In We Do This Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba their is a collection of essays, books, and interviews regarding the prison system. Kaba’s main argument is that abolition is not just about fixing prisons and policing but fixing society as well. One thing in particular that is emphasized is collective action and community-based solutions. Instead of the traditional system of punishment and then incarceration, Kaba suggests alternatives such as holding people accountable as a community and other methods. In the documentary At the Ready by Maisie Crow, Hillary Pierce, and Abbie Perrault follows a group of high school students who are in a club that is designed to help them prepare for a career in border security or policing. We get to look inside the personal lives of many of these students as they go through this experience. Both We Do This ‘Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba and the documentary At the Ready look at policing, justice, and power but they look at these from different perspectives. Kaba argues that policing and prisons are very oppressive and must be destroyed as they are not able to be reformed. At the ready argues that policing is a very promising career path particularly for LatinX students who are living near borders. Both We Do This ‘Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba and the documentary At the Ready made me consider aspects of policing and influence which I hadn’t thought of before. Kaba made me think about how we often ignore how ineffective policing is and how it doesn’t deal with the root cause. At the ready made this very personal by showing students who see a future lifestyle with policing often making more then their parents in year 1-2. It was very interesting to see their reactions and thoughts about situations like the border, immigration, and racial profiling. Particuarly the fact that the majority of the class when talking about the border would have shut it down despite the fact that most of them were latino. This was very surprising as they have often experienced being treated differently and they are still not defending their same race.
Author: Inay Gupta
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Inay Gupta Wk 8 Response
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Inay Gupta Wk 7 Response
The article “South Central Farmers and Shadow Hills Homeowners: Land Use Policy and Relational Racialization in Los Angeles” by Laura R. Barraclough talks about how land policies and racial dynamics are shaping suburban spaces in Los Angeles. This is done through two case studies: one in the South Central Farm, a community-run agricultural space that is used primarily by Latino farmers, and Shadow Hills, a predominantly white semi-rural neighborhood. Barraclough introduced the topic of relational racialization in this article to explain how hierarchies are formed with regards to land policies and economic structures. South Central Farmers were in danger of displacement as the city was prioritizing commercial development over agriculture and the Shadow Hills homeowners were using zoning laws that privilege white to upper middle class individuals to maintain their simple urban lifestyle. Zoning regulations in The Shadow Hills community didn’t allow lower-income populations to move into the area. Barraclough’s analysis of the two communities shows how race and hierarchies are rooted in urban planning. Although the two communities were very different, they were linked through white homeowners, which marginalized low-income immigrants of color. One thing that stood out to me in these essays was the fact that Shadow Hills residents were able to use legal frameworks to help secure whatever was in the community and their own best interest, while the South Central farmers were struggling to get that same recognition even though their land had environmental and community benefits. This article also connects and contributes to previous readings of displacement across the US Communities of color are always facing land insecurity issues as a result of economic and political issues that are out of their control.This challenges the idea that the struggles about land were just relating to economics; they were deeply rooted in politics, whiteness as a property, and history. Despite the fact that the people were eventually evicted, this situation brought national attention to how land policies were racialized and started many conversations about how cities are going to give out the right to land and resources in a changing landscape that has become increasingly privatized.
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Inay Gupta Wk 6 Response
In “A Lighter Shade of Brown?” by Alfredo Huante, he examines the racial placement of Latinos, particularly Mexican Americans, in the US racial hierarchy. Specific policies such as housing, economic opportunities, and how areas are policed affect Latino identity are analyzed throughout the essay. Huante talks about how Latinos are both racialized as non-white and then limited in regards to differences from Black Americans. In How to Kill a City: San Francisco by Peter Moskowitz, we examine how gentrification has displaced long-time residents. Moskowitz criticizes the urban planners for prioritizing the wealthy people moving into the area compared to the working-class communities, particularly the communities of color. His main point or argument from the essay is that gentrification is not something that is a natural process but something that we actively do as a society, and it is a result of our political and economic state. Further efforts to stop this and prevent further displacement are also talked about later in the book. Finally, Last Black Man in San Francisco looks at gentrification through the eyes of Jimmy, a black man who is trying to refind his childhood identity in San Francisco. This film highlights the negative effects of gentrification regarding money, ownership, and erasing communities altogether. All three of these books/films explore gentrification and displacement, agreeing that all of these processes are not natural but caused by policy changes and racial hierarchies. All of these articles challenge each other by offering different perspectives on gentrification, race, and identity. A lighter shade of brown argues that Latinos cannot be fully exemplified by the narratives of gentrification and displacement. How to kill a city views gentrification as a policy-driven issue. The last black man in San Francisco provides a more personal and emotional perspective of gentrification. Overall, from all of these articles and films, I have learned that their are many unique perspectives and reasons for the gentrification of blacks and Latinos across the United States and results in the displacement of many people. I have seen the community which I grew up in my hometown in get torn down and replaced with more houses and buildings to appease the rich and not take care of the middle class so it is prevalent everywhere if you pay enough attention.
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Inay Gupta Wk 4 Response
Still Falling Through the Cracks: Revisiting the Latina/o Education Pipeline by Lindsay Pérez Huber, Maria C. Malagón, Brianna R. Ramírez, Lorena Camargo Gonzalez, Alberto Jimenez, and Verónica N. Vélez addresses how gaps in educational attainment for Latina/o students have been widening over the past decade rather than narrowing and that Latina/o students are still “falling through the cracks.” The authors then go through reports from 2006-2014, with each report having recommendations for the improvement of educational conditions and outcomes for Latina/o students in each brief and report. Some of the things that they talked about in the reports were a necessity to require ethnic studies courses in California for all high school students. They also talked about promoting high-stakes engagement for Latino students by training staff to provide an educational space in which students feel safe and comfortable. Students were also feeling that their were poor institutional practices and that the teachers assumed they were deficient, not allowing them to test out this could be improved by grabbing institutional data collection. Going with the previous topic, students should also learn the importance of placement exams with better classroom instruction in basic skills. Going through the school system for the last 12 years, I agree with a majority of these points, as it is very difficult to test out of classes and teacher instruction can be greatly improved through classes with a lack of effort from various teachers. The author then began to talk about colleges and their campus climate, referring to multiple henious acts done, and began talking about how they should do climate assessments and take action based off of their results. This is actually vary relatable with the N word being drawn in the snow a few weeks ago, and I agree that colleges should monitor acts like these and take action based off of the reports that they see. Overall, the ideas in this article build up on each other, leading to the final point where the author talks about the limited Latina/o graduation rates and how institutions should find the right faculty and provide adequate support regarding these processes.
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Inay Gupta Wk 3 Response
In the essay Whiteness as Property, author Cheryl I. Harris talks about how whiteness evolved into a property that was acknowledged and protected whites in American law. Harris starts by tracing everything back to the Native American era, where everything was based off of property and property rights. After the slavery period, whiteness became the base of many benefits in society, whether that be social, private, or public. One example of this could be seen with how only white’s could own land and if a Black person was the first to inhabit or take over some land the Rule of First Posessor wouldn’t work as they weren’t white. White’s were also only recognized as 3/5th’s of everyone else and they were also treated like property, like they were owned and used in currency exchanges. Harris gave an example in Johnson v. Butler where a slave was used to pay off a $496 debt. Harris then goes on to talk about how whiteness has been diminished over the years but is still present in everyday society and can only be addressed by recognizing affirmative action’s purpose. Harris also goes over cases like Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education to show how black people were discriminated against to the benefit of white’s. In the final parts of her essay, Harris discusses how the historical views of whiteness as a property continue to this day and is used to the disadvantage of Blacks. I agree with Harris’s factual points about the past and how Blacks were discriminated against and taken advantage of. I also agree with the majority of her opinion portion of the writing where she talked about how Blacks are set back to this day. To fix this issue altogether, we will need to recognize the issues and face them as a society.
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Inay Gupta Week 2 Response
Decolonization is Not a Metaphor by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Kang is about how decolonization is taught and thought of. The author begins by talking about the education system and how decolonization is taught incorrectly in school. People confuse it with social justice projects, disregarding the fact that it is totally different from those practices and a different type of justice. This confusion has led to the general disregard for Indigenous populations, with settlers attempting to escape the harsh reality of their actions and portraying themselves as heroes. One personal thought I had while reading Decolonization is Not a Metaphor was how the settlers tried to make everything about them, making themselves look better. This was exemplified with the Indian-Grandmother situation, where everyone wanted to claim an Indian grandmother, as it showed nobility and culture, as if the grandmother was a princess who ran away with a pioneer. But nobody wanted to claim a male ancestor, as it reflected the aura of a warrior, which wouldn’t look good on the family tree, reflecting that of an animal. When Place Becomes Race by Sherene H. Razack shows the perceived connection between European colonizers and land. This article talks about how European actions were framed as innocent, as they tried to overshadow the harm they did to Indigenous populations and instead frame themselves as the good guys. Their practices were not only about land acquisition, but also about shaping the social and racial order, making the settlers the “legitimate” owners of the land while making it seem like Indigenous people were the ones who needed help. Both of these articles complemented each other, focusing on how the actions of Europeans toward Indigenous populations were minimized or depicted as harmless. Together, it makes you think about the deeper effects of colonialism to this day and what true decolonization really entailed.