Is it really a "Raceless Space" ?
Internet is a place where one is free from being judged on the basis of their skin color. Its difficult to determine the gender of the person who is accessing the online world, moreover the culture or ethnicity of the person is hidden in the perceived raceless ground of the Internet. However Jonathan Sterne in his essay ‘The Computer Race Goes to Class” refutes this perception of the Internet being a “raceless space”. Even though one is free from being judged on the basis of the most common discriminating factors, there are still sections of the society that are deprived from it, resulting in a racial gap in the internet access. According to many of us, the conditions were much worse a few decades back due to the limited access of the computers, a medium to connect to the online world. The use of computer was limited only to the rich white section of the society. Even though the computer and the Internet could have been used as instruments in bridging the racial gap, however due to its limited access it resulted in a digital divide. The term ‘digital divide‘ can be defined as an economic inequality between groups belonging to a society in terms of their access, usage and knowledge of information and communication technologies (Wikipedia). This divide deprived many sections of a society from logging into online world that could have bought them better opportunities and helped in uplifting their status in society. |
However, in my opinion even now the conditions haven’t improved much. Although, the number of people using the Internet has increased, the ones who still don’t have access to it are in a condition exponentially worse than the people who didn’t have Internet access a few decades back. This is due to the reason that we live in a period where computers are no longer a luxury but a basic necessity. The people who don’t have access to it are at a bigger disadvantage as they are being kept away from a world that most of us have already explored and are using to our advantage. To further explain this, I would like to draw an analogy from my fathers experience when he came to America in the eighties; he had never been introduced to the computer. This kept him at a disadvantage, as he was a minority in the college who didn’t know how to operate a computer and use it in the most optimal manner. Similarly like my father, who had to study in a college where everyone else knew how to utilize the computer, there are still sections in the world that don’t have access to the Internet and have to live with that disadvantage.
Even though now the digital divide with in America has reduced there exists a divide in a much larger magnitude among the various countries, which is known as “The Global Divide.” There is a need to come up with solutions to address this important issue and provide Internet, which is a critical infrastructure in today’s age, to areas that don’t have access to it. Like mentioned in the article New Voices on the Net? The Digital Journalism Divide, there is a need to focus more on the places that don't have access rather than take pride about the ones that already do. |