- 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? She says this because racism was used to divide people back then. She says in the modern day this is used as a way to leverage one group over the other. When she mentions whiteness and racism its because she mentions white people being the top of a hierarchy almost that keep them at the top. SHe calls it racial capitalism because of all these dependent factors.
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? It happens stated by Gilmore because once someone is labeled a criminal it becomes harder for them to rehabilitate into society. Its harder for someone to get a job, education, housing, services, and etc. She says the label criminal hasnt been used to what it was promised meaning rehabilitation inside prisons haven’t been helpful and instead hurting the label more. Her view to me makes sense because criminals obviously go to jail/ prison where they get rehabilitated but in today’s world that lost its meaning of it, people come out worse than they came back in which makes sense to me.
3. Describe how your understand what Prof. Gilmore – in the last part of her video – calls “liberation struggle”? Gilmore says that means people working together to create a fairer society without racism and mass incarceration. She believes communities should focus on helping people through support, education, and opportunities instead of punishment alone.
