Liberation struggle is about people in communities working together to solve problems where they live. It starts with real needs, like protecting homes, and grows as people learn together about history, racism, and society. It’s not just protesting it’s building knowledge, support, and solidarity. Gilmore believes, it’s about depending on each other and creating a community that cares for people instead of just punishing them.

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1.The connection Professor Gilmore is talking about between racism and whiteness is that whiteness is a boundary between white people and minorities. As long as that boundary exists, the white people will always profit from other minorities

2. The prison system creates new criminals due to their negligence of society. This current economy is not nice towards those who aren’t rich. It’s difficult to provide a meal for themselves, to buy or rent a place to live, to get a nice job. All these conditions can push people to do certain things to survive, and they are deemed criminals for it.

3. What I understand when Professor Gilmore refers to liberation struggles is the endeavor of everyone coming together and fighting to dismantle the unjust system that does nothing but go against them.

1. Gilmore recommends that racial capitalism depends on the namelessness of whiteness. When whiteness is treated as the neutral or global standpoint, racial hierarchy becomes built into economic and social structures. on the other hand, racism functions not only through unambiguous prejudice but through systems made & designed around white norms and advantages.
2. Gilmore argues that the criminal justice system invented the category of “criminal” through policing practices, sentencing policies, and surveillance concentrated in marginalized communities. The structural choices produce a continuity of a population labeled criminal, despite of actual crime rates. I completely agree with her point because evidence shows mass incarceration stretched through policy decisions , not rising crime.
3. Gilmore defines “liberation struggle” refers to collective efforts to change the social and economic climates that create inequality & state anarchy. This is not only about freeing individuals but about reforming the systems that produce violence, so communities can live with dignity and security.

Ruth Gilmore argues that capitalism will stop being racial capitalism only when “all the white people disappear from the story.” I understand this to mean that whiteness is not just a racial category, but a structural position that receives advantages through social, political, and economic systems. “Whiteness” functions as a form of property, something that grants access to resources, safety, mobility, and legitimacy. Racism is tied to this because racial hierarchies only make sense when there is a dominant group whose identity must be protected and privileged. So whiteness and racism are intertwined: racism creates and maintains the value of whiteness, and whiteness relies on racism to keep its elevated status.

Gilmore also says that the criminal justice system actually creates criminals meaning the system reproduces the category of “criminal person.” This happens when marginalized people are targeted for surveillance, punishment, and incarceration, often for behaviors linked to poverty, lack of housing, or limited opportunities. Once someone is labeled a criminal, it becomes harder to access jobs, education, and housing, which increases the likelihood of further criminalization. In this way, the prison system doesn’t solve social problems it deepens them and produces cycles of incarceration. I agree with her because the evidence shows that prisons often fail to rehabilitate and instead reinforce the very conditions that lead people back into the system.

In the last part of her video, Gilmore describes “liberation struggle” as the collective work of transforming society so that people have what they need to live meaningful, secure, self-determined lives. Liberation isn’t only about ending prisons it’s about building systems that support housing, education, healthcare, and dignity. I understand it as a long-term, community-based movement focused on restructuring society so that safety comes from care and opportunity, not punishment.

1. What’s the connection between “whiteness”  and racism according to Gilmore’s point?

The connection between “whiteness” and racism are connected because white people have been treated as the one with more power for a long time. It gives more safety and opportunities. Racism by putting the people of color at a disadvantaged. When Gilmore state “white people disappeared from the story” she means that the system is building around white people needs. White people will always have their experiences put first. This makes it harder for POC because the norm is whites getting treated better. Racism is still continuing.

 2. How does the prison system create ‘criminals’? Do you agree?

According to Gilmore the prison system creates more criminals by giving a label on that sticks with them forever. If a person is arrested or being put in jail, society as a whole see and label them as a criminal with or without completing their sentence. It makes harder for people to get jobs, housing, or an education. This makes people to go back to doing bad crimes because that’s all they know and have a “better” life in prison. I agree with her because many return to prison because society doesn’t give them a fair chance to restart their life.

3. What does Gilmore mean by “liberation struggle”?

“Liberation struggle” is working together to change the system that hurts them. This include racisim, prison, disadvantaged with the government rules. Gilmore means creating a wild where people aren’t trapped in their consequences where they can’t live their life. Buy when communities can unite and support each other, stand against the injustice system we can create a better and fairer for everyone