Something interesting from the appendix was that Rios said a lot of the boys didn't care if their names got published in the book, even if it exposed them to more harassment by police or on the street. This was disheartening to read as it seemed many of the boys couldn't care less about being exposed, despite it's potential to put them in danger. It's giving me a sense that they're either giving up or are oblivious to the fact that exposure could worsen their situations even more. #so345

When reading about how the boys would "act lawful" to avoid punishment, it reminded of the article we read a while ago on becoming "Copwise". In both the book and this article, they talked about how people exposed to a large amount of punitive social control began to learn how to avoid police interaction and punishment. This all debunks the belief by police that punishment and over-presence will deter crime, as people can learn how to avoid police and if they want, commit crimes. #so345

It was interesting to read how people like police, teachers, or probation officers would constantly push the boys to be "real men" and how this backfires so easily. Those in power may tell the boys that a punishment is a way of learning to be a man, but it instead only harms them. They claim that getting a hard working job is "being a man", and yet all the punishment and harassment the boys receive just decreases their chances of actually achieving this as we've seen in previous chapters. #so345

The whole idea of misrecognition only demonstrates how the criminalization of these boys is not the answer to solving crime. When criminalized, the boys are stripped of the opportunity to learn many social norms and values, which can lead them to act in a way that they think is right but could be interpreted badly by others. It creates an endless loop, where the boys are criminalized, behave in ways that they think is right but really isn't, and are criminalized again for this behavior. #so345

The whole section on the aftermath of Spider's stabbing really emphasizes the power a label can have. The officer labeling Spider as a gang member gives the police more power to control him and other boys whom they also label as gang members and allows them to employ harsher punishments. Not only that, this label carries into their education as teachers will treat supposed gang members worse than other students. It's insane how Spider's stabbing completely changed his life going forward. #so345

The middle paragraph on page 49 of chapter 3 I think is very important to understand. It highlights how most of the boys' parents tried to teach them positive values, but were taught by police and schools to punish their children for delinquent behavior. The quote that stuck with me was "they taught parents to criminalize their own children". It's sad to see how both social institutions of power and the boys' own parents led to them being criminalized more. #so345

It's really surprising to see the actions the U.S government took to disrupt and combat the black panther party. An organization of African American youth was seen as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country", even though the cold war was still going on. It's sad to see how the whole point of the party was to fight against their criminalization and yet it only led to even worse criminalization for them. #so345

It's interesting to see the effect schools and faculty can have on the criminalization of young groups. Page 6 is just one example in this chapter of how the school will try to avoid or expel anybody with either a history of criminal activity or relation to an act committed. Even after being victimized, a student would still be seen as a threat by the school, leading to possible expulsion. As a result, this leads kids to not getting the education they need, and may turn them to crime. #so345

One very interesting statistic I noticed from the reading was on page 119, where it said that what little data there is on white collar crime shows that the total cost of white collar crime is much higher than yearly property crime, which was $14.3 billion. This is actually insane to think about, as this indicates that the cost of white collar crime could be double, triple, or even larger than the cost of yearly property crime. And yet, it is nowhere near as punished as property crime is. #so345

The daily show video once again is a piece of evidence for the claims that 13th was making and what we talked about in class, how racism has become institutionalized and integrated into our criminal justice system and society itself. The teachers who allowed cheating get prison time, while the wall street executives who could have changed the shape of the economy have only one person arrested. Even the language and talking points of the news broadcasts on each incident highlighted this. #so345