- 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? I think Ruth is expressing that racism is built off of capitalism which is very true and especially throughout the United States being white gives you an unfair advantage others do not have. She strongly believes that the system won’t change until “whiteness” stops being the center of ones story. The center of the story seems to be racism and whiteness and that how society has become organized. That’s the story, being colored is a “consequence”.
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? Gilomore argument is completely accurate and one I also believe and stand with, she is arguing the justice system labels people particularly people of color and people who do not hav the same financial advantages (less fortunate people or the “poor” are labeled as criminals even for the smallest things. The system understands once labeled it’s hard to navigate through life yet they still continue to hold people bad and set systemic traps for them. She believed that the system is put in place yo do more harm than any good which is absolutely true. The system is set out to leave flames under your feet rathe than to help. And prisons are a set up to create cruel punishment oppose to actually rehabilitating people.
3. Describe how your understand what Prof. Gilmore – in the last part of her video – calls “liberation struggle”? Liberation struggles are people fighting for fairness, actual freedom, and a better society as a unit. The goal isn’t simply to “fix” prison but to change the entirety of the system so everyone can pursue a good life and have a chance at a life without a label on their forehead.
