In the discussion of White Rage, we explored this realm of red pilling in politics, more specifically the Alt-right movement. The idea of red pilling originated from the Matrix where Neo would either choose the red pill which told you the harsh truth whereas taking the blue pill would allow you to live ignorant of that truth. However, the alt-right movement uses this concept to gain followers of their movement of creating a White nation. This group red pills those who are vulnerable to a drastic change in the culture of their thinking, mostly young white people. The Alt-righters are supporters of anti-liberalism, anti-feminism, white nationalism, and any form of thinking that rejects the equality of women and minorities. In order for these ideals to effectively affect people, the Alt-righters use many forms of media such as Youtube, Reddit, and alternative websites that use code messaging that sounds appealing to those who do not yet have strong political beliefs or cultural ideas that would shape your political decisions.

The media platforms that are controlled by Alt-righters are the only and easiest forms of communication. They take advantage of media platform algorithms that shape your experience around your search history. For example, the class discussed Youtube’s algorithm that recommends videos based on your watch history, so if you were to watch one video that was attempting to red pill you then you would be directed to more videos like the original one. This process is a common form of red pilling that occurs in the Alt-right movement. Similarly, the website Reddit is a big component that used to hold the forums for conversations by the Alt-right movement. Some of the conversations revolved around hypermasculinity and the objectification of women as just reproductive beings for the re-establishment of a white nation. Wholistically, the Alt-right are very much taking advantage of the internet and its availability to everyone, which makes it easier to spread their ideas and values to the world. It’s important to pay attention to the tactics that alt-righters and red pillers use to lead their audiences into the rabbit hole. For example, if you think about an alt-righter on youtube,  they’ll know how to draw your attention and make the video and their ideas entertaining. Simply, it’s important to pay attention to their language use, how they plan to persuade their audience and manipulate them. 

The main concept behind their manipulation is metapolitics. It is when you take someone’s previous ideas and reshaping them to fit a certain group’s ideology. There is no connection to politics regardless of the name as it affects the cultural values of the targetted audience instead of their political beliefs and values. And the metapolitics of the Alt-right is the rejection of social equality and fairness in order to maintain white supremacy and build a white nation.

Although we did not discuss normalizing white nationalism as much, it is an interesting problem that is in response to the success of minorities, more specifically Black people. Whites feel as though they are losing power within the society, so the Alt-right movement is an attempt at a revolution of sorts to re-assume power that they clearly have not lost.

     In the discussion of Racism and the Justice System, the Crook County courthouse, in Chicago, is notorious for its unruly treatment of felony defendants and its disproportionate incarceration of minorities. Out of the twenty-three thousand defendants a year, about sixty-nine percent of felony defendants were African American and about eighty-six percent were male. That’s about sixteen thousand African Americans per year compared to the three thousand whites per year. Based on this data alone, there is a clear indication of the disproportionate incarceration of African American males. The reason for this is the corruption of the judges, attorneys, and public defenders. Not only that but every single one of them is White; however, that is not even the worst part.

     The inheritance of racism has been institutionalized within this court. As our class discussed the racism in Crook County, we noticed that it is similar to  Anderson’s inheritance of the ghetto. That stereotypes of African Americans being destined for criminal behavior such as drug distribution, gang violence, and gun violence. Furthermore, there was an extensive discussion on the blatant segregation of two lines to get into the court. One line was for the mostly  otherminority defendants and their families and the other was for the attorneys and public defenders. Being that it was pouring raining during the time Ms.Silva was describing this event, the line with the minorities was moving extremely slow because of the guards who did not care for the well-being of these people. They were heard saying racist remarks to the defendents and treating them like they were in jail before they were put on trial. On the other hand, the line with the “professionals” was met with respect and efficiency. The guards barely checked the bags and pockets of the “professionals” as they greeted them with smiles and laughter. This visual segregation and overt discrimination is the foundation for the racist culture that is being fostered in the Crook County courthouse.

This idea of literal and symbolic separation in the courthouse is continued as you enter the court room where the defendants and their families are separated by a glass room that is used by the public defendants, attorneys, and judges. This room is considered the break room for the attorneys, judges, and public defenants. They play games, talk and laugh with each other within this room. Keep in mind that the entire court room is able to see through this glass, so when defendants see a judge, in the middle of a trial, take a break to laugh their collegues or play with their children it is very demeaning to the life that is being judged at that moment. There is a lack of regard for the lives of minorities because the judges and attorneys have a preconceived notion that all minorities are criminals. This notion creates a mentality that prejudges minorities to be guilty until proven innocent. And the more people the attorneys convict, the more money they make. This idea if time is money is applied to the court system in that its no longer about serving justice but about closing cases as fast as possible and collecting a paycheck. Even the public defenders, who are hired to help you, want to get the case done as soon as possible, so they offer a plea bargin instead of an actual trial. However, the public defenders are given so many cases a day that they are overwhelmed into giving a plea bargin instead of attempting to give a trial that benefits that defendants. In addition to this already corrupt system, is the racist culture that influences the decisions of the judges, attorneys, and public defenders and perpectuates this injust cycle of mass incarceration of minorities. That is why as a country we must attack the justice system in order to force a full reform of its laws and culture.