1.When Ruth Gilmore talks about capitalism being “racial capitalism,” she’s saying race and money are tied together. Whiteness works like a built-in advantage that makes it easier for some people to get jobs, safety, and resources, while others are pushed to the margins. Racism isn’t just personal hate — it’s baked into how the system decides who gets opportunities and who doesn’t.

2.Gilmore argues that the prison system actually creates criminals instead of just punishing crime. Things like over-policing certain neighborhoods, harsh sentencing, and giving people criminal records make it hard to get jobs or housing, so people get stuck in the system. I agree with her — once someone is labeled a “criminal,” it follows them forever and keeps the cycle going.

3.When Gilmore talks about “liberation struggle,” I take it as more than just reforming prisons. She’s talking about changing the whole system — including racism, inequality, and capitalism — so people aren’t pushed into cages in the first place. It’s about building something better, not just fixing what’s already broken.

-Ruth Gilmore makes a compelling case that capitalism and racism are not just parallel issues but fundamentally connected. When she talks about “whiteness,” she’s highlighting how societal structures often center white experiences and narratives, giving them undue privilege and power in a capitalist system. This dominance isn’t just a backdrop; it actively shapes economic opportunities, influencing who gets access to resources, jobs, and fair treatment. If capitalism were to shed these racial distinctions—essentially if all the “whiteness” disappeared—it might lead to a more equitable system. However, this dismantling wouldn’t just be an act of societal goodwill; it would fundamentally challenge the profit motives that depend on maintaining social hierarchies. In essence, addressing racism could be a pathway toward transforming capitalism into a more just system.

-In her discussion, Gilmore emphasizes how the criminal justice system contributes to the ongoing creation of “criminals.” When someone is labeled a criminal, that label often sticks, impacting their ability to find work, housing, and community acceptance long after they’ve paid their debt to society. The system tends to target marginalized communities disproportionately, trapping them in a cycle of poverty and crime. For instance, harsh sentencing rules and lack of rehabilitation programs can push individuals back into criminal activity, as they struggle to survive in a system that offers few opportunities for redemption. Gilmore suggests that instead of just punishing bad behavior, we need to look at the root causes, like economic inequality and lack of access to education—essentially addressing the societal factors that lead to crime in the first place. I agree with Gilmore because certain minorities have been oppressed and been made to struggle. When certain people are deemed a “criminal”, society will set them up to stay that way forever. We see it a lot in the African American community!

-Ruth Gilmore refers to “libertarian struggles” as efforts aimed at challenging oppressive systems and advocating for the rights and freedoms of marginalized groups. These movements are focused on pushing back against government control and promoting social justice, emphasizing the importance of individual and community autonomy. In this context, “libertarian”  speaks to a broader desire for freedom from economic and social limitations. This can involve fighting against injustices within the criminal justice system and pushing for policies that address the needs of all people rather than maintaining existing power dynamics. Gilmore highlights that these struggles are crucial for achieving a fairer society. They illustrate the connection between individual freedoms and the need for systemic change.

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? 2:51 

The connection between whiteness and racism is the fact that there would be no racism or capitalism if there are no white people.history of those who owned the means of production had a different eye view then the people who they hired for the labor to be exploited, that we can recognize today as racial practices.  Like Gilmore describes capitalism requires inequality between a certain different types of groups, while the racism insures it preserves and uphold the standards. All capitalism is a relation not a thing. Capitalism is racial from the beginning it has developed in history , it’s constantly reproducing itself and continue to depend on racial practice or the racial hierarchy we place people in.  You can’t undo racism if you can’t undo capitalism. I like the connection was trying to make was that if all the white people disappeared from the story, it’s the whiteness would be  the structure position of power they hold. This was to separate and organize who is to harm and always to protect and to sort out the individual levels of value within a person. That is to say that whiteness is a part of a structure that allows racism to function. It’s not just an identity or attitude or the way somebody feels. History if you were to be a royal, you were to have better resources whether it was food, medical or even social resources, unlike a poor person or a farmer who doesn’t have as much as a wealthy or person at the to of a hierarchy.  If you truly want to understand how something works, you must learn and be committed to give all the attention without issues. Racism does not exist if we have no whites, because it started racial when people least expected it to mean, Gilmore mentions race means black people, not race is the white people. 

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? 8:23

The criminal justice system does not respond to crime it produces the category of what a criminal person is. That’s how the prison system creates criminals.With a constant stream of criminals that are grouped and labeled as criminals, because they have a constant cycle of going back to prison. That number gets bigger over time and deeper when ether the sentencing being longer or the bad behaviors that count as a crime need to grow too. Harsh laws have to be put into place. Those who are eligible to get out of the prison system and go back home or as others say entry into their community is how the category describes a criminal and it’s the basic model of the prison industry complex. The way the system is designed and maintained over time to need a constant fluctuation of people, it can be policies and laws that keep people inside the system. Lastly once you are a criminal it stays on your record, something you can carry for decades. Systemically harming people of a better chance in life. Gilmore says it can perpetuate itself because there are criminals that are eligible to go back home and to have their freedom and to live within the means of their community and to be apart of the community. At a certain extent being incarcerated leaves less chance of employment, stability, safety, organization entry. Instead of ending harm, we have a system that reproduces harm for a certain group. I can say I agree because crime is not simply an individual choice at times there are individuals who choose to acknowledge they are doing something wrong and still commit a crime. Then you have others who are a product of their environment, whether it’s socially or economically from conditions, and the prison systems make these conditions worse not better so in regards to a group of people, we categorized as criminals. They will never have their freedom, whether they are inside the prison system or outside within their community. Leading to self destruction instead of rehabilitation.

3. Describe how your understand what Prof. Gilmore – in the last part of her video – calls “liberation struggle”? 9:28 

As she describes the size or scale of struggle differs widely in certain places very specifically to the where, with many dimension. She uses liberation struggle to describe the efforts to change conditions that make prisons, cruel and unjust treatment or a level of control necessary.

From my understanding, Gilmore describes liberation struggle as ongoing. It’s an effort to change the conditions that makes imprisonment possible, not only opposing prisons, but changing the world that depends on a prison system that contributes to control and fear in an environment, not focusing on our bad people and the list of behaviors that are bad, but on a system that is bad,  working together overtime to build new ways of living not just sticking to the old systemic ways. Building spaces that make freedom possible and tangible. that we collectively have an ongoing effort to transform in a social and economic conditions that only produce racism and imprisonment. The level of hierarchy and the category that we choose to place people must change, we must actively build societies that help within the people of the communities and the people that make the community what it is. Housing , healthcare, community resources. Gilmore says liberation isn’t only one single thing, it is continuously and large that are in many places and material conditions .It must meet a well structured action plan to. Like when she describes a place based struggle in Amadora where houses where built Privately and socially. We may call them public housing as we are taught , but people within the community have built over decades so some may call it informal settlement or self built housing. Theses are communities that have people who have lived there for years basically there home. Resources that have been used and may be at threat of losing both. This does not happen all at once its over time, so people but learn and come together to build alternatives. I am for these people we must create conditions that are beneficial, where people can live with freedom and understand or know to know what is creating harm and punishment necessary at first, but also building care and support disability creating local networks and organizations of people coming together And some may not agree and Some may not feel the need to say anything,  but they still show up to collectively give a helping hand on change. And I feel when people organize and come together to change the system and find concrete ways to make a change around them and not only for them but for other places and other People, 

1. The connection between “whiteness” and racism that Ruth Gilmore speaks about is that how racism is built into our capitalistic society, it’s more about the system being built for a specific group of race (whites). She states that capitalism won’t stop being racial capitalism if all the white people disappear, capitalism requires inequality and racism embeds it. Whiteness and racism is connected due to the historical factors to justify the treatment of people who weren’t white.
2. According to Gilmore the criminals are actually being created by the criminal justice system. There has to be a steady stream of criminals, there has to be a bigger group with longer sentences and other factors such as behaviours to get them to stay in jail longer, which can perpetuate itself. This is a way to get new criminals from the prison system from reentry from different factors. I do not agree with her, I believe there are other factors on why people are kept in jail and go to jail. 
3. At the end of the video she talks about liberation struggle, from what I understand is that there’s a struggle of peoples needs. The needs are being from housing and resources to have better opportunities. She wants a future where there’s a long term stability for people to feel safe and for her liberation means there’s a change instead of having these systems that keeps people unequal but should be uplifting from strong community schools, improving the justice system. 

1. Ruth Gilmore once said “Capitalism will stop being racial capitalism when all the white people disappear from the story”. She believes all capitalism is racial capitalism because it depends on racial hierarchy. The connection between “whiteness” and racism is the capitalists (the people who are at the top of the hierarchy) are wealthy white men who gain profit by exploiting the working class and poor who are the minorities. Throughout this semester, we have seen how capitalism drives inequality. Specifically, capitalism does not promote equality for all and does not protect or benefit all people. The sole purpose of capitalism is to protect the wealth of the wealthy who are majority white people. The labor from the minority group(majority African American) is used to benefit the capitalist. This resembles slavery times where slaves were exploited to bring in profits for their racist owners.
2. Ruth Gilmore believed prison systems create criminals because the prison system defines criminalization as a steady stream of criminals who keep coming. She believed the category of a criminal person can be perpetuated based on how a person acts within society, when they were in the system and had the chance to go back home into their community (“re-entry”). However, the prison system is not solely built to punish the criminals, but also serves as the solution to surpluses specifically in people. This causes a revolving door for people who were considered “surplus” through capitalism to be thrown in jail. I agree with her view because instead of helping the people solve their issues and get to the root of the problem, they are just being thrown in jails to deal with worse conditions. By the time they are released, they are more likely to commit crime because of what they endured in prison and never receiving the proper help they needed. Instead of providing people with the resources they need, the solution is to send people to jail.
3. My understanding of Ruth Gilmore’s concept of liberation struggle is liberation is based on where people live, but it happens everywhere. It is based on the struggles and needs of people in their communities. She believed in order to end racial capitalism, one step necessary to take is abolishing the prison system. She believed there should be better resources given to replace the prison systems. Liberation struggle is a form of solidarity where the people of communities continuously join together to fight for change.

Gilmore says racial capitalism began when European groups turned into “white” people and used ideas of race to explain why some should have more power and money than others. “Whiteness” is not real—it’s a made-up idea that helps keep racism going as a way to make rich people richer by treating groups unfairly. Racism creates big differences in wealth and opportunities, and it can happen even without only white people involved. The prison system makes more “criminals” by turning small acts into big crimes, handing out very long sentences, and making life hard after release—no good jobs, no housing, no support. This traps people and pushes them back into trouble, so prisons stay full and profitable. I have reservations about her research that shows most people return to prison not because they are bad inside, but because the system blocks their way to a normal life. It might be a generalization based on historical facts and statistics, however, every mind is a world of its own. “Liberation struggle” means everyday people in a neighborhood join together to solve their own problems caused by unfair systems. They study what is wrong, talk and plan together, build strong community ties, and help each other survive and fight back—like groups stopping evictions by sharing knowledge, food, and support. It is about making real freedom through caring for one another and standing strong as a group.

In the video, Ruth Wilson Gilmore explains that capitalism will stop being racial capitalism when “white people disappear from the story”. I understand this to mean that whiteness has been used as a position of power, while people of color are treated unfairly in society. Racism exists because economic and political systems were built to benefit some groups more than others and whiteness has often been at the center of those benefits.

Gilmore also argues that the prison system creates criminals instead of just punishing crime. This happens because certain communities are policed more heavy and once someone is labeled a criminal, it becomes harder for them to find jobs, housing or opportunities. This can lead people back into the system, creating a cycle that is hard to escape. I agree with her because the system focuses more on punishment than on helping people improve their lives.

Finally, when Gilmore talks about “liberation struggle”, I understand it as people working together to change unfair systems. It means fighting for justice, equality and better social conditions instead of relying on prisons and punishment. Liberation struggle is about creating a society where everyone has real opportunities to succeed.

1. Whiteness and Racism 

When Gilmore says racial capitalism will only stop when white people disappear from the story, she is talking about ending whiteness as a political project, not removing actual white people. Whiteness was built as a category used to justify inequality, and it still shapes who gets protected and who gets targeted. The connection between whiteness and racism becomes obvious when you pay attention to how institutions operate. Whiteness is treated as the norm that must be protected, while people outside of it are seen as suspicious or threatening. You can see the same logic in immigration policy, policing, and even global politics. It mirrors what happened in places targeted by anticommunist campaigns described in The Jakarta Method, where entire groups were labeled dangerous to justify violence. We saw a modern version of this during Trump’s presidency, when racist rhetoric, open appeals to white grievance, and policies like the Muslim ban or family separation helped legitimize white supremacist beliefs that had always existed but were suddenly encouraged and brought into the mainstream. Racism works the same way now as it did then. It maintains the power and comfort of those seen as white while treating everyone else as a problem to be controlled. Ending that system means removing whiteness from its position of authority so it can no longer determine who is valued and who is disposable.

2. Prison System

Gilmore argues that the prison system actually creates the very category of the criminal, and I agree with her completely. The system responds to social abandonment with punishment instead of support, and that process turns poverty, instability, and survival into crimes. When jobs disappear, when schools fall apart, when health care is stripped away, the state fills that vacuum with police and surveillance. People get pushed into situations where even trying to make ends meet becomes criminalized. And once someone is labeled a criminal, it sticks to them permanently. They lose access to employment, housing, voting, and education, which traps them in a cycle they can’t escape. The system then uses this manufactured crisis as evidence that more policing and more prisons are needed, which keeps the cycle alive. 

This is neo slavery. I absolutely believe that because the data is impossible to ignore. Mass incarceration exploded during periods of economic restructuring, and policies like the War on Drugs were never about protecting communities. They were designed to cage Black and brown people under the appearance of law and order. That is why there are more Black people incarcerated today than there were enslaved at the height of slavery, and that reality cannot be explained by population growth. It is the evolution of racial control, a system that creates the very conditions it claims to fight and profits from the lives it destroys. 

3. Liberation Struggle 

When Gilmore talks about liberation struggle, I understand it as the ongoing work of transforming the conditions that make oppression possible in the first place. It is not just about changing laws or releasing people from prisons. It is about demanding a world where communities are not treated as disposable and where punishment is not the default response to social problems. For me, liberation struggle means choosing to organize even when things feel overwhelming, because collective action is the only thing that has ever shifted systems this deeply rooted. It is a commitment to creating conditions where prisons are not necessary and where labeling people as threats is no longer an excuse fordenying them humanity. 

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?

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?

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