Going through this weeks readings, I couldn’t help but draw connections to some of our previous readings on the criminalization of homelessness. The second excerpt from Gilmore’s work, Producing More Prisoners, highlighted how lawmakers were making an effort to incarcerate primarily black and Latino citizens using similar tactics to those used to sweep homeless people into prisons. By increasing the penalty for actions frequently performed by populations deemed “undesirable,” government officials were able to effectively target minority populations more aggressively for criminal activity and enforce laws on them more heavily than white populations.
Of course, it is said that history repeats itself, and Crenshaw’s essay on the Rodney King beating exemplifies this perfectly. Just as the criminalization of homelessness led to tensions and eventual violent outbursts between governments and displaced populations, so too did the increased policing of minority populations lead to chaos and violence. What’s particularly frightening about the racial violence from this weeks reading is that, unlike riots over homelessness and gentrification, rioting and violence over racial tensions are still very real today.